Rubens Kühl
| Person | |
|---|---|
Rest in Peace
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◀   ▶ | |
| Community | ICANN Community |
| ICANN SO/AC | GNSO |
| Organization | NIC.br |
| Region | LAC |
| Country |
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| Achievements | |
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Rubens Kühl was the Product Marketing Manager at NIC.br and Registro.br. He worked in the ICT and Internet infrastructure sectors for more than 15 years, attended ICANN meetings since ICANN 42 (Dakar), and frequently engaged with the network-operator community.[1] Kühl served on the GNSO Council between 2016–2019, taking part in the work that initiated the EPDP on the Temporary Specification.[2] He remained active beyond his Council term, including membership on the "GNSO Guidance Process (GGP) Initiation Request – Select SubPro Topics (Applicant Support)" team[3]. He passed away on 3 November 2025 at age 55, with NIC.br announced his death while highlighting his years of service to the Brazilian and international community.[4]
Career[edit | edit source]
Kühl began his career in network engineering and security at UOL (1998–2002) and later worked at Scopus Tecnologia, with consulting engagements at RKJ and Multirede.[5] He moved into backbone operations at Neovia Telecom (2006–2009), working on TCP/IP and MPLS practices and the commissioning of new technologies.[5]
He joined NIC.br in 2009, first on broadband/product development, and from 2011 served as Product & Market (Product Marketing Manager) for Registro.br. In that role he worked on product and market strategy, registrar channels, DNSSEC adoption and outreach, and the reliability and branding of the .br registry services.[6] He also taught at CGI.br’s Escola de Governança da Internet from 2014 onward.[6]
Beyond the DNS space, he took part in early community discussions and testing around Brazil’s instant payments system **PIX**—commenting on technical/market implications, moderating Q&A on security and adoption, and reporting hands-on tests at launch.[7][8][9]
Education[edit | edit source]
Kühl held an Executive MBA in Marketing from Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM); a Graduate Certificate in Telecommunications Economics from Universidade de São Paulo; and a BS in Computer Engineering from Universidade de São Paulo.[5]
Personal[edit | edit source]
In the Brazilian community, Kühl was affectionately known by some friends as “Mestre dos Magos” (the “Dungeon Master” from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon), a nod to his vast knowledge, sharpness, and dry humor.[10]
Selected publications and media[edit | edit source]
- Podcast “Camada 8” #50: “Infraestrutura do .br,” with Frederico Neves and Rubens Kühl (NIC.br, 10 Apr 2024).[11]
- “GDPR & WHOIS” (GTS-31, 23 May 2018) — slide deck on WHOIS/Temp Spec implications in Brazil’s operator forums.[12]
- Comment on GDPR models (ZFA/CZDS) to ICANN (29 Jan 2018).[13]
- Letter on proposed Name Collision handling to ICANN’s NGPC (17 Jul 2014); acknowledged by ICANN (8 Aug 2014).[14][15]
- “Certificados internos e novos gTLDs” (GTS-21, Foz do Iguaçu, May 2013) — risks from internal-name TLS certs amid the New gTLD program.[16]
- “TTM Improvements Discussion” (RIPE 60, 5 May 2010) — NIC.br measurement platform discussion in RIPE community.[1]
External links[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 RIPE 60 slides (Kühl, “TTM Improvements Discussion”) — https://ripe60.ripe.net/presentations/Kuhl-TTM_Improvements.pdf
- ↑ EPDP Charter DT session transcript (ICANN62, 26 Jun 2018) — https://gnso.icann.org/sites/default/files/file/field-file-attach/transcript-epdp-gtld-registration-data-specs-charter-26jun18-en.pdf
- ↑ GNSO GGP Initiation Request – Members (lists RySG: Rubens Kuhl) — https://icann-community.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/GGPGIRFAS/pages/106235041/Members%2Band%2BMailing%2BList
- ↑ NIC.br obituary (EN) — https://nic.br/noticia/notas/note-of-condolence-rubens-kuhl-registro-br-product-marketing-manager/
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubensk
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 NIC.br obituary (PT) — https://www.nic.br/noticia/notas/nota-de-pesar-rubens-kuhl-gerente-de-produtos-e-mercado-do-registro-br/
- ↑ CEWEB/NIC.br media note quoting Kühl on PIX (9 Mar 2020) — https://ceweb.br/noticia/na-midia/sistema-pix-do-banco-central-e-oportunidade-para-exchanges-de-bitcoin-diz-especialista-do-nic-br/
- ↑ GTS transcript, “10ª Semana de Infraestrutura da Internet no Brasil” (1 Dec 2020) — https://gtergts.nic.br/files/apresentacao/arquivo/1037/Transcrição_GTS_10a%20Semana%20de%20Infraestrutura%20da%20Internet%20-%201.12.20.pdf
- ↑ Jovem Pan, depoimentos no dia do lançamento do PIX (16 Nov 2020) — https://jovempan.com.br/noticias/economia/pix-comeca-nesta-segunda-feira-veja-depoimentos.html
- ↑ Verified by Mark W. Datysgeld, ICANNWiki SysOp
- ↑ NIC.br Camada 8 #50 — https://nic.br/podcasts/camada8/episodio-50
- ↑ GTS-31 slides — https://ftp.registro.br/pub/gts/gts31/03-GDPR-WHOIS.pdf
- ↑ ICANN comment PDF — https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/gdpr-comments-nic-br-icann-proposed-compliance-community-submitted-models-29jan18-en.pdf
- ↑ Name Collision letter — https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/kuhl-to-icann-board-ngpc-17jul14-en.pdf
- ↑ ICANN reply — https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/correspondence/namazi-to-kuhl-08aug14-en.pdf
- ↑ GTS-21 slides — https://ftp.registro.br/pub/gts/gts21/07-RiscosCertNewGtlds.pdf
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