The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, has been in control of all-important domain names and other data since 1998 and is crucial to governing the global Internet. Now, ICANN has formally filed a proposal on transfer of ICANN’s control from the U.S. government to a global community. If you have concerns or comments, now is the time to speak up.
On Friday, ICANN’s Stewardship Transition Coordination Group, or ICG, released its formal proposals for management transitions and will accept public comment for some 40 days.
“Since the formation of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 1998, NTIA has contracted with ICANN to carry out the IANA [Internet Assigned Numbers Authority] functions, including the management of top-level registries for domain names, Internet Protocol addresses and related numeric identifiers, and protocol parameters. Under this contract NTIA has been responsible for approving changes to the authoritative root zone file of the Internet’s domain name system (DNS). NTIA also has a Cooperative Agreement with Verisign under which the company performs related root zone management functions,” ICANN explained.
“On March 14, 2014, NTIA announced its intent to transfer its stewardship of these key Internet functions to the global Internet community.”
Two public webinars are set for Aug. 6 and Aug. 7 for further discussion of the proposed plan.
“The dedication that the Internet community has exhibited to the IANA stewardship transition is nothing short of remarkable,” said Alissa Cooper, Chair of the ICG and member of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) community. “The public comment period presents an opportunity for the public to assess the transition proposal in its entirety and for the ICG to build a public record demonstrating how the proposal meets the expectations set out by the U.S. Government.”
A “governance milestone”
“The transition of IANA’s stewardship represents an important Internet governance milestone,” ICANN says. “The proposal for how to carry out the transition is the result of a tremendous undertaking by the global multistakeholder community, including the operational communities with direct operation or service relationships with the IANA functions as well as global business, civil society, governments, and Internet users …
“The proposal combines components related to the three categories of IANA functions – domain names, Internet numbering resources, and protocol parameters – each of which have already been thoroughly and publicly vetted.”
Read much more and find out how to contribute comments at:
News Release: ICG Seeking Public Input on Key Internet Governance
