U.S. set to hand over Internet’s naming system to ICANN

The U.S. is set to cede power of the Internet’s naming system to a non-profit organisation on October 1, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the Internet’s governance.

Details:

• U.S. will give up its power fully to Los Angeles-based ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), a non-profit organisation.
• The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it was not until now that the U.S. said it was finally satisfied that ICANN was ready to make the change.

DNS:

The Domain Naming System, DNS, is one of the Internet’s most important components. It pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses with their relevant servers. Without DNS, one would only be able to access websites by typing in its IP address, a series of numbers such as “194.66.82.10”.

Background:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), in March 2016, submitted the plan for the global stewardship of the internet to the US government for review.

• The plan aims to maintain Internet governance under a “multi-stakeholder” model which avoids control of the online ecosystem by any single governmental body.
• The plan is the result of an inclusive, global discussion among representatives from government, large and small business, technical experts, civil society, researchers, academics and end users.
• It provides a comprehensive package to transition the US Government’s stewardship of the internet’s key technical functions, called the IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), and proposes ways to enhance ICANN’s accountability as a fully independent organization.

About the Internet Corporation Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN):

ICANN is the global body that oversees operation and administration of the Internet domain name system. It was formed in 1998.

• It is a not-for-profit partnership of people from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers.
• ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet.
• It is responsible for coordinating the maintenance and methodologies of several databases, with unique identifiers, related to the namespaces of the Internet – and thereby, ensuring the network’s stable and secure operation.

ICANN is governed by an internationally diverse Board of Directors overseeing the policy development process. ICANN’s President directs an international staff, working from three continents, who ensure that ICANN meets its operational commitment to the Internet community.