Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board Chair Dr. Stephen D. Crocker today submitted to the U.S. Government a plan developed by the international Internet community that, if approved, will lead to global stewardship of some key technical Internet functions. The news was confirmed at a press conference finalizing the ICANN 55 meetings in Morocco.
“The plan has now been sent to the U.S. Government for its review, and assuming it meets the necessary criteria, we will have reached an historic moment in the history of the Internet,” said Crocker. The transition is the final step in the long-anticipated privatization of the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS), first outlined when ICANN was incorporated in 1998.
It is now up to the U.S. Government to review the package and confirm it meets NTIA’s criteria. If approved, implementation of the plan is expected to be completed prior to the expiration of the contract between NTIA and ICANN in September 2016. Source: CircleID
In late December, after the Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas, Republican leaders in Congress released a $1.15 trillion budget proposal. It’s a massive bill with several huge points of contention, including tax breaks and military spending, but nestled within its 2,009 pages is a small provision that could frustrate attempts to loosen the country’s grip on governance of the web.
It’s a contentious issue. Since 1998, the nonprofit organization ICANN has managed the IP and DNS systems that form the heart of the web, under the oversight of the US government. But other governments, especially in the wake of the NSA spying scandal, have asked for more control over the basic functions of the internet.