U.S. Government Finally Lets ICANN Go

Washington has finally relinquished ownership of the organization responsible for administrating the world's Web traffic, putting a surprise end to a heated debate that has raged over the past several years

By Eileen Yu

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has inked a new document that gives the non-profit organization sovereignty for the first time, effective Oct. 1. The announcement effectively ends an 11-year direct relationship between the U.S. government and ICANN, outlined under the Joint Project Agreement (JPA), which expires today.

In a phone interview with ZDNet Asia late-Wednesday, Paul Levins, the ICANN's executive officer and vice president of corporate affairs, said: "There's not going to be any agreement. It's over. It's done. There's not going to be a JPA."

A new document, labeled an "affirmation of commitments", will now take the place of the JPA starting Oct. 1, marking the day the ICANN will operate as a private sector organization.

"It's a huge moment for the Internet," Levins said. "It really means that this resource is free from control, it's not being directed by any one entity but will be coordinated by stakeholders for all Internet users everywhere," he said.

Asked why now, he replied: "Because the JPA expired, that's why now. It was always going to end today. It was 11 years ago that this model was established and it's a very powerful message now, 11 years later, that we have the support from the U.S. government that this is the right model moving forward."

Established in 1998 under the U.S. Department of Commerce, the ICANN oversees the infrastructure that matches Web addresses to their corresponding IP addresses. It coordinates these identify-and-match tasks, enabling Internet users anywhere to locate and access a site via a decipherable Web address, rather than a string of numbers.

The U.S. government has long been criticized for refusing to relinquish control of an entity responsible for overseeing the world's Web traffic.

Its critics, which included the United Nations and European Commission, say the ICANN failed to consider international requirements, neglecting critical issues such as multi-language support, leaving some non-Western countries "disenfranchised".

According to Levins, one of the ICANN's upcoming major initiatives is the internationalization of main domain names such as .org and .info, which Internet users currently cannot input using non-Latin characters such as Russian, Chinese or Korean. Provisions next year will be established to support this, he said.

Perception it isn't global

The ICANN has "always been an independent organization", where decision making has "always been decentralized", he noted. He said the organization operates on a set of bylaws and is administered by a board of 21 members, representing all parts of the world, and who are selected for their geographic diversity.

"But, there has been a perception, because of the JPA, that there was some form of oversight under the U.S. Department of Commerce," he said. "Today's announcement marks the internationalization of the Internet. If there was a perception that it was managed by one government, that perception is now dead."

So who owns the ICANN now? The world's Internet community, Levins said, adding that anyone can attend an ICANN meeting anywhere in the world for free. Online users can participate in any ICANN discussion or debate—and can make their comments known on technical and government policiesm he said.

"Everyone has an equal voice. And today's announcement confirms that."

However, this "internationalization" could pose several challenges and raise questions pertaining to funding and speed of deployment.

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