ICANN TLD to get freedom from US

The American government is expect to relax control on how the internet is run and regulated, when it signs a new accord with ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

The new deal with see ICANN, for the first time, given the autonomy to run its own affairs. America has received international criticism for its monitoring of ICANN, but the new arrangement or "affirmation of commitments" is expected to change that.

Earlier this year, the EU called on the US to relinquish its control and ICANN to become "universally accountable".

"The US government is the only body to have had formal oversight of ICANN's policies and activities since its inception in 1998," it said.

"The Commission believes that ICANN should become universally accountable, not just to one government but to the global internet community."

"This is particularly relevant given that the next billion of internet users will mainly come from the developing world."

The current agreement between ICANN and the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration is due to expire on Thursday.

ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants 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. However, it was set up by the US government - which oversees critical parts of the internet, such as the top-level domain (TLD) name system: top level domains include .com and .uk.

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.

For example, the company recently voted to relax the rules regarding TLDs saying that companies could turn brands into web addresses, while individuals could use their names. ICANN also agreed to introduce domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts.

The new deal, which allegedly does not have a fixed term, will see a number of groups, including representatives of foreign governments, conduct regular reviews of ICANN's work. The panels would specifically focus on competition among generic domain names, how domain-name registrants' data are handled, network security and transparency, and accountability and the public interest - the only panel on which the US will reportedly retain a permanent seat.

Whilst the precise details of the agreement will be released on Wednesday, it is unlikely that ICANN will completely sever their relationship with the US government.

Rod Beckstrom, president and chief of the organisation, said in a letter to Congress last week that it would seek to maintain a "long term, formal relationship with the United States Government."

 

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