The board responsible for Internet governance on Thursday approved a plan to transition another component of the net away from the United States.
In a vote held in Marrakesh, Morocco, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers voted to finalize the last proposal necessary to assume control of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, or IANA. The Obama administration has been working for several years to cede control over the entity, which is currently managed under contract by the Department of Commerce, and looks set to finally succeed this year.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2572941
The next step will be for Commerce to review the transition proposal, a process that Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling has said he anticipates taking about in 90 days. Earlier this week, he reiterated what the administration has insisted are terms for the transfer.
“We will not accept a transition proposal that replaces [Commerce’s] role with a government led or intergovernmental organization solution,” Strickling told the gathering.
ICANN is an international public-private partnership with members from both government and the private sector. However, the extent of government power when it comes to selecting members of ICANN board, and vetoing decisions made by the organization, has represented a sticking point for critics in the past.
IANA is responsible for functions that render addresses on the web accessible, turning them from numbers to names.
Big tech companies praised Thursday’s vote. The Internet Governance Coalition, a group comprised of companies like Facebook, Comcast, Google, and Microsoft, said that it would result in “substantially improved accountability.”
“The proposals approved by the ICANN Board in Marrakesh will be instrumental to ensuring the continued stability and reliability of the Internet, especially as it continues to help the world’s people economically, socially and culturally,” they added. “We look forward to the timely finalization of ICANN’s bylaws and the implementation of these recommendations.”
