Icann signs five year agreement with US Department of Commerce

Internet Business News, August 17, 2006

INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2006 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

A five year agreement has been signed by the US Department of Commerce and the Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), an international, non-profit body for the Internet, renewing the body's role in overseeing net domains.

The agreement indicates that the US is to keep its role supervising the addressing systems of the Internet until 2011, although Icann said discussions over its status are continuing with the US. Contract clauses state that the agreement must be renewed each year, which means pressure imposed from other organisations may result in ties being cut between the US and Icann changes prior to 2011.

Icann, which was established in 1998, overseas generic domain names such as .com and country codes such as .uk. It took on many of the net functions previously run by the US government. The role of Icann, which rejected a proposal for a .xxx porn-only domain, has become more controversial as organisations increasingly call for involvement in its decision making.

The Internet Governance Forum, which arose from attempts to gain more input into how the net is overseen, meets for the first time in November. The US Department of Commerce confirmed last month that it was still committed to turning Icann into a private organisation, which some believe might have occurred on 30 September, when the current Icann contract is due to expire.

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