US Commerce Department renews ICANN agreement

Internet Business News, Oct 2, 2006

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The US Commerce Department has confirmed it is to retain oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the company managing Internet domain names, for a further three years.

The agreement, which was due to expire on 30 September, has been renewed with ICANN, which controls addresses such as .com and domain names for countries, such as .cn for China.

A review of ICANN's progress toward becoming more transparent and accountable is to be conducted in 2008 under the terms of the new agreement, according to the Commerce Department. The US government, which has posted its new agreement at http://www.ntia.doc.gov, has previously revealed its intention to pass complete control of ICANN to the private sector.

According to ICANN, it will no longer have to file reports every six months with the Commerce Department, nor will it have its work prescribed by the department. The Commerce Department said it had consulted with over 700 companies, foreign governments, trade groups and individuals before making the decision to renew the agreement.

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