WASHINGTON: The U.S. government is thinking of starting the process of privatising the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the California-based not-for-profit company that administers the domain names on the internet. The target date is 30 September and the commerce department held a hearing Wednesday in a bid to work out the modalities.
ICANN controls the naming system for .com and other domain extensions used on the net. Several world governments have been expressing reservations over the U.S. control over a sphere that has now assumed global proportions. While the transition is expected to take place by 30 September, the commerce department has the option to continue with the control.
Most companies and individuals register domain names with extensions like .com and .net through private sector companies like VeriSign. However, VeriSign has a contract with ICANN through which the registrations are done.
While almost all the countries rely on ICANN to maintain the domain name system through the "root servers," they can technically set up their own root servers and frame their own rules.
A number of internet experts want the commerce department to continue to have control over ICANN for some more years to ensure that it is ready to operate as an independent entity.
Several speakers at the Wednesday open forum felt ICANN is not still ready to handle the task of administering the domain name system on its own. However, several of them advocated an openness on the part of ICANN in its operations. They cited the instance of ICANN board's rejection of the proposed .xxx domain for pornographic sites, which European countries had said had been influenced by the Bush administration. A spokesperson for the European Union's commissioner for information society and media described the decision as "political interference."
Meanwhile, acting assistant secretary for communications and information of the U.S. government John Kneuer said the government remains committed to private management of the DNS. He told the open forum that the meeting itself is a clear indication that "we are committed to this transition."
The hearing comes as the commerce department has to decide whether to renew a memorandum of understanding, dating back to 1998, between the U.S. government and the ICANN. The agreement, which establishes guiding principles for management of the DNS, is set to expire on 30 September, but can be renewed as it had happened in the past.
