Internet Regulator ICANN Mollifies its Control Over the Internet

Posted 10/02/2009 at 6:08am | by Paul Lilly

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ICANN, the non-profit group who oversees a number of Internet-related tasks, including IP address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, making decisions on root server systems, and pretty much everything else that has to do with the Web, has signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) that puts the organization in the hands of an international committee.

According to the Affirmation Agreement, the international committee of parties who will now run ICANN will be chosen by the chairman of its Governmental Advisory Committee, who represents 100 countries around the globe.

"One world, one Internet, everyone connected -- this is our goal at ICANN," said Rod Beckstrom, chief executive office of ICANN. "This agreement gives international stakeholders an even more powerful voice in our activities moving forward."

The move, which was universally praised across the industry, doesn't completely remove the U.S. government's influence, but it does give other countries a much bigger say in how ICANN's policies moving forward.