U.S. agency to extend oversight of ICANN
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The U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday it will extend its oversight of the California organization that handles domain name policies, while finding ways to improve the group's accountability and transparency.
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Despite complaints, the United States will retain oversight of the Net's domain name system, renewing its memorandum of understanding with ICANN for another three years.
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A federal judge ruled on Tuesday to  extend the U.S. government's antitrust oversight of Microsoft  Corp  for two more years, but stopped short of granting  a five-year extension sought by states accusing the company of  continuing monopolistic behavior.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. government will remain involved with the management of the Internet's domain name system after its current agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) expires on Saturday. The decision comes despiteÂ international pressureÂ advocating for the U.S. government to bow out and make ICANN a totally autonomous entity. The U.S. Commerce Department will retain ICANN oversight for three more years, although there will be a review in 18 months of ICANN's progress toward becoming a more stable, transparent, and accountable organization, the government agency said in a statement Friday. A spokesman for ICANN said that at this 18-month review a decision could be taken to give ICANN total autonomy. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) that has been in place between ICANN and the Commerce Department since 1998 has now been modified in several ways that represent a "dramatic step" towards full autonomy, ICANN said in a separate statement. For example, the MOU had outlined the government's role as "prescriptive," but now, ICANN will determine how it works and what it works on, ICANN said. Furthermore, the requirement for ICANN to submit a progress report to the Commerce Department every six months has been lifted. Instead, ICANN will publish an annual progress report aimed at the entire Internet community, not just the Commerce Department. Duties retained by the Commerce Department include helping ICANN achieve greater transparency and accountability in how it evaluates and adopts policies, the government agency said. In addition, the Commerce Department said it will continue its oversight of the security andÂ operation of root name servers. The Commerce Department remains committed toward eventually giving ICANN full autonomy, it said. However, many observers believe that this full autonomy should have been granted already, because having the U.S. involved in DNS (domain name system) management creates political friction and ultimately slows down the international development of the Internet. On the other hand, others believe that continued U.S. government oversight of ICANN is necessary because ICANN hasn't proven it can handle the entire task of DNS management alone and that if the U.S. government withdraws, the Internet's security and stability could be compromised. ICANN is a private, nonprofit organization based in California. The Commerce Department held a hearing on the matter in July and previously called for written comments, receiving about 700 of them. On Friday, the agency said that consultation process revealed broad support for continuing the transition towards a fully autonomous ICANN but with the Commerce Department's continued involvement. ICANN and the Commerce Department will hold a press conference Friday.
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A federal judge ruled on Tuesday to extend the U.S. government's antitrust oversight of Microsoft Corp  for two more years, but stopped short of granting a five-year extension sought by states accusing the company of continuing monopolistic behavior.
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The new transfer policy for inter-registrar domain names went into effect on Friday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said.
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A federal judge prolongs court oversight of the software maker for a further two years. Microsoft had said an extension was unnecessary, while some states wanted Microsoft watched for another five years.
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Consumers and businesses may soon find it easier to register an attractive Web site name, now that the nonprofit organization that oversees the global domain name system has agreed to a policy change.
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The EU applauded the United States government's moves to make the Internet's domain name organization independent Monday, but said it would monitor the process. ICANN is now set to go private in 2009.
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The U.S. Department of Commerce approved a six-year extension to the agreement allowing VeriSign to operate the .com domain.
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The U.S. government is loosening its grip on the domain name system and is edging closer to giving ICANN -- the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- a greater measure of autonomy in making decisions about the future of the Internet.
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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is planning to open an office in Africa to provide support for the establishment of the African Regional Internet Registry and Internet service providers (ISPs) across the continent, according to ICANN officials.
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The U.S. Commerce Department promised Friday to take more of a hands-off approach to the Internet as it extended for three years its oversight of a California organization that handles network-address issues.
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The nonprofit organization that manages the Internet's domain-name system is set to vote Wednesday on changes to the Web site registration process that would make it easier for people to shield their identities online and, indirectly, cut spammers off from an easy-to-mine database of legitimate e...
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(InfoWorld) - The European Commission welcomed moves in the U.S. to free ICANN, the Internet domain name manager, from its historic ties to the U.S. government on Monday. The U.S. Commerce Department willÂ retain its oversight of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, for three more years under a new agreement that took effect at the beginning of this month. The new agreement grants ICANN more freedom from U.S. government involvement, but stops short of full privatization, which many in the Internet industry want. European Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr said the Commerce Department had given "clear indications that this three year agreement between ICANN and the U.S. government would be the last." "This is good news. Last year there were doubts about whether the U.S. would privatize ICANN," Selmayr said. The new agreement, which runs until 2009, is subject to a review in 18 months. If in the review the Commerce Department concludes that ICANN is stable, transparent, and accountable enough, it could decide to grant the nonprofit organization full autonomy immediately, the Commerce Department said in a statement Friday. In addition to promising full autonomy, the U.S. government has shaped the new three-year agreement to help pave the way towards independence. From now on ICANN will determine how it works and what it works on, ICANN said. It will no longer have to submit half-yearly progress reports to the Commerce Department. Instead it will publish an annual progress report on the internet for everyone to see. Many observers argue that U.S. government involvement in ICANN is slowing the international development of the Internet down and should pull out without delay. Others warn that ICANN isn't ready to fend for itself. They believe the organization hasn't yet proven that it can handle the entire task of domain name management alone, and if the government withdraws now this could compromise security and stability of the internet. Â ADVERTISEMENTMAKE SOA REAL WITH IBM WEBSPHERE PODCASTStreamline processes and maximize efficiency within a proven service oriented architecture. Take back control of your business processes with IBM WebSphere.
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A proposal by the overseer of the Internet&#39;s addressing system could make it a lot easier for people to reserve the domain name they want for their Web site.
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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number, the organization named by the US government in 1998 to oversee policies over Internet addresses, gave a preliminary nod Monday to domain names targeting mobile services and the jobs