ICANN

In the fall of 1998, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was incorporated as a non-profit, public benefit corporation in California, in order to assume the management of the Domain Name System (DNS) as contemplated in the White Paper. Nine members of ICANN's interim board were chosen (four Americans, three Europeans, one from Japan, and one from Australia). ICANN’s bylaws state that it is to be aided by three supporting organizations, one of which is the Domain Name Supporting Organization (“DNSO”), the entity responsible for making policy recommendations to ICANN regarding the DNS, including, among other things, new TLDs.

On November 25, 1998, ICANN and the Commerce Department entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, pursuant to which they agreed jointly to develop and test the mechanisms and procedures that should be in place in the new, privatized DNS. Specifically, ICANN and the Commerce Department agreed to collaborate on “written technical procedures for operation of the primary root server including procedures that permit modifications, additions or deletions to the root zone file.”

ICANN "governs the assignment of Internet domain names, the allocation of Internet Protocol (IP) address space, and management of the Domain Name System (DNS) and Internet “root” server. . . ." “ICANN accredits institutions and corporations to serve as domain name ‘registrars.’ Registrars assign specific SLDs within a TLD to ‘registrants,’ ensure that each registered SLD is unique within the TLD, and maintain and distribute information correlating SLDs with the appropriate IP addresses. Network Solutions, Inc. is a principal registrar of the second-level domain names within the popular ‘.com’ TLD.”

Congressional Committees (primarily the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce) maintain oversight on how the Department of Commerce manages and oversees ICANN’s activities and policies.