Icann will remain responsible for internet addressing for another three years

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, part of the US Department of Commerce, has signed a new contract with ICANN allowing it to continue to act as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.

The renewed agreement is being reported by the NTIA, after there was previously uncertainty about the future of the Icann. The NTIA imposed additional requirements on the manager and previously Icann did not meet these requirements because on March 10, the proposals of the parties involved regarding the allocation were still rejected. The IANA oversees the assignment of IP addresses and is responsible for managing the root zone in the domain name system.

Now the Icann does meet all the requirements. The additional requirements set by the NTIA aim to promote transparency in decision-making, for example to prevent conflicts of interest. There must be a ‘strict separation of policy making and implementation’ from the NTIA.

The Icann was recently discredited when former chairman Peter Dengate Thrush joined a company that invests in new TLDs shortly after Icann announced it would expand the number of TLDs. The NTIA has not indicated what exactly has changed the Icann so that it now meets the requirements. The new agreement will take effect on September 30 of this year and will run until September 30, 2015 with an option for a two-year extension.