Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) published results of it’s study, the purpose of which was to determine the attitude towards the transition of stewardship role over the domain space from the US government to the Internet community. At the moment it is IANA, controlled by the ICANN, that is responsible for allocation of names and addressed on the Internet, these activities are supervised by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
The vast majority of the respondents (81.6%) supported the idea of transition from the US government should happen. According to them, this is a logical step in the evolution of the global network and the Internet community today is mature enough to exercise control on their own. At the same time more than a half of all the participants of the survey (55.3%) do not believe that control functions should be transferred to ICANN. Respondents that express this point of view note that some external controlling institution would be helpful. The reason as stated often is the lack of transparency when it comes to decision making in ICANN. In case stewardship is transferred to ICANN, many respondents find it crucial to consolidate the possibility of subsequent transfer to another body, if ICANN’s actions cause unfavorable criticism. It is also stated that the most important decisions of ICANN should be taken only by consensus.
In addition, the vast majority (78.9%) of those polled believe that in deciding the transition of stewardship, registries should play a big role.
