ICANN has submitted to the U.S. Government a plan that envisages transitioning global stewardship of some key technical Internet functions to the global Internet community. This was announced by ICANN Board Chair Dr. Stephen Crocker at ICANN’s 55th meeting in Marrakech. “This plan is a testament to the hard work of the global Internet community and the strength of the multistakeholder model, which envisages equal participation of numerous interested parties,” the ICANN official announcement quotes Stephen Crocker as saying.
The document has been submitted to the U.S. National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), an organization within the U.S. Department of Commerce. At present, it is NTIA that controls the DNS root zone. In March 2014, NTIA came up with a plan to transfer these functions to the Internet community.
The plan provides a detailed procedure for transitioning stewardship of these technical functions, as well as the mechanism for the Internet community to further perform them. It also proposes ways to enhance ICANN's accountability and transparency as a fully independent organization. If approved by the U.S. Government, the transition will be completed before the expiry of the contract in force between ICANN and NTIA in September of this year.
