14 DAY TRIAL // The US government isn't going to let ICANN go without a fight. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is a non-profit company set up to handle top-level domain names. Founded in 1998, it's an independent organization but still has strong ties with various US government bodies through a Joint Project Agreement (JPA). The JPA, though, is set to expire on September 30 at which point the corporation could become completely autonomous but some House leaders are now asking Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to create a permanent link between the government and ICAN.
"Rather than replacing the JPA with additional JPAs or Memoranda of Understandings that expire every few years, we believe the time has come for a permanent instrument to which ICANN and the Department of Commerce are co-signatories. This statement of commitments and principles would ensure that ICANN remains perpetually accountable to the public and to all of its global stakeholders," House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D.-Calif., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., wrote in a letter addressed to Locke.
Based in California, ICANN handles the attribution of domain names and IPs across the Internet and has seen an unusual amount of turmoil lately as it moves forward with a controversial proposition to allow much greater freedom in choosing a top-level name suffix (i.e. .com, .net). The move would allow large companies or organizations, with deep enough pockets, to buy and use their own customized suffix.
Recently former US Cybersecurity Chief Rod Beckstrom came in as Chief Executive Officer and will take full control of the corporation later in the year. One of the reasons why he was preferred is his ties with the government in anticipation of the JPA's expiry date. ICANN has been under increased pressure from different organizations and foreign officials to become an independent body, something that many US representatives aren't willing to accept.