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The Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names And numbers, a private non-profit organisation responsible for
managing the systems and protocols that keep the internet running. In
particular, icann is responsible for allocating ip address, managing the
domain name system and taking over other tasks currently under US government
contract to other agencies, such as the Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA).
Icann was formed in 1998 to help bring an independent, international focus
to the management of the internet.
Many believe that icann
has failed to meet its obligations. It has been widely criticised for its
choice of board members and its failure to bring clarity to the processes by
which domains are administered. But it is most unpopular for its failure to
consult the tld operators and registries that it claims to represent,
some of whom claim that it has excessive power to make decisions about the
tlds that they believe to be their own property. Some of these operators
have threatened to abandon icann and consider proposals for a scheme
that would attempt to take over some of its powers. |
