By Kieren McCarthy for The Register.
This article has been reproduced with permission.
The contract covers what is commonly referred to as the IANA
function, a traditional bundle of technical operations that
includes the allocation of IP addresses, management of the internet
root server system, and changes to the top tree of the net,
defining where all top-level domains – including global
domains such as .com and .net as well as the 250 country code
domains such as .uk for Great Britain or .de for Germany – are
located on the internet.
The decision was widely expected and the contract itself is
largely a copy of the previous contract ICANN was first awarded
back in 2000.
The contract lasts for five years but requires renewal each
year. This approach has meant the US government can maintain a
close control over changes, while also ensuring the function is
revisited and refreshed over time.
The US government arm that decides the contract, the National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), made
noises about moving the contract to a different party in a "request
for information" in February, but it was largely seen as a way of
applying pressure to ICANN to improve its frequently criticised
procedures. ICANN relies heavily on its stewardship of the IANA
function to provide it with global legitimacy.
That pressure appears to have produced results. ICANN announced
in July that it would start implementing a secure and automated way
for the technical administrators of top-level domains to make vital
infrastructural changes.
A large number of country-code managers have been asking for
such a system for years, and a test-bed offering such a facility
has been in operation for over two years. The contract also details
a new, visible method for any changes that take more than seven
days in an effort to improve efficiency of the process.
But perhaps the most important change to the contract has been
the inclusion of wording that makes it clear that there is a
separation between IANA function and the policy role that ICANN
plays – a connection that ICANN has actively sought to blur to
the vocal irritation of others.
Nonetheless, the contract secures ICANN's future and potentially
stabilises a contentious issue at the heart of the internet.
ICANN CEO Paul Twomey was, naturally, pleased with the
announcement. "In executing this contract the Department of
Commerce has confirmed that ICANN is uniquely positioned to perform
this function.
"It means that ICANN remains the organisation responsible for a
range of functions that are vital to the daily operation of the
Domain Name System (DNS) and, hence, the internet."
The decision was also welcomed by one of the organisations most
vocal about their concerns over IANA.
Chairman of the Council of European National Top-Level Domain
Registries (CENTR), which represents 52 mostly European top-level
domains, Paul Kane, told us: "The process undertaken by the NTIA
clearly distinguishes and seperates the IANA service contract to
the global community, from that of ICANN's general remit as the
open forum for discussing Internet coordination issues.
"We welcome NTIA's selection of ICANN as the IANA contractor and
all registries participating in the Internet Infrastructure
Improvement Fund have have agreed to donate $190,000 to ICANN to
ensure improvements in the IANA service."
The supply of funds to ICANN indicates yet another thawing in
difficult relationships that ICANN, a non-profit US company, has
had with organisations outside of the United States.
However, the most crucial contract renewal will come on 30
September when the US government reviews its Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with ICANN.
At the end of July, the US government made
it clear that it would transition its overseeing role over the
internet and ICANN to a more international body. The details and
the timeline for that transition remain a mystery, however, and are
expected to be outlined in the MoU at the end of next month.
© The Register 2006
