The
Commerce Department currently controls the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, which controls internet addresses
including .com, .net and .org and many country domains. ICANN has
signed a three-year extension with the Commerce Department to
manage domains, but the new deal involves less Government oversight
than previously.
The US government has been promising to cede control of ICANN
since its establishment in 1998. Though this has never happened,
the Commission has welcomed the new contract and the pledge to hand
the body its independence in 2009.
"A new and final chapter opened this weekend," said European
Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr at a press conference,
according to reports. "We welcome that ICANN will be set free in a
process over the next three years."
The Commission did make clear that it would track the US's
actions to ensure that its word was kept.
"The European Commission will follow closely ICANN's transition
to full independence in the next three years," said Information
Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. "With our advice, we
will contribute to this transition to ensure that it takes place
transparently, reflecting the interests of industry and civil
society alike."
The new agreement between the US and ICANN places less onerous
conditions on the non-profit organisation and reduces the amount of
direct control exercised over it. The twice yearly reports from
ICANN to the Department of Commerce are no longer required, and
department officials can no longer dictate what work ICANN
employees carry out.
There have long been claims internationally that ICANN suffered
US political interference. The latest incident came when ICANN
decided not to proceed with establishing a .xxx domain designed for
pornographic material. Critics, including the European Commission,
claimed that the decision was due to political pressure from US
President George W Bush's conservative administration.
The US Government said that it wanted ICANN to be independent.
"We are committed to working with ICANN to ensure that they have
the established transparency and accountability mechanisms
necessary to be a stable, lasting and independent institution,"
John Kneur, acting assistant secretary for communications, told the
Reuters news agency.
"This is a major step forward for the Internet community," Paul
Levins, an ICANN vice president, told Reuters. "This is about the
U.S. government saying that ICANN should be very clearly put on a
path toward autonomy."
