(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Internet regulation body ICANN (www.icann.org) and the US Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday that they have signed a new agreement that ensures that ICANN will now be “independent and not controlled by any one entity”.
As a result of the agreement, ICANN will remain as a private, not-for-profit organization.
The Joint Project Agreement arrangement between ICANN and the US government just came to an end, which opened the doors for this new agreement. Last week, ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom wrote a detailed letter to congressmen addressing the joint project agreement and the new gTLDs.
“[The agreement] commits ICANN to reviews performed by the community — a further recognition that the multi-stakeholder model is robust enough to review itself,” said ICANN, adding that the deal was “long-standing” and not restricted to the three-year term specified in previous agreements.
ICANN was initiated in 1998 as a governing body for top-level domain management system and IP address space allocation on behalf of the US government.
However, the last few years has seen increasing concerns by members of the Internet community that argued that ICANN should be more transparent in its actions.
Beckstrom said the new deal “marks an exciting new stage in Icann’s development as a truly international entity and it confirms once and for all, that the Icann model of public participation works, and works effectively”.
With the new agreement terms, the US Department of Commerce will be given a seat on ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee, while the European Commission plays an active role in the GAC and in further developing the committee itself.
Internet industry leaders such as the Internet co-inventor Vint Cert and Google CEO Eric Schmidt have responded positively to the new agreement, giving the new deal their full endorsement.
