The domain naming system (DNS), one of the most important mechanism in identifying computers attached to the Internet, shall no longer be controlled by the United States.
According to reports, the US Commerce Department will give up oversight of the DNS and hand it over to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) on October 1 this year.
The DNS links web address to servers using a unique set of numbers, commonly referred to as an IP address.
The DNS links every web address to servers using a unique set of numbers, commonly referred to as an IP address.
The US has conveyed it is finally ready to cede power of the internet’s naming system, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the internet’s governance.
The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it wasn’t until 2016 that the US said it was finally satisfied that ICANN was ready to make the change.
However, users of the web shall not notice any difference owing to ICANN, which has a strong leadership. Infact, the transfer has been designed to ensure that the DNS continues to be a strong, reliable pillar of the internet for years to come.
Supporters of the move, including the Obama administration, believe privatization will help maintain international support for the system and prevent governance of the internet from becoming a bone of contention.
Lawrence Strickling, assistant secretary for communications and information, said in the US Commerce Department’s blog post, “For the last 18 years, the United States has been working with the global Internet multi-stakeholder community to establish a stable and secure multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance that ensures that the private sector, not governments, takes the lead in setting the future direction of the Internet’s domain name system.”
The country has long acknowledged that relinquishing its control over DNS was a vital act of international diplomacy. Noticeably, the countries, particularly China and Russia, had put pressure on the UN to call for the DNS to be controlled by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union.