The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) has approved proposals made by the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and is poised to
transfer the administration of the Domain Name System (DNS) from the
government to the Internet group.
The government nod comes days after ICANN sent a letter of amended bylaws to
Becky Burr, associate administrator at the NTIA. The group made several
changes in response to vocal critics, such as The Boston Working Group and
The Open Root Server Confederation, who complained the makeup of ICANN was
not globally representative. Critics were also concerned meetings were not
open to the public.
The NTIA is drafting a memorandum that officially recognizes ICANN is the
private sector corporation it will work with in handing over the DNS reins.
During an e-commerce event next Monday at the White House, the document
will receive formal approval, with President Clinton and Vice President Al
Gore on hand.
Both Magaziner and Burr said they supported the ICANN amendments. Although
they are still concerned about certain points, they felt ICANN’s structure
was sound enough to approve the transfer.
“The consensus is that we should move forward, but there were serious
concerns,” Burr said.