U.S. Hands Over Internet Administration to ICANN Despite Objections

The US has handed its formal oversight over the internet to a Los Angeles-based private corporation, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), in spite of political objections. ICANN, which is overseen by a contingent of internet stakeholders, including engineers, businesses, academics, and non-governmental organizations, now has sole regulatory authority over the internet’s Domain Naming System (DNS).

The DNS is critical to the functioning of the internet because it associates IP addresses with simple web addresses such as “idropnews.com.” Without it, users would have to type in difficult-to-remember IP addresses into their web browsers to get anywhere. More information on the functions of ICANN are available here.

Four states, Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma, and Nevada, launched lawsuits protesting the Obama administration’s plan to transfer core internet administrative functions. The states argued that the plan has yet to receive congressional approval and requested a temporary restraining order which was denied. The attorney generals of the four states are currently reviewing other legal options.

The handover has sparked accusations by Republican members of Congress that the U.S. government is ‘giving away’ the internet and rendering it vulnerable to meddling by illiberal foreign regimes, namely Russia and China, who have a history of cracking down harshly on dissidents.

That’s not quite true. For one, ICANN does not have the authority to regulate content on the internet. The entire point of the handover is to keep the Internet free of interference from all governments by placing important internet functions under the stewardship of a private, third-party corporation, with a multi-stakeholder community backing it.

This plan not only has the approval of the technological and international community, but would maintain the status quo in many ways. In fact, Icann has been administering the DNS since 1998, although the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has technically retained largely symbolic final say. Even after the transfer has gone through, internet users will not be able to perceive a change as ICANN has been administering the internet in all but name for a while now.

If the transfer had not gone through, it would have strengthened Russia and China’s argument that the internet should be either nationalized or placed under the authority of a multi-national organization such as the United Nations, which could damage the inclusivity and openness of the internet.

Top tech companies from the Internet Governance Coalition, including Amazon, Google, and Facebook, have sent letters to Congress urging them to approve the transfer, arguing that it is crucial to “our economic and national security” and the maintenance of a free exchange of ideas on the internet.

While the transfer has been completed, there is still a possibility that the legal fight is not over and that a court could overturn the NTIA’s decision to give up its authority. The transition does not “resolve the underlying legal questions raised by the states,” writes Berin Szóka, president of TechFreedom, a think tank that opposed the handover, according to PC World. “Nor does it mean the transition is a done deal.”