ICANN Formation

ICANN Formation

The Internet originated as a limited research network for U.S. Government agencies. Researchers in geographically remote regions needed a channel for exchanging information, and the Internet was created to facilitate data sharing among their computers. In 1992, recognizing the growth potential of these computer networks, the U.S. Congress gave the National Science Foundation the authority to allow commercial activity on its NSFNET, the largest of the government networks, and the mainstream global Internet we know today was born.

The Internet has revolutionized the way that people around the world communicate. On a technical level, the Internet can be described as a network of computers that exchange data. Computers connected to the Internet communicate using a system of numbers, known as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which help route information to its correct destination. Each IP number, such as "157.150.192.2", corresponds to a unique computer or "address" on the Internet. Since strings of numbers are difficult for people to remember, the Internet matches these numbers to an alphabetic address that consists of user-friendly letters. If you need information on the United Nations, for example, you can type "http://www.un.org" into your web browser, rather than "157.150.192," to locate the United Nations web site. This system of matching names and numbers is called the Domain Name System (DNS).

For users to be routed to the websites they request from their computers, each IP number and domain name must be unique. Thus, a central coordinating body is necessary to assign these numbers and names, and oversee the technical management of the DNS so that the network runs smoothly. As the Internet developed over the past 25 years, the U.S. Government managed this process through government agencies and contractors. More recently, however, as the Internet has grown into a mainstream international communications medium, U.S. Government management of its development has become increasingly inappropriate.

Commercial stakeholders, whose business now depends on the technical stability of the Internet, have called for a more formal and robust management structure. The increasing population of international Internet users has protested a U.S. government monopoly on a global communications medium. And, as domain names became associated with trademarks and began to acquire a commercial value, an international trademark dispute resolution mechanism has become increasingly necessary to resolve domain name disputes across national borders. In response to these concerns, the U.S. government issued a plan in 1997 to create an international, non-profit organization that would oversee the technical management of the Internet.

In July 1997, the U.S. government issued a plan, commonly known as the White Paper, for transferring the management of domain names and IP numbers to a private, nonprofit corporation. The White Paper established general principles for a management body that would represent "the global and functional diversity of the Internet and its users," and called upon the Internet community to form this nonprofit corporation through a process of bottom-up consensus.

Building consensus within the Internet community required participation by a broad, international base of stakeholders, including Internet engineers and computer scientists, commercial and noncommercial users, Internet service providers, and trademark interests. These stakeholders were asked to appoint an initial Board of Directors to design the nonprofit corporation called for in the White Paper. In October 1998, ten representatives to this board were chosen through an ad-hoc process, and the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was formed.

The initial board members created a 19-member board of directors, comprised of the organization's president and 18 additional members, to serve as ICANN's chief policy-making body. Nine board directors are elected by ICANN's three Supporting Organizations (SOs), which provide a formal, institutional forum for companies and organizations from the business, technical and noncommercial communities to participate in ICANN. The other nine directors will be selected by ICANN members through the At-Large election process, which is intended to provide Internet users not represented in the supporting organizations with the opportunity to participate in ICANN. The three Supporting Organizations have selected the first set of nine Supporting Organization ICANN board members.