Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Controversial from its inception, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a private, nonprofit, non-governmental policymaking body chartered by the U.S. Commerce Department in 1998 to take over much of the U.S. government's formal oversight of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS). Through its Defense Department, the federal government funded and participated in most of the work that created the Internet, and when the Internet was still relatively small, it was also saddled with the network's address administration. But the Internet exploded in the late 1990s, and ICANN was created to free the government from the burden of overseeing the monumental task of dispensing World Wide Web addresses to businesses and individuals. ICANN also helped deflect growing criticism, especially among European Union states, that the U.S. government held too much power over the global Internet. Nevertheless, ICANN itself has been the object of almost constant criticism since its formation.

While the Internet is usually thought of as ungovernable, some form of central authority over the DNS is essential to make sure that all Web addresses are unique. The DNS is what allows Web surfers to type easily remembered names (like “http://Amazon.com”) into their browsers instead of arcane server numbers when they want to view a Web site. For instance, we can type in http://www.congress.gov rather than having to recall the more difficult server number for the same site, which is http://140.147.248.209. The DNS is the reason that Web addresses end in “top-level domains” (TLDs) like “.com,” “.edu,” “.gov,” “.mil,” “.net,” and “.org.” Without some form of central oversight, it would not be possible to prevent a situation in which, for example, two or more sites called “http://Ebay.com” fight for audience share on the Web.