ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Name and Numbers which oversees Internet related tasks on behalf of the US Government. The non-profit corporation’s headquarters is based in California, USA. Jon Postel founded ICANN on September 18th, 1998.
On September 29th, 2006, ICANN signed an agreement with United States Department of Commerce (DOC) that allows ICANN to completely manage the Internet system. ICANN is responsible for their decisions and can be punished for their actions.
ICANN’s aim is to keep the Internet secure and stable by implementing policies, coordinating domain names and administrating the DNS System to ensure all Internet users can find suitable websites and there is no confusion. ICANN does this by managing the top-level domain name system to ensure that whilst the system expands the system is still unique across the world. This function of ICANN is referred to as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).
ICANN manages the assignment of domain names and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, whilst helping preserve the operational stability of the Internet by developing polices which represent the global Internet community. ICANN does not control the content of the Internet.
As part of your registration fee, ICANN charges a small fee, when you register a domain name.
ICANN implements policies through decisions made by the Board of Directors; the Board has 21 members, 15 of which have voting rights and six representatives of supporting organizations, who are non-voting liaisons. The Board of Directors is made up of citizens from various countries.
Vint Cerf is the Chairman of the ICANN Board of Directors; he replaced Peter Dengate Thrush on the 3rd of November 2007. In July 2009, Paul Twomey was replaced by Rod Beckstrom as the CEO/President of ICANN.
ICANN staff work across the globe to help co-ordinate, manage and implement decisions from the Board of Directors whilst an Ombudsman reviews the work of The Board of Directors and ICANN staff.
More than eighty governments work with ICANN’s Board of Directors to recommend decisions, in regards to the Internet, through a committee called the Governmental Advisory Committee.
ICANN meetings are alternated between continents to encourage worldwide contribution.
ICANN is not funded by a government body; initially ICANN was provided with donations to fund start-up costs. ICANN runs as non-profit organization.
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