Internet bodies want public input on governance

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The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) has released the IANA stewardship transition proposal for public comment.

According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the request for public input is to facilitate the transition of the stewardship of IANA functions from the U. S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the global multi-stakeholder community.

According to the Internet body, the process presents an opportunity for the public to evaluate the proposal as a whole and how it meets the criteria established by NTIA.

[blockquote right=”pull-right”]“According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the request for public input is to facilitate the transition of the stewardship of IANA functions from the U. S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the global multi-stakeholder community.” [/blockquote]

The ICG is encouraging the public to review the proposal and share their reactions and comments during the public comment period here.

ICANN says the transition of IANA’s stewardship represents an important Internet governance milestone.

According to the body, the proposal for how to carry out the transition is the result of a tremendous undertaking by the global multi-stakeholder community, including the operational communities with direct operation or service relationships with the IANA functions as well as global business, civil society, governments and Internet users.

The bodies say that these geographically diverse groups came together to work on this process shortly after NTIA announced its intent to transition its stewardship role in March 2014 . The proposal was developed through a transparent community-led process, open to and inclusive of all interested stakeholders, ICANN says.

The proposal combines components related to the three categories of IANA functions – domain names, Internet numbering resources, and protocol parameters – each of which have already been thoroughly and publicly vetted.

“The dedication that the Internet community has exhibited to the IANA stewardship transition is nothing short of remarkable,” Alissa Cooper, Chair of the ICG and member of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) community says. “The public comment period presents an opportunity for the public to assess the transition proposal in its entirety and for the ICG to build a public record demonstrating how the proposal meets the expectations set out by the U.S. Government.”

“It has been a big undertaking to develop a proposal that meets the criteria set forth by the NTIA,” Patrik Fältström, Vice Chair of the ICG and Chair of the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) adds. “I am confident that after receiving and analyzing the public comments, we will be poised to put this proposal forward to the U.S. Government for review and approval.”

“The ICG is looking forward to receiving broad input concerning key questions about the proposal,” said Mohamed El Bashir, Vice Chair of the ICG and member of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), “The public’s input is absolutely crucial to this process.”

Public feedback on the proposal, available on ICANN’s website, is expected till September 8, according to the Internet bodies.