U.S. Gov't Maintains Control of Net

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said Tuesday that it had reached a new agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce that would technically keep the group under American control through 2011.

Although the initial agreement is for one year, the Commerce Department has the option to extend the agreement by an additional year over the next four years. The agreement would take effect on October 1, the day after the current contract expires. The new agreement is sure to reignite the international debate over control of the Internet.

"In executing this contract the Department of Commerce has confirmed that ICANN is uniquely positioned to perform this function," ICANN president and CEO Dr. Paul Twomey said. "It means that ICANN remains the organization responsible for a range of functions that are vital to the daily operation of the Domain Name System (DNS) and hence the Internet."

Tuesday's agreement seems to solidify the position of the Bush administration that control of the Internet would stay under United States. The fight began last summer when the UN said that the United States must cede at least some control over the Internet.

The International Telecommunications Commission said in September that the UN was ready to take control of the Net. However, hours before a meeting on Internet technologies where the topic was to be discussed, the U.S. signed an agreement with other nations keeping ICANN under its control while opening the door for discussion.

U.S. government officials have repeatedly said they would relinquish control over ICANN, even going as far as holding hearings on the subject of privatization. But it now appears that government control of the body that governs the Internet's domain name servers would last into the foreseeable future.