The Internet may have a new ruler.

ICANN, the organization that manages the Internet's domain name system, may lose its powers. Its agreement was extended only until September 30, 2012, on an exceptional basis.

ICANN is a non-profit organization founded in 1998. Its primary goal is to regulate matters related to the functioning of the Internet. The company's core competencies relate to domain name management and DNS server structure.

Before ICANN, these issues were handled by the US government. However, as the internet became a powerful international network, the idea of ​​a single government raised concerns among representatives of other countries. For this reason, ICANN was created as an independent internet governance body.

Despite its declared independence, ICANN remained de facto under the control of the US government. Until recently, the organization reported to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the US Department of Commerce.

In 1999, ICANN incorporated the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), which regulates all technical matters related to the functioning of the Internet. For example, IANA is responsible for administering root DNS servers, defining protocols, and allocating IP address blocks.

With the creation of IANA, ICANN effectively became the sole manager of the Internet, a position it had held since 2000, when its first contract was signed. In 2006, the US government awarded ICANN a second contract to manage IANA for another five years. In September 2011, ICANN's contract was extended for another six months without competitive bidding, and it was logically expected that ICANN would continue to perform its functions. However, the tender for Internet governance rights failed, and the very existence of such a tender surprised many.

In its bid to manage the internet, the US Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) introduced a series of new requirements that NTIA officials said ICANN did not meet.

"We have not received any proposals that meet the requirements of the global community," the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said, adding that "in the best interests of the global community," the tender would be re-issued soon.

Among the requirements and wishes for tender participants are increased transparency of the management company, the need to report to the community, respect for local laws, and the separation of functions between policy creation for IANA and their implementation.

In addition to ICANN, other organizations participated in the tender, but none of them met all the requirements. Despite the availability of alternatives, they were not considered competitors for ICANN. Nevertheless, US authorities deemed ICANN to have also failed to meet the tender requirements, so its contract was extended on an exceptional basis.

Some market participants believe ICANN representatives were surprised by the non-renewal of her mandate. Many attribute this to the emergence of new top-level domains, including the pornographic domain .XXX.

Equally interesting is the fact that ICANN's current CEO, Rod Beckstrom, will step down this June. He has repeatedly stated that the US government should not use the IANA management contract to pressure ICANN. A new leader could be more accommodating on a number of issues, and then ICANN could once again become the internet's governing body. After all, according to many analysts, there is currently no organization in the world capable of fulfilling ICANN's functions.