What does it mean when the US government gives up control over domains?

The US government has relinquished control over internet addresses. This function will be performed by a new organization, PTI (Public Technical Identifiers), which reports to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names (ICANN). ICANN Vice President Mikhail Yakushev explained what this means for businesses and users.

So, on September 30, the contract between the US Department of Commerce and ICANN expired. This marked the end of the US government's gradual relinquishment of control over the internet, which began in the 1980s with the commercialization of internet development. Internet address space is now under the control of ICANN.

ICANN now reports not to the government, but to a significant number of interested parties and stakeholders—civil society organizations, committees, businesses, researchers, technical experts, and so on. This operating principle is called "decentralization of control" over the address space. This is a positive change, but the downside is increased responsibility on the part of service providers for user security. Incidentally, we at NIC.UA are prepared for this responsibility :) (for more details, see the article "Why your domains will always work»).

ICANN promises that no single organization, company, country, or group of people will be able to seize control of the organization. Decisions will be made openly and through compromise, with the possibility of appeal.

The governments of 160 countries will participate in the management of the address space. The ICANN Board promises to pay close attention to the recommendations of these governments. At the same time, IANA (the address space authority) will not be transferred to the control of any governmental or intergovernmental body, consistent with the principles of an open internet. In general, the internet will continue to operate as it always has, and ICANN will operate on a business-as-usual basis.

Yakushev believes the global community now has greater opportunities to participate in developing new mechanisms that will promote internet stability, security, and resilience. The transition of internet governance from the US government to the community is an important step toward internet openness.