Internet takes another step away from US govt and into ICANN's hands

Congress

"opposition in the US Congress may delay it until after the presidential elections."

I really, really doubt it. Now that NTIA has said "you're good to go", it's out of their hands and all that members of Congress can do is blow smoke.

Excellent article, aside from inaccurate/misleading title

Hello Kieren!

Thank you for the article covering this important event - as usual, you've done a very credible job of summarizing the situation including the points that people need to take away.

I will, however, take exception with the title ("Internet takes another step away from US govt and into ICANN's hands"); while it is not quite click-bait, it is badly misleading and propagating some of the misinformation regarding the very nature of the IANA Stewardship Transition. To be clear, the transition is not about the operation of the various IANA registries - that is ICANN now, and shall remain ICANN after transition - but the party acting as the steward for the registries and who is contracting with ICANN to perform that administration.

For the Internet number registries, the affected community has had the benefit of being represented by the five member-based Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) going back for decades - hence it is more logical for the RIRs to collectively contract with ICANN to perform the administration of the global Internet number registries than to have ICANN perform that under the auspices of a single government.

Your title (which may have been beyond your control) should have read "Regional Internet Number Registries Ready for Stewardship Handoff from US Govt" or something to that effect. It may not generate as many clicks, but will serve your readership far better than the present title.

Thanks!

/John

John Curran

President and CEO

ARIN