The Internet Society (ISOC) Board of Trustees today passed a resolution to strongly support the plan developed by the global Internet community presented to the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration to transition oversight of key Internet resources. The ISOC Board has urged the community to continue its efforts to implement the plan, and recognized that ICANN must continue to make the reforms called for by the community to continue to be a strong steward of the IANA functions.

From the announcement —

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Robert Hinden, Chair of the Internet Society Board of Trustees, said, “This is a significant milestone in the transition process. We commend the persistent and dedicated efforts by all stakeholders in developing the plan presented today, and look forward to their continued commitment to ensure the plan is successfully implemented.”

The plan provides continuity for the processes and principles that have provided a foundation for the Internet’s growth and development, and sets a course for strengthening the security and stability of the Internet going forward. The Internet Society has been active in and strongly supportive of the community-led processes that led to the plan developed by the IANA Transition Coordination Group.

Kathryn Brown, Internet Society President and CEO, said, “Ultimately, this process is about stewardship of the critical functions of one of the most extraordinary human innovations. It was right to entrust this important role to the Internet community. The IANA transition proposal is reflective of the collaborative nature of the community and I am confident that it protects and enables the continued growth and development of the Internet.”

On 14 March 2014, the U.S. Government’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intent to transition stewardship responsibility for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to the global, multistakeholder community. The Internet Society, along with other key Internet technical organizations, welcomed the announcement and have been committed to engaging in open, community-driven processes to develop the plan that was presented today.

The IANA functions keep track of IP addresses, domain names, and protocol parameters that are used by Internet standards. These identifiers are what allow billions of devices and the many thousands of networks that make up the Internet to connect with one another. IANA ensures these identifiers are responsibly managed and are publicly-available on the Internet.

Over the past two years, the work undertaken by the stakeholders to this process has been a testament to the dedication, persistence and expertise of the dedicated Internet community. In the true spirit of the Internet, there has been a tremendous amount of work and effort to ensure that the transition of the IANA functions happens in an open, inclusive, transparent and accountable manner. A successful transition is key to the positive strengthening and evolution of the multistakeholder Internet governance model.

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For more information about the IANA transition, see: http://www.internetsociety.org/ianaxfer