At the end of this month, September 30th, the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) will come to an end. While ICANN has affirmed its commitment in maintaining a long-term, formal relationship with the United States, talks of new changes and a more independent ICANN is intensifying as the expiration date is quickly approaching.

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Updates:  UPDATED Sep 30, 2009 10:29 PM PDT

SEP.30.2009 In this PBS Video, Darren Gersh sits down with ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom to discuss the expansion of Top-Level Domains as well as new changes that will be brought about as a result of ending the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). [PBS]

SEP.30.2009 An article has been published today in the Guradian, by ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom titled, "The Internet Belongs to You". Beckstrom writes: "We are entering a new era of coordination, not control -- where the internet is governed by you, the users." [Guradian]

SEP.30.2009 Taking a Hard Look at the "Affirmation": "The Obama administration NTIA is to be commended for making changes that attempt to address longstanding issues regarding unilateral U.S. oversight of ICANN. They also get an A for effort, as they consulted broadly with other governments and big business (though not so much with civil society). Whatever its flaws may be, the AoC [Affirmation of Commitments] is better than its predecessor. The prior instrument, an ICANN-Commerce Department MoU, failed to make ICANN more accountable, subjected its policy making process to parochial U.S. lobbying, and was insufficiently internationalized to be anything but a provocation to the Internet community outside the U.S. ... While acknowledging this effort to move forward, we believe that there are serious design flaws in the approach taken." [Internet Governance Project]

SEP.30.2009 Andrew Allemann of Domain Name Wire shares his discussion with ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom: "Beckstrom explained that the AOC replaces the JPA, allowing for more control by world governments; not just the United States. But the AOC is just one piece of the puzzle, and the U.S. government still has a hand by awarding ICANN the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA) contract." [Domain Name Wire]

SEP.30.2009 European Commission responds: "Viviane Reding, the EU's Commissioner for Information Society and Media, today welcomed news that ICANN, the body primarily responsible for managing internet domain names, will become more open and accountable to billions of internet users worldwide. As of 30 September, ICANN, the US-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, will no longer be subject to the unilateral review by the US Department of Commerce, but by independent review panels appointed by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and ICANN itself with the involvement of governments around the world. Since 2005, the European Commission has repeatedly called for reform of the governance of the internet's key global resources. This is necessary to ensure important public policy objectives such as freedom of expression and facilitating stable business transactions online. The European Commission is strongly committed to accompany and support the implementation of the reforms announced today, in close cooperation with the EU's 27 Member States."

SEP.30.2009 Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google: "Google and its users depend every day on a vibrant and expanding Internet; we endorse this Affirmation and applaud the maturing of ICANN's role in the provision of Internet stability." [ICANN]

SEP.30.2009 Vint Cerf, co-inventor of the Internet: "The Affirmation of Commitments by ICANN and DOC fulfills a long-standing objective of the original formation of ICANN: to create an organization that can serve the world's interest in a robust, reliable and interoperable Internet." [ICANN]

SEP.30.2009 Official announcement by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA): "NTIA and ICANN co-signed an Affirmation of Commitments that completes the transition of the technical management of the DNS to a multi-stakeholder, private-sector-led model. The Affirmation ensures accountability and transparency in ICANN's decision-making with the goal of protecting the interests of global Internet users. The Affirmation also establishes mechanisms to address the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS as well as promote competition, consumer trust, and consumer choice." [NTIA]

SEP.30.2009 ICANN CEO Talks About the New Affirmation of Commitments: "Q: JPA is gone. We now have this Affirmation. What is this Affirmation? A: The Affirmation is an Affirmation of Commitments among the parties effectively for us to have a continued relationship with the United States government, and our commitment to do periodic reviews of our accountability and transparency as an organization of our performance and security and resiliency and in other areas. And we're committing to do those reviews, but in the past under the JPA those reviews were simply submitted to the U.S. government. Under the new relationship, these reviews are developed by what will conventionally be an international committee of parties chosen by the chairman of our Governmental Advisory Committee, who represents 100 countries around the world, and the CEO of ICANN--myself-- or in some cases the chairman of ICANN." [ICANN]



SEP.29.2009 European Commissioner, Vivian Reding, discusses the expiration of the agreement between ICANN and U.S. Department of Commerce (Joint Project Agreement). [English Translation]

SEP.29.2009 AFFIRMATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES: "ICANN's shall continue in its commitment to the private sector management of the Internet DNS, by promoting the security and stability of the global Internet, while maintaining, and promoting competition through its multi-stakeholder model."

SEP.29.2009 ICANN’s New US Contract And New Top Level Domains - It’s Not Over: "With a day to go before the joint project agreement between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the United States Department of Commerce (DoC) is set to expire, calls for continuous US oversight role have been reiterated by US politicians and private-sector representatives who reason that this oversight is especially needed in the face of the planned introduction of new internet top-level domains like .shop." [Intellectual Property Watch]

SEP.28.2009 Thomas Lenard, president of the Washington-based Technology Policy Institute: "It's hard to find another organization in the world which is profit-making and non profit-making, government and non-government and which plays such an important role and operates with the degree of independence that ICANN operates with in terms of external checks." [AFP]

SEP.24.2009 The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee invites the community to attend a briefing on "The Future of the U.S. Government's Role in ICANN, Internet Addressing and Internet Governance". The briefing will feature government officials responsible for managing the relationship between the U.S. and ICANN, the non-profit body that manages the Internet's domain name system, including IP address space allocation. Presenters will represent the NTIA within the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of State respectively. [ICANN]

SEP.24.2009 The Economist reports ICANN has a new agreement called 'affirmation of commitment' planned to come into effect: "Previous agreements had maintained close American oversight over ICANN and imposed detailed reforms, but the latest document, called an "affirmation of commitments", is only four pages long. It gives ICANN the autonomy to manage its own affairs. Whereas prior agreements had to be renewed every few years, the new one has no fixed term." [The Economist]

SEP.23.2009 ICANN seeks to quell concerns on the Hill: "NTIA Associate Administrator Fiona Alexander and senior adviser Larry Atlas quietly visited Asia, Europe and South America this month to share details about the path forward for the United States and ICANN with their foreign counterparts." [Nextgov]

SEP.23.2009 ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom Reponds to House Judiciary ranking member Lamar Smith and House Judiciary Courts and Competition Subcommittee ranking member Howard Coble, R-N.C.: "ICANN seeks to have a long term, formal relationship with the United States Government and also seeks to build long-term relationships with other countries and contractual partners as well." [ICANN (PDF)]

SEP.22.2009 The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse issues a press release calling on the U.S. government to closely re-examine ICANN's structure, governance, and oversight mechanisms before committing to any further long-term cooperation. "ICANN is broken. We're releasing our 'Top Ten List' of things wrong with ICANN and proposing a full- scale audit of the nonprofit organization that controls Internet policy." [CADNA]