The Cybersecurity Act of 2009, a bill currently winding its way through Congress, would grant stricter federal oversight of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which allots Internet domain names and Web site addresses.
The sponsors of the bill, Sens. John D. Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe, claim their proposal is necessary to prevent what they call unacceptable vulnerability to cybercrime, espionage, and attacks that could cripple critical infrastructure.
The bill provides that within three years of its enactment the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) would be required to develop a strategy to implement a secure domain addressing system for federal agencies and for private-sector networks deemed critical by the president of the United States.
ICANN is an international organization established in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Commerce for the very purpose of privatizing domain name administration.
"From ICANN’s very beginning, everyone, particularly the U.S. government, expressed a willingness to recognize a new, not-for-profit corporation formed by private-sector Internet stakeholders to administer policy for the Internet name and address system," said Brad White, ICANN’s director of media affairs.
White said the government at the time envisioned a transition process that would facilitate ending the U.S. government’s role in the Internet number and name address system in a manner that ensured the stability of the Internet.