ICANN

ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet's unique identifiers.

The RIPE NCC and the RIPE community work closely with ICANN in a number of areas:

• ICANN is contracted by the U.S. government to carry out the IANA function, which includes allocating Internet number resources (IP addresses and AS Numbers) to the Regional Internet Registries from the pools of unallocated resources.
• The NRO Number Council serves as the Address Supporting Organization Address Council (ASO AC), which has responsibility for nominating two ICANN Board members.

More information on the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs).

ICANN News