The Clinton administration released Friday its long-awaited draft proposal for phasing out US government involvement in running the Internet's naming and address system.
The 15-page paper, now open for public comment, suggests a wide array of changes in the way both numerical Internet addresses and the more familiar domain names are controlled.
The chief thrust of the proposal, which has been in progress since last summer, is to transfer control of most technical addressing issues from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority to a new nonprofit organization run by an international board. The proposal also calls for competition in both the registry and registrar spheres - the former involving administration of top-level domains, the latter focused on sale and maintenance of domain names to businesses and consumers.
Currently, Network Solutions Inc. is both exclusive registry and registrar for the .com, .org, and .net top-level domains. That exclusive arrangement will be discontinued by the end of September, the draft said. Full story to follow.
