Strickling Seeks Thorough IANA Transition, ICANN Accountability

ICANN’s accountability proposal process started after the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition process, but the latter is making “considerable progress,” NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling said in a blog post Thursday, referring to ICANN 52 in Singapore last week (see 1502180034). Strickling said it’s “important” the IANA transition and ICANN accountability work streams “remain in sync.” NTIA will “only consider a coordinated and complete transition plan,” he said. It’s “so important that we get this transition right,” Strickling said. “If it doesn’t take place, we will embolden authoritarian regimes to seek greater government control of the Internet or to threaten to fragment the Internet, which would result in a global patchwork of regulations and rules that stifle the free flow of information.”