LACNIC’s Role in the IANA Functions’ Stewardship Transition

02/03/2015

*By Andres Piazza

One of the major milestones of 2014 was the announcement made by the US government in the month of March that it would be transitioning stewardship of the IANA functions to the global Internet community. This announcement was made simultaneously with the release of a statement by a group of organizations representing the technical Internet community (I*, a group of which LACNIC is part).

Although it must be recognized that the announced transition is a logical consequence of the evolution of the institutions that gave way to ICANN’s creation during the 90s, there are also reasons that lead us to think that the decision has to do with the well-known events of 2013, highlights of which include the discovery of mass surveillance episodes (brought to light by Snowden), the Montevideo Statement issued by the technical Internet community through I* (which added to the two preceding statements made by the Regional Internet Registries), and the imminent organization of the NetMundial event in 2014.

As a consequence of the announcement, the Internet community began a process of intense debate within the three specific communities affected by the IANA functions: the numbers community (Internet addresses), the domain names community, and the protocol parameters community.

As regards to LACNIC in particular, our organization has actively participated in the discussions of the global numbers community, as well in as a consultation process among the regional community.

Certain relevant activities are worth highlighting within the process conducted by the regional community: a panel was held during the LACNIC 21 event in Cancun; a mailing list was created to discuss Internet Governance issues; a list of information resources was published; community representatives were appointed to lead the consultation process; a panel was held during the LACNIC 22 meeting in Santiago, Chile; the results of this consultation with the community were compiled; and representatives were appointed to the CRISP team for the global process.

In December 2014 and during the first half of January 2015, the CRISP team conducted an open discussion process through which ideas were consolidated. The goal of submitting a single consolidated proposal on behalf of the five regional numbers communities to the Internet Coordination Group (a group that receives input from the three different communities affected by the IANA functions) was achieved and a global process that will continue its course until October was defined.

SINGAPORE. The final proposal prepared by the CRISP team was submitted to the ICG in due time (15 January). http://www.nro.net/crisp-final-proposal. One remarkable aspect of this report has to do with the consensus reached among the communities of the five Regional Internet Registries, where there were not objections.

During the ICANN 52 meeting held in Singapore during this month of February, the ICG (Internet Coordination Group) analyzed the CRISP team’s proposal and interviewed Izumi Okutani, who chairs the CRISP team.

During the ICANN Public Forum held after the organization’s 52nd meeting, Steve Crocker, Chair of the ICANN Board, said that nothing contained in the IETF and CRISP proposals were cause for concern.

Keeping in mind the date set by the NTIA (30 September), during this entire year, the Internet community will continue working on the various elements needed to achieve the final transition. Among other things, this will imply informing and consulting with our communities during our events (LACNIC 22 and 23) as well as between these meetings.

For more information, check out the Transition section on LACNIC’s website http://www.lacnic.net/web/transicion/inicio