US government to end formal relationship with ICANN

The global Internet community will be included "in full" in the transition process, Chehadé said. He encouraged civil society, Internet groups and other organizations to be involved in the transition and in the new governance model. Debate on the transition will begin during ICANN's meeting in Singapore March 23 to 27, he said.

If ICANN meets the NTIA's conditions to create a new governance model, the IANA contract will "gracefully sunset," Chehadé said during a press conference. Friday's announcement shows the NTIA is "trusting ICANN" to engage the global Internet community in a new governance model, he said.

"This is historic, because it marks a point of maturity in ICANN, the ICANN community and the global Internet community," he said. "The decision of the United States government to do this at this point is truly a triumph of the multistakeholder model."

U.S. trade group NetChoice questioned the decision. The announcement comes after a series of revelations about U.S. National SecuritySecurity Agency surveillance programs across the Internet, coming from leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Alles zu Security auf CIO.de

"I hope it's not just a frightened reaction to the Snowden revelations, which have nothing to do with the Internet Domain Name System," NetChoice executive director Steve DelBianco said by email. "Maybe the administration wants to rack up political points for upcoming [Internet governance] meetings. I'm afraid those points won't be worth what this move may cost."