Innovation and Intellectual Property Issues in Homeland Security: RL32051.

To navigate the Internet requires using addresses (and corresponding names) that identify the location of individual computers. As the Internet grew, the method for allocating and designating those domain names became controversial. The Administration issued a White Paper in June 1998 endorsing the creation of a new notfor-profit corporation of private sector Internet stakeholders to administer policy for the Internet name and address system. On November 25, 1998, the Department of Commerce (DOC) formally approved a new corporation, called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). A Memorandum of Understanding between ICANN and DOC has been extended through September 2003. During this transition period, government obligations will be terminated as most DNS responsibilities are transferred to the private sector. Issues in the 108th Congress include the appropriate federal role in overseeing the DNS, the creation of new top level domains (TLDs), how ICANN will be governed and funded, and the resolution of trademark disputes. This report will be updated periodically as events warrant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]