ICANN

Information about ICANN, IANA, and Internet Governance
See also Domain Mondo's pages: LinksRegistrant Resources, and UDRP 

ICANN - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a California "Domestic Nonprofit" Corporation
source: Office of the Secretary of State, State of California, 2014 - https://businessfilings.sos.ca.gov/
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is a non-profit corporation (see above) incorporated in the State of California, USA, in 1998. As a California corporation, it is subject to laws of the State of California, e.g., CA Codes (corp:5250): "5250. A corporation is subject at all times to examination by the Attorney General [of the State of California], on behalf of the state, to ascertain the condition of its affairs and to what extent, if at all, it fails to comply with trusts which it has assumed or has departed from the purposes for which it is formed. In case of any such failure or departure the Attorney General may institute, in the name of the state, the proceeding necessary to correct the noncompliance or departure." See also: California Unfair Competition Law (Wikipedia) and Private Attorney General Doctrine (pdf) and Private attorney general (Wikipedia).

ICANN is also a tax exempt organization pursuant to the (U.S.) Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3): Exemption Requirements - Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) Organizations"To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not be an action organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates. Organizations described in section 501(c)(3) are commonly referred to as charitable organizations. Organizations described in section 501(c)(3), other than testing for public safety organizations, are eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions in accordance with Code section 170. The organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, and no part of a section 501(c)(3) organization's net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual. If the organization engages in an excess benefit transaction with a person having substantial influence over the organization, an excise tax may be imposed on the person and any organization managers agreeing to the transaction. Section 501(c)(3) organizations are restricted in how much political and legislative (lobbying) activities they may conduct...."  For further information: Tell the IRS about Suspected Tax Exempt Status Abuses (pdf) and How Do You Report Suspected Tax Fraud Activity?

In addition, U.S. Government authorities, as well as other governmental authorities throughout the world, have or may have, post-IANA transition, regulatory or law enforcement authority in their respective jurisdictions over ICANN, ICANN's Board of Directors, ICANN Officers, ICANN staff, or gTLD Registry Operators and ICANN-accredited Registrars. In the U.S., this may include one or more of the following, depending upon the entity and issues involved:
See also on Domain MondoICANN, Domain Registry Operators, Monopoly, Antitrust, FTC Statement

ICANN Organizational Chart (click on chart to enlarge):

ICANN Management Organization Chart:



What Does ICANN Do? (source: ICANN)
See also helpful introductory Wikipedia articles:
IANA — Framework Documents: Key documents relating to the oversight framework for the performance of the IANA functions. Note: there is an active discussion concerning the future evolution of the oversight of the IANA functions, information on that process is available at http://icann.org/stewardship.

NTIA IANA Functions Contract
Since 2000, the performance of the IANA functions has been governed by a contract between ICANN and the US Government's National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The current contract (SA1301-12-CN-0035) has been in effect since 2012.
IANA Functions Contract

As a deliverable to section C.7.3 of the 2012 contract, ICANN has produced a document describing transition to a successor.
 Transition to Successor (April 2014)

IETF Memorandum of Understanding
Since 2000, protocol parameter registry assignments have been governed by a memorandum of understanding between ICANN and the Internet Engineering Task Force. This MOU is updated on an annual basis through supplemental agreements.
ICANN-IETF MOU and Supplemental Agreements

ICANN Glossary
ICANN Glossaryhttps://www.icann.org/search/#!/?searchText=glossary (Glossary search results page)
ICANN.org - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
Twitter: @ICANN and @icann_president
ICANN FY16 Operating Plan and Budget (July 1, 2015-June 30, 2016)
ICANN Beta KPI Dashboard
ICANN Articles of Incorporation - a California Non-profit Corporation
BYLAWS: ICANN | A California Nonprofit Public-Benefit Corporation
AFFIRMATION OF COMMITMENTS - USA and ICANN
ICANN Strategic Plan 2016-2020 (pdf)
ICANN Conflicts of Interest Policy
Summary of ICANN Officers and Board Member Statements of Interest
ICANN Management Organization Chart (pdf) (March 2, 2015)
Looking Back at ICANN: NSI's Courtroom Victories Paved Way for Modern Domain Name Industry | Bloomberg BNA

CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODEsee generally--CNPBCL California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law--
General Provisions:
DIVISION 2. NONPROFIT CORPORATION LAW
PART 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS GOVERNING PARTS 1-5
PART 2. NONPROFIT PUBLIC BENEFIT CORPORATIONS

ICANN: Domain Name Registrants (ICANN search page results)
ICANN: Domain Name Registrants' Rights and Responsibilities
ICANN Accredited Registrars
ICANN Notices of Breach, Suspension, Termination and Non-Renewal and Compliance Related Correspondences to Registrars
ICANN public mailing lists
ICANN groups
ICANN Blog
ICANN - Mapping the Domain Name Industry
ICANN Labs
ICANN Whois-Related Policies and Provisions | WHOIS
ICANN Ombudsman Blog

ICANN: "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a nonprofit organization that coordinates the Internet's global domain name system. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a department of ICANN responsible for managing the DNS Root and the numbering system for IP addresses. ICANN was created on September 18, 1998, and incorporated on September 30, 1998. It is headquartered in the Playa Vista section of Los Angeles, California. ICANN is responsible for the coordination of maintenance and methodology of several databases of unique identifiers related to the namespaces of the Internet, and ensuring the network's stable and secure operation. The numbering facilities include the Internet Protocol address spaces (IPv4 and IPv6) and assignment of address blocks to regional Internet registries. ICANN maintains registries of Internet protocol identifiers, and the management of the top-level domain name space (DNS root zone), which includes the operation of root name servers. Most visibly, much of its work has concerned the DNS policy development for internationalization of the DNS system and introduction of new generic top-level domains (TLDs)..." (source: Wikipedia)

IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority - "IANA allocates and maintains unique codes and numbering systems that are used in the technical standards (“protocols”) that drive the Internet. IANA’s various activities can be broadly grouped in to three categories:
Domain Names
IANA manages the DNS Root, the .int and .arpa domains, and an IDN practices resource.
Number Resources
IANA coordinates the global pool of IP and AS numbers, providing them to Regional Internet Registries.
Protocol Assignments
Internet protocols’ numbering systems are managed by IANA in conjunction with standards bodies.
"IANA is [currently] managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) under contract to the United States Department of Commerce (DOC) and pursuant to an agreement with the IETF. The Department of Commerce also provides an ongoing oversight function, whereby it verifies additions and changes made in the DNS root zone to ensure IANA complies with its policies...." (source: WikipediaPrior to the establishment of ICANN...IANA was administered principally by Jon Postel at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) of the University of Southern California (USC) situated at Marina Del Ray (Los Angeles), under a contract USC/ISI had with the United States Department of Defense, until ICANN was created to assume the responsibility under a United States Department of Commerce contract. (source: Wikipedia)

ICANN DNS Engineering | Port 53, et al

The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is the committee charged with oversight of the technical and engineering development of the Internet by the Internet Society (ISOC). It oversees a number of Task Forces, of which the most important are the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). The body which eventually became the IAB was created originally by the United States Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with the name Internet Configuration Control Board during 1979; it eventually became the Internet Advisory Board during September, 1984, and then the Internet Activities Boardduring May, 1986 (the name was changed, while keeping the same acronym). It finally became the Internet Architecture Board, under ISOC, during January, 1992, as part of the Internet's transition from a U.S.-government entity to an international, public entity....(source: Wikipedia)

InterNIC - InterNIC is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is licensed to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which operates the web site.

ICANN and Root Server Operators:The Internet's Root Server System consists of twelve organizations that operate the world's thirteen DNS root name servers. Over the years, root server operators have affirmed their role in cooperation with ICANN.
Root--Root Server Operator--Document--Date
F ISC Agreement January 2008
I Netnod Letters May 2009
K RIPE NCC Letters June 2009

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