Technology giants like Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Amazon and Twitter on Tuesday wrote to the United States Congress requesting it to support the change of control of the internet's technical management from the government to the global community. The transfer of control over California-based non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which operates the database of domain names and their numeric addresses, will take place on October 1 unless the Congress opposes it, reported Reuters.
The companies said, "A global, interoperable and stable internet is essential for our economic and national security." They added in the letter that the "transition to the multi-stakeholder model" will benefit the US. The global community that is seeking control over the management of ICANN includes tech experts, companies and public interest advocates.
The issue was raised after a few Republican lawmakers objected to this change of control because they feel it will "significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the internet". Experts, however, argued that the plan includes safeguards against any potential abuse by any country. Senator Ted Cruz, who has been the face of the opposition against the change in power, will hold a congressional hearing in the matter on Wednesday.
The handover of supervision of the system, which allows the pairing of Internet Protocol addresses with server names (such as 66.220.144.0 with Facebook.com), was originally agreed upon in 2014.
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