	What Is Internet Governance? How Is the Internet Currently Governed? First, the Internet is inherently international and cannot in its totality be governed by national governments whose authority ends at national borders. Key organizations in the private sector include the following:
Internet Corporation for As signed Names and Numbers (ICANN )— ICANN was created in 1998 through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Commerce (see the following section of this report, " Role of U.S. Government "). Directed by an internationally constituted Board of Directors, ICANN is a private, not-for-profit organization based in Los Angeles, CA, which manages and oversees the critical technical underpinnings of the Internet such as the domain name system (DNS) and IP addressing (see the Appendix for more background information on ICANN). Governmental entities involved in Internet governance include the following:
Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) —As part of ICANN's multistakeholder process, the GAC provides advice to the ICANN Board on matters of public policy, especially in cases where ICANN activities and policies may interact with national laws or international agreements related to issues such as intellectual property, law enforcement, and privacy. On March 14, 2014, NTIA announced its intention to transition its stewardship role and procedural authority over key domain name functions to the global Internet multistakeholder community. NTIA asked ICANN to convene interested global Internet stakeholders (both from the private sector and governments) to develop a proposal to achieve the transition; NTIA stated that it will not accept any transition proposal that would replace the NTIA role with a government-led or an intergovernmental organization solution and that the transition proposal must have broad community support and address the following four principles:
support and enhance the multistakeholder model; maintain the security, stability, and resilience of the Internet DNS; meet the needs and expectation of the global customers and partners of the IANA services; and maintain the openness of the Internet. On March 10, 2016, the ICANN Board formally accepted the IANA Stewardship Transition proposal and the Enhancing ICANN Accountability report. The Board formally transmitted the transition and accountability plans to NTIA for approval. On June 9, 2016, NTIA issued its IANA Stewardship Transition Proposal Assessment Report . Finally, on September 30, 2016, NTIA let its contract with ICANN expire, and the transition was complete. The other criticism has been fueled by concerns of many nations that the U.S. government has held undue legacy influence and control over ICANN and the domain name system. Proposed Models for Internet Governance

As discussed above, ICANN is a working example of a multistakeholder model of Internet governance, whereby a bottom-up collaborative process is used to provide Internet stakeholders with access to the policymaking process. 1580 stated that "It is the policy of the United States to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet." With the transition now complete, Congress may continue assessing how effectively NTIA is advancing U.S. government positions within the Governmental Advisory Committee. Of particular interest may be to what extent ongoing and future intergovernmental telecommunications conferences constitute an opportunity for some nations to increase intergovernmental control over the Internet—at the expense of the multistakeholder system of Internet governance—and how effectively NTIA and other government agencies (such as the State Department) are working to counteract that threat.
The Internet is often described as a "network of networks" because it is not a single physical entity, but hundreds of thousands of interconnected networks linking hundreds of millions of computers around the world. As such, the Internet is international, decentralized, and comprised of networks and infrastructure largely owned and operated by private sector entities. As the Internet grows and becomes more pervasive in all aspects of modern society, the question of how it should be governed becomes more pressing.
Currently, an important aspect of the Internet is governed by a private sector, international organization based in California called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN manages and oversees some of the critical technical underpinnings of the Internet such as the domain name system and Internet Protocol (IP) addressing. ICANN makes its policy decisions using a multistakeholder model of governance, in which a "bottom-up" collaborative process is open to all constituencies of Internet stakeholders.
National governments have recognized an increasing stake in ICANN policy decisions, especially in cases where Internet policy intersects with national laws addressing such issues as intellectual property, privacy, law enforcement, and cybersecurity. Some governments around the world are advocating increased intergovernmental influence over the way the Internet is governed. For example, specific proposals have been advanced that would create an Internet governance entity within the United Nations (U.N.). Other governments (including the United States), as well as many other Internet stakeholders, oppose these proposals and argue that ICANN's multistakeholder model is the most appropriate way to govern the Internet.
Previously, the U.S. government, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the Department of Commerce, held a "stewardship" role over the domain name system by virtue of a contractual relationship with ICANN. On March 14, 2014, NTIA announced its intention to transition its stewardship role and procedural authority over key domain name functions to the global Internet multistakeholder community. NTIA also stated that it would not accept any transition proposal that replaces the NTIA role with a government-led or an intergovernmental organization solution.
For two years, Internet stakeholders were engaged in a process to develop a transition proposal that would meet NTIA's criteria. On March 10, 2016, the ICANN Board formally accepted the multistakeholder community's transition plan and transmitted that plan to NTIA for approval. On June 9, 2016, NTIA announced its determination that the transition plan met NTIA's criteria and that the plan was approved. On September 30, 2016, the contract between NTIA and ICANN expired, thus completing and implementing the transition.
With the transition now complete, Congress may continue assessing how effectively NTIA is advancing U.S. government positions within the Governmental Advisory Committee. Of particular interest may be to what extent ongoing and future intergovernmental telecommunications conferences constitute an opportunity for some nations to increase intergovernmental control over the Internet—at the expense of the multistakeholder system of Internet governance—and how effectively NTIA and other government agencies (such as the State Department) are working to counteract that threat.