Dive Brief:

• The Obama Administration announced Wednesday it will move authority for the internet’s domain-name system to a nonprofit entity on Oct. 1, according to the Wall Street Journal.
• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) — responsible for overseeing unique identifiers in internet addresses to ensure a coordinated global Internet — will become an independent legal entity that will handle functions of the online address system on a contract basis.
• The federal government has maintained authority over ICANN until now, but some other countries view the U.S. government's involvement as unfair.

Dive Insight:

Experts say the move could potentially lead to new policies on sticky issues like copyright. The long-planned transition to ICANN was necessary to maintain international support for the internet, according to the Obama Administration.

The U.S. government’s role "has long been a source of irritation to foreign governments," the National Telecommunications & Information Administration said in a blog post.

Officials say transferring authority to ICANN will have no effect on the internet’s functioning or its users. Some Republican lawmakers reportedly oppose the plan due to concerns that another country could take control. But Alissa Cooper, chair of the group coordinating the transition, said a provision in the plan allows for intervention should the group fail to perform their functions properly.

The transition "represents the final step in the U.S. government’s longstanding commitment, supported by three [presidential] administrations, to privatize the internet’s domain-name system," Lawrence Strickling, head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration said in a blog post.