What is ICANN? by:Tanya Smith

Regardless of where you register your domain name and no matter who your domain registrar is

, you are indirectly using the services of ICANN. Your domain registrar pays ICANN a small fee out of your domain registration fee, for every domain that they register.

What is ICANN?

ICANN was founded in USA in 1998, as a non-profit corporation. ICANN stands for 'Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers'. ICANN manages and oversees the domain name registration process and assignment of IP addresses to internet service providers through its IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority). Founded by Jon Postel, IANA is head quarted at the University of the Southern California, USA.

What does ICANN do?

Whenever we access a network or a website, we use the internet protocol. Any device - be it a computer, mobile or hand-held device or any other device - that connects to a network or internet protocol needs to have a unique IP Address to identify it. The IP address is a numeric 'tag' that allows the device to access the network and transmit data and information from a source location to a destination location.

ICANN allocates the blocks of IP Addresses that make this connectivity work. Today, there are a number of private networks at homes, organizations and companies. To manage this explosion of interconnected networks and devices, ICANN assigns IP addresses ranges or blocks that can be reused within every private network. This also ensures that the available pool of IP addresses does not exhaust quickly. For example, the IP address ranges shown below have been reassigned by ICANN for use within these private networks:

10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

While it has allotted IP address blocks to private networks, ICANN still reserves all the IP address ranges that are meant for use over public networks over the internet, between various internet service providers the world over.

ICANN is also responsible for and governs the assigning of domain names. It is the body that authorizes or restricts the use of top level domains or domain extensions. While you cannot register a domain name directly at ICANN, all domain registrars need to be authorized by ICANN to be able to offer domain registration services.

ICANN and UDRP

The explosion of domain names has brought with it increasing disputes over domain name ownership. With the objective of creating a inexpensive, fair and quick dispute resolution system, ICANN created UDRP or 'Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy'. UDRP governs the resolution domain name ownership and related disputes and conflicts. UDRP today governs all the domain name related disputes and bypasses the legal court system for all disputes relating to domain names. Whenever you register a domain name, you also need to consent to be governed by the UDRP process for the resolution of potential domain name conflicts and disputes in future.

About the author

Tanya Smith is an expert on private domain registration and web hosting at Ballistic Domains, USA. Ballistic Domains provides domain name registration, domain renewal, domain transfer, domain parking, dedicated web hosting and related services.

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