ICANN Historical Timeline

ICANN's history and the history of the Internet are interlinked, and the mission of ICANN was carried out prior to its formation by volunteers, governmental actors, and academic institutions. The following is an attempt to categorize the history (and prehistory) of ICANN and the Domain Name System into eras. Some eras are defined by technical and technological advances, while others are defined by policy initiatives, structural or operational changes to ICANN org, or a broader thematic push. For instance, the present era involves the globalization of access to and use of the Internet; despite ICANN being committed to the global Internet community from its inception, several trends are converging to make the present moment a fight for global and universal access and acceptance: the BRIC countries will represent the vast majority of Internet growth in the coming decade; Internationalized Domain Names are growing in prominence and the effort to ensure universal acceptance of alternate language scripts is as well; efforts to nationalize the DNS by China and Russia are forcing a broader conversation about the value and impact of a global Internet; and ICANN itself is aggressively seeking to improve its presence in and outreach to under-represented parts of the world.

This should not be taken as a canonical resource regarding ICANN's evolution. Technological and policy initiatives overlap. The boundaries for each era are necessarily fuzzy. Although the effort is to identify themes within the events and history of a given era, there is no guarantee that we have it "right," or that there is a "perfectly correct" representation of a given timeframe.

1968-1976: The Birth of the Internet

ARPANET

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  NLS System at Stanford, 1968

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  The "Mother of All Demos," 1968

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  Concept drawing of ARPANET, 1969

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  Interface Message Processor, 1969

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  Queen Elizabeth II sends an email, 1976

1972

Events

• UCLA grad student Jon Postel proposes that a "numbers czar" be appointed to keep a record of addresses on the ARPANET and guard against address collisions. The research community agrees and elects Postel to the position of internet numbers coordinator (eventually to become known as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority). Ultimately, the ARPANET was a product of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. MIT, the University of Southern California, UCLA, and the Stanford Research Institute, under contract with DARPA, were all instrumental in the development of technologies that are still used today in the modern Internet. Jon Postel, Vint Cerf, Steve Crocker, and other Internet pioneers were first connected with ARPANET projects and innovations.

1983-1988: Birth of the DNS

1983

Events

• Postel officially establishes IANA

1986

Events

• NSF launches NSFNet

1987

Events

• Over 20,000 servers online hosting websites

1988-1995: Legitimization

1988

Documents & RFCs

• RFC 1083 - Internet Activities Board Official Protocol Standards (first mention of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) in the RFC Index)

1992

• Internet goes commercial/ gains a public/ officially becomes marketplace

Documents & RFCs

• RFC 1358 - Original Charter of the Internet Architecture Board (the Internet Activities Board gets a new name and charter document)
• RFC 1386 - The .US Domain (Jon Postel explains structure and use of the .US ccTLD and second-level domains for states)

1993

Events

In January 1993, Network Solutions enters into a five-year contract with the NSF to provide domain name registration and network number assignment services.

Documents & RFCs

• RFC 1436 - Internet Gopher Protocol
• RFC 1527 - What Should We Plan Given the Dilemma of the Network? (Gordon Cook presents his thoughts and proposals, developed during his time with the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, on the possible regulatory and policy needs of the National Research and Education Network and the "American" internet, as they become a noncommercial part of the global internet)

1994

Events

• Postel publishes what will become a canonical resource for the management of (and debates regarding) the domain name system.

Documents & RFCs

• RFC 1591 - Domain Name System Structure and Delegation
• RFC 1591

1996-1997: Internet Governance in Broad Strokes

1997

Events

• In May 1997, the ISOC and IANA form the International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC) concerning the development of a new governance model for TLDs following the expansion and commercialization of the Internet.
• June 1997, the Clinton administration commits to the privatization of DNS management.

Documents

• Framework for Global Electronic Commerce

1998: Birth of ICANN

Events

• In February 1998, the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) creates a Proposal to Improve the Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses.
• In September 1998, ICANN files its Articles of Incorporation with the California Secretary of State.
• In October 1998, ICANN’s first board meeting is held in New York, at which Esther Dyson is named Chairman and Mike Roberts is designated President of ICANN.
• In November 1998, a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Department of Commerce and ICANN is signed. Contemporaneously with the signing of the MoU, ICANN amends its Articles of Incorporation to include a broader statement of public benefit that conforms to the expectations of the MoU.
• The U.S. Department of Commerce releases the “Management of Internet Names and Addresses” outlining the objectives of ensuring DNS stability, maintaining competition, keeping Internet Governance in the private sector, relying on bottom-up coordination, and encouraging diverse and global representation.
• In December 1998, the University of Southern California (USC) and ICANN enter into the IANA functions transition agreement.

Documents

• The Green Paper
• The White Paper

1999-2002: ICANN's Ad Hoc Era

Privatization Marilyn Cade DNSO exists PSO, ASO are reserved

2002 ICANN Reform (toddler)

2003 2004

2007 - 2009 (youth) Infinite reviewing cycles begin

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  First Organizational Review Timeline

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  Rough Timeline of ICANN Review Overlap

The ICANN Bylaws call for two different types of review - organizational reviews (Article 4.4) and specific reviews (Article 4.6). Article 4.4 reviews were born from the 2002 Evolution and Reform Process, and require periodic review of ICANN's supporting organizations and advisory committees. Article 4.6 reviews originated in the Affirmation of Commitments, and the first round of "specific" reviews occurred before these reviews were enshrined in the bylaws. The amendment to the bylaws came about as a result of the IANA Functions Stewardship Transition, when it was recommended that the bylaws be revised to incorporate ICANN's obligations under the Affirmation of Commitments.

As the organizational reviews began, ICANN was in the process of entering into the Affirmation of Commitments with the United States Department of Commerce. As a result, the first specific reviews were launched in 2010, while most of the organizational reviews were still in progress or only recently completed. Many community members since that date have commented on what seems to be a relentless cycle of reviews of one aspect of ICANN or another (or many others at the same time).

ATRT 3 addressed this issue head-on, suggesting that organizational reviews be replaced by "continuous improvement programs," the results of which could feed into a single, "holistic" review of the organization and its constituent parts, to be performed on a periodic basis. In addition, the ATRT 3 team recommended suspending the next cycle of specific reviews until the completion of the next Accountability and Transparency Review. These recommendations were met with varying levels of enthusiasm. The ICANN Board approved the recommendations in the fall of 2020, with caveats. On the specific review side, the board noted that community approval would be required to amend the bylaws around specific reviews. In the organizational review reforms, the board agreed to implement pilot projects testing both the "holistic" review model and a continuous improvement model.