ICANN through the Decades
ICANN in the 1990s
| year | Nontechnical events | technical events | consequential meetings | key figures | CEO & Chair of the Board | Key Moments | sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | The International Ad Hoc Committee dissolves, producing a gTLD MoU as its final report, with 226 signatories | IAHC History, ISOC | |||||
| Framework for Global Electronic Commerce directs the Secretary of Commerce to privatize the management of the DNS to increase competition and facilitate international participation in its management. | Ira Magaziner | ||||||
| original DNSSEC released | |||||||
| GoDaddy is founded | Bob Parsons | ||||||
| 1998 | the DOC publishes the White Paper, aka 63 Fed. Reg. 31741 aka the Statement of Policy, on the privatization of the technical management of the DNS | - | Michael Roberts & Esther Dyson | ICANN Transition Agreements | |||
| The Green Paper, formally titled "A Proposal to Improve the Technical Management of Internet Names and Addresses," was released by the NTIA in the Federal Register | |||||||
| MoU between US DoC and ICANN, completing the transition to Private (non-government sector) | Joe Sims, J. Beckwith Burr | ||||||
| NSF ends direct role in Internet | |||||||
| ICANN is incorporated | George Conrades, Greg Crew, Frank Fitzsimmons, Hans Kraaijenbrink, Eugenio Triana, Linda Wilson, Geraldine Capdeboscq, Jun Murai, Joe Sims, Michael Weinberg, Zita Wenzel, Michael Roberts | ICANN Board Minutes, 10/25/1998 | |||||
| first ICANN Board Meeting | |||||||
| 1999 | Shared Registry System goes into effect | ICANN 1, | Michael Roberts & Esther Dyson | ICANN testbed window | |||
| DNSO is created as is the "[Non-Commercial Domain Name Holders Constituency," the only non-business interest group in the DNSO | ICANN 1 | DNSO Directors: Amadeu Abril i Abril (Spain), Jonathan Cohen (Canada), Alejandro Pisanty (Mexico), NCDNHC: Milton Mueller, Kathy Kleiman | |||||
| ICANN Bylaws include establishment of ASO, PSO, DNSO | ICANN 1 | Bignning of Ad Hoc Era | |||||
| ASO is created, indicating the beginning of global policymaking about IP address delegation | APNIC, ARIN, and RIPE NCC join ASO, sign MoU | ICANN 3 | ASO Directors: Rob Blokzijl (Netherlands), Ken Fockler (Canada), Sang-Hyon Kyong (South Korea) | ||||
| ICANN Board adopts UDRP | ICANN 3 | ||||||
| RSSAC is created | ICANN 1 | Bill Manning, Paul Vixie, Gerry Sneeringer, James Fielding, Maurizio Binello, Doug Engebretson, Piet Barber, David Conrad, Mark Kosters, Lars-Johan Liman, Ray Plzak, Akira Kato, Daniel Karrenberg | RSSAC Minneapolis meeting | ||||
| GAC is created and meets | ICANN 2 | Paul Twomey | |||||
| the Registrar Accreditation Policy is adopted by the ICANN Board | ICANN 1 | Beginning of Vertical Separation Era | ICANN Board Resolution, 03/04/1999 | ||||
| PSO is created | ICANN 2 | PSO Directors: Helmut Schink (Germany), Vint Cerf (USA), Phil Davidson (U.K.) |
ICANN in the 2000s
| year | Nontechnical events | technical events | consequential meetings | key figures | CEO & Chair of the Board | Key Moments | sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | IANA function contract signed between NTIA and ICANN | Mike Roberts, Louis Touton, Joyce Reynolds, Suzanne Woolf, Teresa Reefe, Karen Rose | Michael Roberts & Esther Dyson/Vint Cerf | Beginning of IANA Functions Contract Era | - | ||
| At-Large Membership elects five directors for the ICANN Board of Directors, one for each geographic region | ICANN 6 | At-Large Directors: Karl Auerbach (USA), Ivan Moura Campos (Brazil), Frank Fitzsimmons (USA), Masanobu Katoh (Japan), Hans Kraaijenbrink (Netherlands), Andy Mueller-Maguhn (Germany), Jun Murai (Japan), Nii Quaynor (Ghana), Linda Wilson (USA) | ICANN Studienkreis 2001 | ||||
| First Round of New gTLD Expansion begins | ICANN 5 | ||||||
| 2001 | the birth of the Evolution & Reform Committee | - | ICANN 9 | Michael Roberts/Stuart Lynn & Vint Cerf | - | ||
| following 9/11, first ICANN AGM to focus entirely on the security and stability of the DNS | ICANN 11 | ||||||
| 2002 | First mention of ICANN's mission and core values make into the ICANN Bylaws | ICANN 13, ICANN 14 | Jaap Akkerhuis, Rita Rodin Johnston, Steve Crocker (2002-2010) | Stuart Lynn & Vint Cerf | Beginning of ICANN Reform Era | ||
| ICANN discusses the Evolution and Reform Process, initating an overhaul of the structures and operations that comprise the ICANN community, organization, and board | ICANN 13, ICANN 14, ICANN 15 | ||||||
| LACNIC joins ASO | ICANN 14 | ||||||
| SSAC formed | ICANN 12 | SSAC Charter, March 2002 | |||||
| GNSO replaces DNSO | ICANN 15 | ||||||
| PDP formally established in Bylaws | ICANN 15 | ||||||
| the ICANN Board passes a resolution stating a strong position for the implementation of strict separation of registries and registrars for new gTLDs and prohibiting co-ownership | |||||||
| 2003 | first GAC correspondence tells nations and territories to reserve their names in .info TLD | ICANN 15, ICANN 17 | Peter Dengate Thrush, Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi, Hans Kraaijenbrink, Chris Disspain | Stuart Lynn/Paul Twomey & Vint Cerf | - | ||
| IDNA protocol, IDN Guidelines, initiation of browser implementation by the Internet Engineering Task Force | |||||||
| The NRO is established to coordinate the world’s Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) | |||||||
| The ccNSO is created for and by ccTLD Managers. | ICANN 17 | ||||||
| NomCom is formed | ICANN 16 | First NomCom: Linda Wilson, Ram Mohan, Christopher Wilkinson, Christian Ahlert, Leopoldo Brandt, Pavan Duggal, Bret Fausett, Didier Kasole, Michael Roberts, Grant Forsyth, Donald Heath, Henning Grote, Anthony Staley, Antonio Tavares, Mark Bohannon, German Valdez, Marc Schneiders, Michael St. Johns, Danny Weitzner, Pindar Wong | 2003 NomCom Final Report, NomCom FAQs April 2003 | ||||
| ALAC, with interim members, is established | First ALAC members: Pierre Dandjinou, Clement Dzidonu, Izumi Aizu, Xue Hong, Vittorio Bertola, Thomas Roessler, Erick Iriarte Ahon, Sebastián Ricciardi, Esther Dyson, Wendy Seltzer | Board Resolution on ALAC, 01/20/2003, ALAC History | |||||
| 2004 | first Ombudsman | - | ICANN 21 | Frank Fowlie | Paul Twomey & Vint Cerf | - | |
| 2005 | ICANNWiki is founded | Raymond King | Paul Twomey & Vint Cerf | End of ICANN's Reform Era | - | ||
| AfriNIC joins ASO | Tarek Kamel, Adiel Akplogan | ||||||
| The new DNSSEC edition, which is widely used today, is released | |||||||
| 2006 | Board directs staff to post a Notice of Intent to Advance Implementation New gTLD Process; | - | ICANN 25 | Elise Gerich, Jonathan Robinson | Paul Twomey & Vint Cerf | second round of nTLDs | ICANN Board Resolution - Notice of Intent to Advance Implementation of New gTLD Process, March 31, 2006 |
| ICANN Board approves settlement agreements with Verisign over the SiteFinder litigation | ICANN 24 | ||||||
| 2007 | First Organizational Reviews | - | - | - | Paul Twomey & Vint Cerf/Peter Dengate Thrush | Beginning of Seemingly Infinite Reviews | |
| Acknowledgement of Completion of Joint Project Agreement and Signing of Affirmation of Commitments | ICANN 29 | ||||||
| Fellowship Program begins | ICANN 29 | ||||||
| 2008 | GAC begins providing ICANN with consensus advice on new TLDs | - | - | Paul Twomey & Peter Dengate Thrush | Beginning of Transition to Vertical Integration | History of Vertical Separation | |
| First report from the IDNC WG leading to IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process & First draft implementation plan for IDN ccTLD Process | |||||||
| 2009 | Completion of First GNSO Organizational Review reveals need for significant changes | ||||||
| call for First Accountability and Transparency Review | ICANN 36 | Paul Twomey/Rod Beckstrom & Peter Dengate Thrush | Beginning of Accountability and Transparency Era | ||||
| IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process is ICANN Board approved and launched | ICANN 36 | IDN Fast Track WG | |||||
| "Scaling the root" study findings released: possible root zone growing pains due to: ICANN policy decisions concerning extensive DNSSEC deployment, IDNs, IPv6, and the sudden addition of many new TLDs | ICANN 35 | Jaap Akkerhuis, Lyman Chapin, Patrik Fältström, Glenn Kowack, Lars-Johan Liman, Bill Manning | ICANN begins preparing to grow | Root Scaling Study Report |
ICANN in the 2010s
| year | Nontechnical events | technical events | consequential meetings | key figures | CEO & Chair of the Board | Key Moments | sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | The GNSO and the GNSO Council changed, becoming bicameral, and each of its two houses also become bicameral; the overaching difference between the houses is now one of contract with ICANN | - | ICANN 37 | WG on GNSO Council Restructuring: Avri Doria, Chuck Gomes, Alan Greenberg, Tony Holmes, Steve Metalitz, Milton Mueller, Jonathon Nevett, Philip Sheppard, Bertrand de La Chapelle | Rod Beckstrom & Peter Dengate Thrush | GNSO Structure Archive, ICANN, Report to the ICANN Board from WG-GCR | |
| ICANN Board permits vertical integration | ICANN 37 | Board Resolution on Permitting Cross-Ownership | |||||
| First Specific Reviews | ICANN 38 | Olivier Muron, Chris Disspain, Fabio Colasanti, Willie Currie, Zhang Xinsheng, Brian Cute, Manal Ismail, Erick Iriarte Ahon, Larry Strickling, Cheryl Langdon Orr, Louis Lee, Warren Adelman, Alice Jansen, Urs Grasser, Herbert Burkert, John Palfrey, Jonathan Zittrain | |||||
| The first IDN TLDs are delegated | First IDN ccTLDs, ICANN Announcements | ||||||
| ICANN community begins using Confluence for better global engagement | Deborah Escalera | ||||||
| 2011 | ICANN approves .xxx | - | ICANN 40, ICANN 41 | Stuart Lawley | Rod Beckstrom & Peter Dengate Thrush/Steve Crocker | ||
| The ICANN Newcomer Program was launched | ICANN 40 | ||||||
| Foundation of NPOC | ICANN 41 | ||||||
| ICANN Board approves plan to significantly increase number of gTLDs | ICANN 41 | ||||||
| GAC corresponds with ICANN Board via "scorecards" shaping the Applicant Guidebook root zone scaling, and the handling of potentially objectionable TLD applications, before the New TLD Program was launched | ICANN 39, ICANN 40, ICANN 41 | Heather Dryden | Board/GAC consultations on nTLDs | ||||
| 2012 | Whois becomes a lightening rod | ICANN 43 | Tarek Kamel, Ram Mohan | Rod Beckstrom/Akram Atallah/Fadi Chehadé & Steve Crocker | Beginning of the New gTLD Program | About SAC055, Security Week | |
| The New gTLD Program begins | ICANN 43 | Deborah Escalera | |||||
| a working group related to the European Commission sent a letter to ICANN warning that its proposed additions to the RAA would infringe on European Privacy laws | ICANN 45 | Jacob Kohnstamm | Beginning of Data Privacy Era | ||||
| 2013 | ICANN releases updated RAA to protect registrants and improve the reputation of the domain name industry | - | ICANN 46 | - | Fadi Chehadé & Steve Crocker | 2013 RAA, ICANN blog | |
| 2014 | ICANN's office in L.A. is diminished and two new hubs for international constituents opened in Singapore and Istanbul | ICANN 49 | Sally Costerton | Fadi Chehadé & Steve Crocker | - | ||
| IETF, IAB, RIRs, ccTLD ROs, ICANN, ISOC, and W3C welcome IANA Globalization Progress | |||||||
| Expansion of ICANN's Regional Stakeholder Engagement, Office of Global Engagement | |||||||
| NextGen@ICANN initiative started with NetMission Ambassadors | ICANN 49 | Deborah Escalera | |||||
| 2015 | ICANN establishes Global Support Centers; expansion of ICANN Language Services scope | - | Seda Akbulut, Tammy Yeow | Fadi Chehadé & Steve Crocker | Beginning of Digital Inclusion Era | - | |
| The Universal Acceptance SG is founded | Ajay Data, Abdalmonem Tharwat Galila, Maria Kolesnikova, Lilian Ivette De Luque Bruges, Dessalegn Mequanint Yehuala, U.B. Pavanaja, Mark Svancarek, Nitin Walia, Sarika Gulyani, Wei Pei, Photchanan Ratanajaipan, Nabil Benamar, Satish Babu, Rajiv Kumar, Abhishek Mishra | UASG | |||||
| brainstorming about DART/DAAR system begins | ICANN 54 | Dave Piscitello | GNSO Webinar on ICANN Domain Abuse Reporting Tool project | ||||
| 2016 | First mention of "multistakeholder process" makes it into ICANN Bylaws due to the work of ICG and the CCWG-IG; | Bertrand de la Chapelle | Fadi Chehadé /Akram Atallah/[Göran Marby]] & Steve Crocker | 2016 ICANN Bylaws, Public Comment, April 21, 2016 | |||
| Public Technical Identifiers is formed to oversee the operation of the IANA Functions | Akram Atallah, Lise Fuhr, David Conrad, Kim Davies, | PTI Incorporation | |||||
| General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is adopted; | |||||||
| the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network holds first global conference on "Legal Interoperability" | |||||||
| ICANN adopted new Bylaws that strengthen the Internet community's Accountability Mechanisms vis-à-vis ICANN org; | |||||||
| ICANN Kicks Off Open Data Initiative | Edward Lewis, Matt Larson | ||||||
| 2017 | Third Accountability and Transparency Review | - | - | Göran Marby & Cherine Chalaby | - | ||
| IANA functions transition complete | |||||||
| Last of New gTLDs Delegated | |||||||
| The Board approved the Information Transparency Initiative | David Olive | ||||||
| First DAAR Report is released | ICANN 59 | John Crain | |||||
| 2018 | GDPR becomes enforcable | - | - | - | Göran Marby & Cherine Chalaby | ||
| The Competition, Consumer Trust, and Consumer Choice review team dedicates entire report chapter to DNS Abuse Safeguards | |||||||
| ICANN Contractual Compliance launches a Registry Operator Audit for Addressing DNS Security Threats | ICANN CC Audit for DNS Abuse, ICANN Announcements | ||||||
| GNSO PDP 3.0 | ICANN 62, ICANN 63 | Arsène Tungali, Dracy Southwell, Elsa Saade, Flip Petillion, Marie Pattullo, Maxim Alzoba, Pam Little, Philippe Fouquart, Rafik Dammak | PDP 3.0 development and implementation 2018-2020 | ||||
| The ICANN Board adopts the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data to comply with the European Union's GDPR without breaking existing ICANN contractual requirements and community-developed policies. | ICANN 61 | ICANN Board resolves to adopt Temporary Specification | |||||
| Geographic Regions Review Working Group Recommendations Mapping Document is accepted by board, emphasizing the general principle of geographic diversity is valuable and should be preserved | ICANN 63 | Adiel Akplogan, David Archbold, Fahd Batayneh, Ching Chiao, Olga Cavalli, Zahid Jamil, Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Carlton Samuels, Paul Wilson, Bart Boswinkel, Mandy Carver, Gisella Gruber, Robert Hoggarth | |||||
| 2019 | Enhancing the evolution of ICANN's Multistakeholder Model (MSM) begins | - | ICANN 64, ICANN 65, ICANN 66 | Brian Cute | Göran Marby & Cherine Chalaby/Maarten Botterman | Beginning of Evolution of ICANN's MSM | Enhancing Effectiveness of MSM |
| GAC forms Universal Acceptance and IDN Working Group | ICANN 66 | UA IDN WG, GAC |
ICANN in the 2020s
| year | Nontechnical events | technical events | consequential meetings | key figures | CEO & Chair of the Board | Key Moments | sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ICANN announces that all gTLDs now deploy DNSSEC | - | David Conrad | Göran Marby & Maarten Botterman | - | ||
| PTI releases inaugural strategic plan, the final step in the IANA transition | Lise Fuhr | ||||||
| ICANN Board approves suspending any further Whois/RDS Reviews | ICANN 69 | Cheryl Langdon-Orr, Daniel Nanghaka, Pat Kane, Demi Getschko, Osvaldo Novoa, Sebastien Bachollet, Jacques Blanc, Jaap Akkerhuis, Vanda Scartezini, Wolfgang Kleinwaechter, KC Claffy, Maarten Botterman, Michael Karanicolas, Erica Varlese, Ramet Khalili, Adetola Sogbesan, Liu Yue, Negar Farzinnia, Jennifer Bryce, Brenda Brewer | Beginning of Effort to Streamline ICANN | ||||
| ICANN Board approves converting the org reviews into "continuous improvement" programs | |||||||
| ICANN Board approves delaying specific reviews until the next ATRT | |||||||
| ICANN Board approves creating a holistic review | |||||||
| 2021 | Prioritization of ICANN's Work Project gets underway | ICANN 70 | Becky Nash, Xavier Calvez | Göran Marby & Maarten Botterman | ICANN Strategic Plan FY21-FY25 | ||
| ICANN org released the new ITI search experience for over 38,000 pages and files on https://icann.org, focusing on making the following searchable and more easily accessible on mobile devices: Accredited Registrars, Acronyms and ICANN Terms, Announcements, Blogs, ICANN News Subscriptions, Registry Agreements and released a much more interactive Public Comment feature and a style guide for the SO/AC websites | - | ICANN 71 | |||||
| DNS Security Threat Mitigation Program is launched | ICANN 70, ICANN 71 | - | |||||
| Transfer Policy Review likelly to lead to fewer requirements for gaining and maybe losing parties, expedited by GDPR | ICANN 71 |