Should the U.S. Relinquish Its Authority Over the Internet Domain Name System?, CRS Insight via FAS, October 5, 2016.

“On March 14, 2014, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the Department of Commerce announced the intention to transition its stewardship role and procedural authority over key Internet domain name functions to the global Internet multistakeholder community. NTIA’s existing authority over the domain name system (DNS) primarily derives from a contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The FY2017 Continuing Resolution, as passed by the Senate and House, did not include language to prevent NTIA from allowing its contract with ICANN to expire on September 30, 2016, thus enabling the transition to take place.”