On Friday, March 14, the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intent to transition key Internet domain name functions to the global multi-stakeholder community.  As the first step, NTIA is requesting the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to convene global stakeholders and develop a proposal to transition the current role played by NTIA in the coordination of the Internet's domain name system (DNS).

This is a significant milestone in the transition of Internet governance to a global multi-stakeholder model, and Cisco welcomes this development.  We applaud the NTIA for seeking to complete the final phase of the privatization of DNS management, as outlined by the U.S. Government in 1997. Cisco has long supported an open and innovative multi-stakeholder Internet governance process and this next step in its evolution.

NTIA has outlined a powerful process for the move towards full privatization and globalization of DNS management.  It is based upon the recognition that the ecosystem of organizations, groups and individuals which make up the multi-stakeholder Internet governance community is mature and robust and can stand on its own.

At the same time, NTIA has outlined a transition designed to ensure participation by the entire Internet community, and that will continue to support the open and multi-stakeholder nature of the Internet.  Key to this process will be the continued strong collaboration between ICANN, the Regional Internet Registries who allocate addresses, and the IETF that specifies Internet standards.

We look forward to working with the Internet community stakeholders to make this transition as successful as possible.