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It is a non-profit corporation which was created on September 18 1998 in order to take over a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed by other organizations, notably IANA.

The contract for ICANN came from the US Department of Commerce and was "sole sourced", which means no-one else (such as the Open Root Server Confederation which was also formed at the time to bid on the contract) was able to submit a bid to perform the task. These tasks include managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses. To date, much of its work has concerned the introduction of seven new generic top-level domains. Its activities, however, are very controversial.

Since March 27 2003 Paul Twomey is President/CEO of ICANN.

On March 14, 2002, in a public meeting in Accra, in Ghana, ICANN decided amongst other things, to reduce direct public ("at large") participation in how it is run.

ICANN holds periodic public meetings for the expressed purpose of staying in touch with its membership. Critics note that the locations of these meetings are often in countries with disproportionally small Internet access and far away from locations that the majority of the Internet-using public can afford to reach, thus making public input less likely.

In September and October 2003 ICANN played a crucial role in the conflict about VeriSignVeriSign, Inc. is, among other things, the operator of the. net generic top-level domains, and a certificate authority for X. 500 certificates. Between 15 September 2003 and 4 October 2003, VeriSign operated a wildcard DNS record for all. net domain names and its much disputed wildcard DNS service Site FinderSite Finder was a wildcard DNS record for all. net domain names not yet registered by others, run by. net top-level domain operator VeriSign between 15 September 2003 and 4 October 2003. During that time, Internet users who tried to access these domains w. After an open letter from ICANN issuing an ultimatum to VeriSign, the company shut down the service on October 4October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in Leap years). There are 88 days remaining. Events 610 Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, otherthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas and becomes Emperor. 1582 Pope Gregory XIII implements the 2003. Following this step VeriSign filed a lawsuit against ICANN on February 27February 27 is the 58th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 307 days remaining, 308 in leap years. Events 1560 The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland 1594 H 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co, claiming that ICANN has overstepped its authority. Subject of the claim is not only Site Finder, but also VeriSign's controversial Waiting List Service. The claim was dismissed in August 2004.

At the meeting of ICANN in RomeRome ( Italian and Latin Roma is the capital city of Italy, and of its Lazio region. It is located on the lower Tiber river, near the Mediterranean Sea, at 41°50'N, 12°15'E. The Vatican City State, a sovereign enclave within Rome, is the seat of the Roman taking place from March 2March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). There are 304 days remaining. Events 986 Louis V becomes King of the Franks. 1717 The Loves of Mars and Venus became the first ballet performed in England. 1791 Long dista to March 6 2004, the Corporation agreed to ask approval of the US Department of Commerce for the Waiting List Service of VeriSign.

On 17 May 2004, ICANN published a proposed budget for the year 2004-05. It included proposals to increase the openness and professionalism of its operations, but almost doubled the proposed expenditure, from US $8.27m to $15.83m. The increase was to be funded by the introduction of new top-level domains, charges to all Domain Registries, and a "tax" on all domain name registrations, renewals and transfers (initially 20c US for all domains within a country-code top-level domain, and 25c for all others). The Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries (CENTR), which represents the Internet registries of 39 countries, has rejected the 91% increase, accusing ICANN of a lack of financial prudence and refusing to support what it sees as ICANN's "unrealistic political and operational targets".