Re: Suggestions for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

[Steve Bellovin <smb@research.att.com>]

In message <9811111519.AA12755@tact.touro.edu>, Joseph Friedman writes:
> Brian,
> 
> 	Would it not be fair to say that the United States maintains legal cont
> rol
> over the functions carried out by IANA? IANA is a function funded by the
> Department of Defense, a contract between DoD and USC/ISI.  The U.S. is now
> making the decisions regarding ICANNs taking over IANAs functions, not IETF.

IANA took care of three sets of data -- domain names, IP addresses, and
protocol identifiers.  The third was by delegation from the IETF, and
is *not* a concern of the U.S. government.  It is this function that
is being delegated to ISI by the IETF, not the other two.  If you go
back and read the White Paper, you'll see that parameter registration
is explicitly excluded.