After split from US, Internet gatekeeper is ‘grassroots’

In January, ICANN began taking applications from those interested in operating Internet domains that replace endings such as .com or .org with nearly any acceptable words, including company, organization or city names. ©Smit/shutterstock.com Special uses WEB Only

WASHINGTON: The Internet address system gatekeeper, independent after a split from the US government, is now in a phase where “the grassroots are in charge,” its top executive said. 

Goran Marby, president and chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, said in an interview that nothing has changed for people using the internet after the expiration of its contract with the US Commerce Department.