--- id: "icann" kind: "glossary-term" title: "ICANN" language: "en" category: "Industry roles and organizations" updated: "2026-10-10T10:28:55Z" canonical: "https://tldlog.com/glossary/icann/" translations: es: "https://tldlog.com/es/glosario/icann/" de: "https://tldlog.com/de/glossar/icann/" fr: "https://tldlog.com/fr/glossaire/icann/" it: "https://tldlog.com/it/glossario/icann/" pt-BR: "https://tldlog.com/pt/glossario/icann/" ru: "https://tldlog.com/ru/glossariy/icann/" zh-Hans: "https://tldlog.com/zh/cihui/icann/" --- # ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers A nonprofit organization that coordinates the DNS worldwide. It signs contracts with gTLD registries, accredits registrars, and its community writes policies through a multistakeholder process. ccTLD policies are mostly set locally, not by ICANN's gTLD contracts. ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is the nonprofit that coordinates the internet's naming system worldwide. It sets the rules for generic domains such as .com through contracts with registries and registrars. It is not a government and does not control what people publish online. ## What ICANN is and what it does not do ICANN was formed in 1998 as a California nonprofit public-benefit corporation. Its Bylaws give it the mission "to ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique identifier systems". It coordinates the names in the root zone and the policies for registering names in gTLDs, the root server system, and the top-level allocation of internet protocol (IP) addresses. Its policies must come from a bottom-up, consensus-based multistakeholder process. The Bylaws also set limits. ICANN may not regulate the services that use domain names or their content, and it "does not hold any governmentally authorized regulatory authority". It does not sell domains: it signs agreements with gTLD registries and accredits registrars. Most ccTLD rules, such as those for .es, are set locally. Even for gTLDs, the topics on which ICANN can impose policy on registries and registrars are listed in two annexes of the Bylaws, G-1 and G-2: the Picket Fence. ## How ICANN is organised ICANN has three layers: the Board, the paid staff (ICANN org) and a volunteer community. The Board has 16 voting directors and 4 non-voting liaisons. The NomCom chooses 8 directors; the Address Supporting Organization (ASO), the ccNSO and the GNSO choose 2 each; the At-Large community chooses 1; and the President sits ex officio. The Board decides through Board resolutions. Supporting organisations develop policy: the GNSO for gTLDs, the ccNSO for global ccTLD issues and the ASO for IP addresses. The GNSO Council has two houses: one for the contracted parties (the RySG and the RrSG) and one for everyone else, including business users, the IPC and the NCSG. Advisory committees advise but have "no legal authority to act for ICANN". The GAC represents governments, the SSAC covers security, the RSSAC covers the root server system and the ALAC speaks for individual users. ## Where ICANN's money comes from As of October 2026, ICANN's budget for fiscal year 2027 (1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027) puts operations funding at about US$165.1 million. Almost all of it comes from fees paid by gTLD registries and registrars; contributions, mostly from ccTLDs and RIRs, add about US$3.1 million. Registrars pay US$4,000 a year for accreditation, a share of a variable fee and US$0.20 per transaction. The base Registry Agreement for new gTLDs sets a fixed fee of US$6,250 per calendar quarter, plus US$0.25 per transaction above a threshold of 50,000 transactions; the agreement lets ICANN raise these with inflation. ICANN raised registry fees from January 2025 and registrar fees from July 2025, and plans no rise in fiscal year 2027. New gTLD application fees (US$227,000 each in the 2026 round) fund the New gTLD Program separately. ## Meetings and how anyone can take part ICANN holds three Public Meetings a year in different regions, usually with more than 100 sessions. They are free and open to everyone, in person or remotely. As of October 2026, the calendar includes: - ICANN86, a Policy Forum, in Seville, 8 to 11 June 2026; - ICANN87, the Annual General Meeting, in Bali, 17 to 22 October 2026 (moved from Muscat); - ICANN88, a Community Forum, in Lisbon, 13 to 18 March 2027. Between meetings, anyone can comment on proposed policies, fees and Bylaws changes, and individuals can take part through At-Large. ## Accountability: reviews, appeals and the Empowered Community From the lightest tool to the heaviest: 1. **Ombuds:** a confidential, independent office for complaints of unfair treatment by staff, the Board or a community group. 2. **Reconsideration Request:** anyone materially affected by a Board or staff action or inaction can ask the Board to look again, within 30 days. ICANN itself decides. 3. **IRP:** three panellists from a standing panel of at least seven decide whether ICANN broke its Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws. It is binding arbitration, with an appeal to the full standing panel within 60 days. 4. **Empowered Community:** the ASO, ccNSO, GNSO, ALAC and GAC acting together under California law. They can remove directors, recall the whole Board and reject budgets or standard Bylaws changes, and their approval is needed to change the Fundamental Bylaws. Specific Reviews by community teams check how ICANN meets its commitments. As of October 2026, the review system itself is being redesigned after a Board decision of 19 May 2025. ## ICANN, IANA and governments: who decides what Until 1 October 2016, ICANN performed the IANA functions under a contract with the NTIA, part of the US Department of Commerce. The contract expired that day, and the restated Bylaws created the Empowered Community. Since then PTI, an affiliate with ICANN as its sole member, performs the IANA functions. IANA implements policy but does not make it: names policy comes through ICANN, number policy through the five RIRs, and protocol parameters through the IETF. Governments advise through the GAC. The Board can reject GAC consensus advice only with at least 60% of its votes, and both sides must then seek a mutually acceptable solution. ## Sources - [Bylaws for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers | A California Nonprofit Public-Benefit Corporation](https://www.icann.org/en/governance/bylaws) - [ICANN FY27 Budget](https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/adopted-icann-budget-fy2027-published-2026-en.pdf) - [Registrar Fees](https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/accredited-registrars/how-to-become-a-registrar/registrar-fees-10-08-2018-en) ## related terms - [IANA](https://tldlog.com/glossary/iana/) - [GNSO](https://tldlog.com/glossary/gnso/) - [Registry Agreement](https://tldlog.com/glossary/registry-agreement/) - [RAA](https://tldlog.com/glossary/raa/) - [multistakeholder model](https://tldlog.com/glossary/multistakeholder-model/)