Stories about: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Calls for the U.S. government to halt a plan by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to offer new generic top-level domains are shortsighted because they could lead to other countries attempting to exert control over ICANN, a U.S. government official said Wednesday.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will open up applications for new generic top-level domains this week, even with continued objections to the plan, the group's CEO said.

A group of U.S. representatives has asked the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to delay its plan to begin rolling out new generic top-level domains in early 2012.

In 2011, the increasingly mobile and socially networked world of technology became more intertwined than ever with politics and the law. Patent wars shaped competition in tablets and smartphones, hacktivists attacked a widening array of political and corporate targets, repressive regimes unplugged citizens from the Internet, and the U.S. government moved to block the giant merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA. With the passing of Steve Jobs, the world lost a technology icon who redefined the computer, entertainment and consumer electronics industries. These are the IDG News Service's picks for the top 10 technology stories of the year:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) may be moving forward too fast on a plan to sell hundreds of new generic top-level domains starting early next year, several U.S. senators said Thursday.

Support for IPv6 has grown by almost 20 times in the past year by one measure, but most websites still can't be reached without IPv4, the current Internet Protocol, which is near running out of unclaimed addresses.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is aiming to strengthen requirements for transparency, independence and accountability in its next contract for the creation of top-level domains.

After a lawsuit spurred a cadre of volunteers to cede management duties of Internet Time Zone Database, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has assumed control of the master list, which is used to coordinate time across different systems on the Internet.

Registrar ICM Registry has announced that the dot-XXX sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) for the adult entertainment industry is open for registration.

The head of the organization chartered with managing some of the Internet's complex routing systems is stepping down.