Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

The non-profit, private corporation that has assumed responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, DNS management, and root server system management functions formerly performed under U.S. Government contract by IANA and other entities.

Tutorial: The IPS, as defined by the IETF and the IESG, contains numerous parameters, such as Internet addresses, domain names, autonomous system numbers, protocol numbers, port numbers, management information base OIDs, including private enterprise numbers, and many others. The Internet community requires that the values used in these parameter fields be assigned uniquely. ICANN makes those assignments as requested and maintains a registry of the current values.

ICANN was formed in October 1998, by a coalition of the Internet's business, technical, and academic communities. The U.S. Government designated ICANN to serve as the global consensus entity with responsibility for coordinating four key functions for the Internet: allocation of IP address space, assignment of protocol parameters, management of the DNS, and management of the DNS root server system.