For the past decade America has delegated some of its authority over the internet to a non-profit organisation called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) an arrangement other countries have complained about, both because they have little say in it and because ICANN's management has occasionally proved erratic.
In September, a three-year agreement was reached giving the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the non-profit body formed in 1998 and assigned oversight responsibility on behalf of the U.S., greater autonomy.