In an effort to streamline the registration of Internet Protocol numbers, the National Science Foundation says a nonprofit group made up of Internet service providers will take over the task - bringing IP management in the Americas in line with that in the rest of the world.
"This move is another step by the federal government in the continuing privatization and commercialization of the Internet," George Strawn, director of the Networking and Communications Research and Infrastructure division at the government foundation, said in a statement.
IP numbers are used by computers to identify Web sites and are linked to name domain addresses, such as stag-komodo.wired.com. Unlike domain names, IP numbers are viewed as a limited public resource, much like radio bandwidth. Currently, IP registration is handled by Network Solutions, the Hendron, Virginia-based company that, under contract to the foundation, also assigns domain names.
The company proposed setting up a new authority, the American Registry for Internet Numbers, to split the number and name functions. Under the plan accepted by the foundation, two Network Solutions officials will serve on the registry's seven-member board.
The registry will handle IP numbers in North America, Latin America, South Africa, and the Caribbean, and will function much like comparative organizations RIPE, which manages IP numbers in Europe and the Middle East, and ARNIC, which is in Asia.
"It aligns activities in the Americas with what is the operational model in Europe and Asia," said Christopher Clough, spokesman for NSI. "It makes clear the distinction between what is market-driven and what is a limited resource."
The new registry has been endorsed by the Internet Assigned Number Authority - a clearinghouse that assigns and coordinates the use of numerous Internet numbering parameters - and by a federal interagency working group on domain-name policy.
Most Net users will continue to get number assignments from their Internet service providers. But about 300 ISPs and large institutions that have used Network Solutions will now use the new registry. The changeover will take place before April 1998, when Network Solutions' pact with the science foundation ends.
