The group that checks and manages all addresses in the Internet is going private, Agence France-Presse reported, citing its leader, Fadi Chehade.

Chehade of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN said that the group will be privately-owned by a “global multistakeholder community.” ICANN is currently controlled by the U.S. government, through the Department of Commerce, and is charged with domain name oversight and assigning number codes embedded in these domain names.

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ICANN's contract with the United States is set to expire on Sept. 30.

Chehade said he believes a private ICANN will yield "a global, independent, neutral, well-governed organization."

“When we started we heard things like the UN would take over or China will fragment the Internet. Everyone was in threat and defense mode. ...Now that China has come to the table, and Brazil has done the same, government after government is showing support," the executive said.

AFP reported that the Congress of the United States is opposing the plan, calling it a form of "giving away" the Internet. The government body is also concerned that letting ICANN off of its contract will pose online freedom and e-commerce threats.

Established on Sept. 18, 1998, ICANN is not without criticisms. In fact, Congress has openly criticized the non-profit organization for an alleged lack of accountability.

"[There are ]concerns routinely expressed by a wide array of stakeholders about ICANN’s trustworthiness, accountability, execution and transparency of its current and existing duties and initiatives," U.S. Representative Bob Goodlatte was quoted by Sputnik News as saying during a May 13 meeting.

Goodlatte also accused ICANN of not being able to correctly handle Internet registries that benefit from counterfeit drugs or controlled subtances. Sputnik News reported that the U.S. government first announced its plan to relinquish control of ICANN in 2014.

TagsICANN, World wide web, internet management, Internet censorship, Fadi Chehade