Press Release: European Commission welcomes US move to more independent, accountable, international internet governance

Viviane Reding, the EU's Commissioner for Information Society and Media, welcomed news that ICANN, the body primarily responsible for managing internet domain names, will become more open and accountable to billions of internet users worldwide. As of 30 September 2009, ICANN, the US-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, will no longer be subject to the unilateral review by the US Department of Commerce, but by independent review panels appointed by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and ICANN itself with the involvement of governments around the world. Since 2005, the European Commission has repeatedly called for reform of the governance of the internet's key global resources. This is necessary to ensure important public policy objectives such as freedom of expression and facilitating stable business transactions online. The European Commission is strongly committed to accompany and support the implementation of the reforms announced today, in close cooperation with the EU's 27 Member States.