Internet Governance Glossary

ICANN (established 1998) is an international multi-stakeholder organization with US government oversight responsible, at the overall level, for the administration of three sets of unique identifier systems for the internet: domain names, numerical Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and a third type that serves to identify so-called port and parameter numbers. ICANN has two channels through which civil society organisations (CSO) can participate in the "bottom-up policy development process": The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC, http://ncdnhc.org/) and the At Large Community (http://www.atlarge.icann.org/) with the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC).