Control of the 13 internet authoritative root servers to stay with Government authorities; reasons being stability and security of the Internet.

The United States Department of Commerce has decided not to hand over control of DNS (Domain Name System) services to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as it had previously planned to do in September of next year. It said that it intends to keep control of the internet DNS space indefinitely.

At question are the 13 root DNS servers that act as the master directories for the Internet of which the U.S. Government said it will maintain control of, while ICANN will continue to retain the day-to-day operational control of the DNS infrastructure.

Michael Gallagher, Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said, "Given the Internet's importance to the world's economy, it is essential that the underlying DNS of the Internet remain stable and secure and The United States will therefore maintain its historic role in authorizing changes or modifications to the authoritative root zone file. The United States is committed to working with the international community to address concerns, bearing in mind the fundamental need to ensure stability and security of the Internet's DNS."

The announcement by the US Government has not gone down well with the web community as this is seen as a reversal of its earlier position established several years ago when it indicated that it would hand over control to ICANN.