Domain Name System
The Internet Domain Name System (DNS) is a critical component of the Internet infrastructure. The DNS associates user-friendly domain names (e.g., www.ntia.doc.gov) with the numeric network addresses (e.g., 170.110.225.155) required to deliver information on the Internet, making the Internet easier for the public to navigate.
NTIA is the Executive Branch expert on issues relating to the DNS and supports a multi-stakeholder approach to the coordination of the DNS to ensure the long-term viability of the Internet as a force for innovation and economic growth.
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Working with Our Global Partners to Advance an Open Internet
Three years ago this month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) endorsed a set of principles that encouraged its members to implement policies that call for a common approach to Internet policymaking that center on ensuring the openness of the Internet. The Internet Policymaking Principles (IPPs) include many of the same principles the United States has long advocated in its approach to Internet policymaking, standards and governance including calls to ensure the openness of the Internet, protect and promote the free flow of information on the Internet, and use of the multistakeholder approach to tackle Internet policy challenges.
In celebration of the three-year anniversary of the IPPs, today I met in Paris with a number of foreign government representatives and other stakeholders to discuss ways we can continue to advance the goals outlined in the OECD’s IPPs and the joint challenges we face. These principles, which were inspired by Internet principles adopted by Brazil, were developed in 2011 as OECD members sought ways to spur economic growth as well as respond to threats to online freedom worldwide and advance a more inclusive approach to Internet policy development.
The Internet has been an engine for global economic growth, innovation and societal change for more than two decades. It has torn down walls between countries in an unprecedented way and is an important tool for the free exchange of ideas.
A Major Win for the Open Internet
This blog is cross posted on the U.S. Department of State’s blog
Last week, we announced that we were heading to São Paulo, Brazil to attend NETmundial, a global meeting of governments, entrepreneurs, academics, Internet institutions, civil society activists and users to discuss the future of Internet governance. We expressed our hope that NETmundial would make an important contribution to the positive evolution of the Internet and its governance. Our optimism was well-founded. As one of Brazil’s leading Internet scholars and chair of Netmundial Virgilio Almeida brought NETmundial to a close, the U.S. government delegation rose in applause. And almost everyone else in the room rose with us.
Official Statement by the USG Delegation to NETmundial
The U.S. delegation, led by White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel, congratulates the government of Brazil and the global community on the success of the NETmundial multistakeholder Internet governance meeting held in São Paulo this week.
Together at NETmundial, hundreds of stakeholders from around the world convened to discuss and agree upon a shared vision for the multistakeholder model of Internet governance that seeks to further develop an increasingly open, transparent, inclusive, and responsive system.