Editing DNS root zone (section)

==Management==
The content of the Internet root zone file is coordinated by a subsidiary of ICANN which performs the [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] (IANA) functions. [[Verisign]] generates and distributes the zone file to the various root server operators.

In 1997, when the Internet was transferred from U.S. government control to private hands, NTIA exercised stewardship over the root zone. A 1998 Commerce Department document stated the agency was "committed to a transition that will allow the private sector to take leadership for DNS management" by the year 2000, however, no steps to make the transition happen were taken. In March 2014, NTIA announced it would transition its stewardship to a "global stakeholder community".<ref name=Ars /> 

According to Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, Lawrence E. Strickling, March 2014 was the right time to start a transition of the role to the global Internet community. The move came after pressure in the fallout of [[Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)|revelations]] that the United States and its allies had engaged in surveillance. The chairman of the board of ICANN denied the two were connected, however, and said the transition process had been ongoing for a long time. ICANN president Fadi Chehadé called the move historic and said that ICANN would move toward multi-stakeholder control. Various prominent figures in Internet history not affiliated with ICANN also applauded the move.<ref name=Ars />

NTIA's announcement did not immediately affect how ICANN performs its role.<ref name=Ars>{{cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/03/in-sudden-announcement-us-to-give-up-control-of-dns-root-zone/|title=In sudden announcement, US to give up control of DNS root zone|last=Farivar|first=Cyrus|website=[[Ars Technica]] |date=March 14, 2014|access-date=March 15, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ntia.doc.gov/blog/2015/update-iana-transition|title=An Update on the IANA Transition|publisher=National Telecommunications and Information Administration|date=August 17, 2015|access-date=November 17, 2015}}</ref> On March 11, 2016, NTIA announced that it had received a proposed plan to transition its stewardship role over the root zone, and would review it in the next 90 days.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Strickling|first1=Lawrence|title=Reviewing the IANA Transition Proposal|url=https://www.ntia.doc.gov/blog/2016/reviewing-iana-transition-proposal|website=National Telecommunications and Information Administration|publisher=United States Department of Congress|access-date=May 26, 2016}}</ref>

The proposal was adopted, and ICANN's renewed contract to perform the IANA function lapsed on September 30, 2016, resulting in the transition of oversight responsibility to the global stakeholder community represented within ICANN's governance structures. As a component of the transition plan,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-stewardship-transition-proposal-10mar16-en.pdf|title=Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions from the U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the Global Multistakeholder Community|date=March 2016}}</ref> it created a new subsidiary called Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) to perform the IANA functions which include managing the DNS root zone.