ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is the governing body of the Domain Name System (DNS) which is the database of the Internet. ICANN was created by the US Government in 1998 to move governance over the Internet from the US Department of Commerce (DOC) to a private sector, worldwide body that was not dominated by the United Nations, or any other corrupt and politically deadlocked organization, or by elements who did not embrace freedom.
ICANN has been operating under an agreement with the DOC since its inception. Today is the last day of this agreement. To reassure the world that ICANN will remain true to it's mission, ICANN today issued an 11 point Affirmation of Its Commitments (see the video on ICANN's site).
This is a positive and inevitable development as the Internet is a worldwide infrastructure vital to communications everywhere. There needs to be a universal sense of ownership and accountability and not a feeling that it is an extension of the US Government. At the same time no one wants ICANN to become dysfunctional as is the case with many international organizations. ICANN has real functions that affect all of us directly and indirectly.
The Affirmation is a common sense assurance that ICANN will remain true to its mission.
ICANN's evolution is a big development but one that will probably fly under the radar of business and consumer news groups.