Once upon a time, Network Solutions was the sole organisation responsible for domain registration management. However, in 1998, the US government called for a not-for-profit organisation to be formed which would take over the management of the DNS (Domain Name System). This organisation is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Domain Names are profoundly important online, so ICANN's significance should be clear.

ICANN has many duties, including approving new top-level domains (e.g. .biz) and resolving Domain Name disputes. ICANN has a budget of approximately US$7.5million.

By Natalie Catchpole