PART 1
Essential Internet Knowledge

Chapter 2
The Administration of the Internet

Page 11 - The Early Internet

Early NSF System under IAB and IANA

Everyone uses the Internet, but few know how it is administered.¹¹ An understanding of Internet administration is essential for serious web users and web makers, and is also useful for anyone directly or indirectly involved in the registration of web domain names.

Authority for the administration of the Internet originally belonged to the Internet Architectural Board (IAB) and the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA). The technical architecture of the Internet was the realm of the IAB whereas Internet addresses were the domain of the IANA. Both the IAB and the IANA operated under the leadership of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Internet Administration of gTLDs under NSI

The growth of the Internet put pressure on the NSF to privatize administration. In 1992, private firms were asked to bid for the right to register and administer Internet addresses and domains.¹²