Internet Registry

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, DNS root zone management, and other Internet protocol assignments. It is operated by ICANN.Prior to the establishment of ICANN for this purpose, IANA was administered primarily by Jon Postel at the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, under a contract USC/ISI had with the United States Department of Defense, until ICANN was made to assume the responsibility under a United States Department of Commerce contract.
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(IR) The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority has the discretionary authority to delegate portions of its responsibility and, with respect to network address and Autonomous System identifiers, has lodged this responsibility with the IR. The IR function is performed by the Defense Data Network Network Information Center.