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Net Co-Inventor Leaving Domain Name Agency

Cerf navigated oversight board through WWW's early days

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 29, 2007 1:22 PM CDT

(Newser) – Vint Cerf, who helped develop the technological underpinnings of the Internet, is stepping down as head of its oversight board, the AP reports. Many predicted the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers was doomed when Cerf took over in 1999, but he steered it through international criticism for 7 years. “My sentence is up,” Cerf joked, having hit his term limit.

The board has been key in overseeing domain names and, lately, in expanding into languages beyond English. Though still criticized as slow and arbitrary, ICANN is here to stay. Cerf “has a certain star quality,” said ICANN’s chief exec. “He can say, ‘Me and my colleagues actually invented the Internet and here's how it works.’”

Vint Verf, co-founder of the internet, is stepping down as head of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers.
Vint Verf, co-founder of the internet, is stepping down as head of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers.
Vinton Vint Cerf, chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, talks with a participant during a break from an ICANN conference Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000, in Marina Del Rey, Calif. Cerf is stepping down this week as chairman of ICANN. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Vinton "Vint" Cerf, chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, talks with a participant during a break from an ICANN conference Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000, in Marina Del Rey, Calif....   (Associated Press)
People enter ICANN's public forum Thursday, March 29 2007, in Lisbon, Portugal. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
People enter ICANN's public forum Thursday, March 29 2007, in Lisbon, Portugal. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)   (Associated Press)
ICANN headquarters, housed on a floor of this office tower in Marina Del Rey, Calif.
ICANN headquarters, housed on a floor of this office tower in Marina Del Rey, Calif.   (Wikimedia Commons)
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