NTIA's Strickling Cites Successful Root Zone File Test as Proof IANA Transition Should Occur
NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling defended ICANN’s Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition plans during an episode of C-SPAN’s The Communicators set to have been televised this weekend. He cited successful completion of a joint ICANN-Verisign 90-day test of a parallel version…
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of the root zone file to ensure the file would remain reliable after the IANA transition. ICANN and Verisign began testing the parallel version of the root zone file in late April to verify that data contained in the Root Zone Management System-produced (RZMS) file will remain reliable after the IANA transition (see 1604110038). ICANN confirmed Thursday that the parallel testing period concluded successfully earlier this month. The test resulted in “zero unexplained differences” between the live version of the root zone file and the parallel testing version of the file that didn’t include NTIA’s authorization, ICANN said in a news release: “This result confirms that the production RZMS and parallel test system produce an identical output for every root zone file published, which was a key step to ensuring the continued security and stability of the Internet's root zone” after the IANA transition. The success of the parallel testing shows the “new system by which ICANN will transmit changes to the root zone directly to Verisign has now been proven to work exactly the same as the current system does,” Strickling said. “The one technical change that has to occur as part of the transition has now been proved to be fully operational and implementable.” Strickling recently pushed back against proposals to delay the IANA transition to allow for further evaluation of the governance changes resulting from ICANN’s transition plans. He said a transition delay not sought by ICANN stakeholders has the potential to damage U.S. credibility and international support for multistakeholder internet governance (see 1606280062 and 1607140084).