. >> host: and fadi chehade is the president and ceo of the internet corporation for assigned names and numberses, also known as ica, this n. what do you do? >> guest: the doe neighbor maim -- domain name system, the numbers which are underneath us which insure that every device on planet has a unique number and the political parameters. whilst the policies are developed in different place, icann insures their security, their resiliency and insure that there's proper multistakeholder oversight over our functions so that we have legitimacy in these roles. >> host: who sanctions you? >> guest: so icann, really, the history of icann started from the time darpa started, and under president clinton's administration there was a move to create icann as an independent, private, nonprofit institution that is responsible too coordinate these -- to coordinate these things globally for the planet. and in that regard, we have done this job very well. the dns has not been down once in many, many decades. it's working very well. and we insure that the stakeholders have a seat at the table and guide us

. >> fadi chehadÉ is the president and ceo of icann. what does icann do?esponsible for finding key identifiers of the internet. numbers,main names, which are underneath this. they are under every server on the planet. the policies for these are developed in different places, is responsible for implementing these items and ensuring their security and resilience. we must ensure that their its proper oversight over our functions so we have legitimacy. >> who sanctions you? startedistory of icann darpa startedthat and the internet. clinton's administration had a move to create icann as an independent, private, nonprofit in season. -- institution. we coordinate these things. regard, we have done this job very well. it has not been down once in many, many decades. it is working very well. we ensure that stakeholders have a seat at the table. the stakeholders are businesses, government -- we have over 130 government thing on the committee. society, we have active organizations, academics, all of them sitting on an equal footing and making sure that these identifi

fadi chehade is c.e.o."icann." >> it's been envisaged from the first day of icann's creation, that at some point, at some point, when icann and the global community were deemed ready to carry on in their activities without the oversight of the us government, that the u.s. government would let go of it's unique involvement in the affairs of icann. >> woodruff: there's been international pressure to make the change, fueled lately by the backlash over "national security agency" surveillance. then, on march 14th, the commerce department announced plans to hand off supervision of icann to a new international entity. it drew some skeptical comments across the u.s. political spectrum, from sarah palin to former president bill clinton. >> i just know that a lot of these so-called multi- stakeholders are really governments that want to gag people and restrict access to the internet. >> woodruff: the shape of any new oversight body remains unclear, but icann's board chairman, steve crocker, promises an open, inclusiv