US government preserves its right to extend the IANA contract

The US government has sent ICANN a preliminary notice of its intent to extent the IANA functions contract for another year. While underlying the fact that the government intends to allow the contract to expire as of 1 October, the notice is aimed to preserve the government’s right to extend the contract, should ‘any significant impediment’ appear by that date. ICANN has further clarified that the preliminary notice does not commit the government to an extension of the IANA functions contract, and notes that a ‘significant impediment’ might be, for example, ‘a legal or legislative obstacle that would prevent the expiration of the […] contract’.