DNS root zone

The DNS root zone is the top-level DNS zone in the hierarchical namespace of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the United States Department of Commerce has exercised ultimate authority over the DNS root zone of the Internet since it was transitioned into private hands in 1997. In March 2014, the NTIA announced that it will cede this authority to an organization whose nature has yet to be specified. Through the NTIA, the root zone is managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), acting as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), while the root zone maintainer is Verisign. It is not known whether Verisign will continue in this role following the end of NTIA involvement.