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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>Friends and Colleagues,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>The NTIA has comprehensively evaluated the IANA Stewardship Transition proposal submitted to it earlier in March 2016 at the ICANN 55 meeting in Marrakech, and have found the proposal to meet its stringent criteria. You can read more on this at <a href="https://www.icann.org/news/blog/another-milestone-towards-the-iana-stewardship-transition">https://www.icann.org/news/blog/another-milestone-towards-the-iana-stewardship-transition</a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>Thank you,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>Fahd Batayneh<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>ICANN<o:p></o:p></p><div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>On March 14, 2014, 818 days ago, the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) asked ICANN to convene the global Internet community to develop proposals to transition the stewardship of the IANA functions to the multistakeholder community. It also called for enhancements to ICANN’s accountability mechanisms.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>Today, NTIA released a <a href="https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/combined_iana_stewardship_transition_assessment_report.pdf">comprehensive evaluation of the proposals</a>. I am very pleased with NTIA’s finding that the community-developed proposals met its stringent criteria. It is an important recognition of the entire community and its tireless work to reach this important milestone.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>We appreciate NTIA’s efficient and thorough review of the transition proposals. In the meantime, ICANN staff and community members continue to plan and prepare for a timely and successful implementation of the proposals.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify'>We thank everyone involved for their support and hard work to see the transition through to this point. There is still more work to come, but this moment should serve as a validation of your time and effort in this process. We are one step closer to seeing the transition many of us have been working towards for years, to ensure an open, interoperable Internet for years to come.<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>