Net Co-Inventor Leaving Domain Name Agency

Vint Cerf, who helped develop the technological underpinnings of the Internet, is stepping down as head of its oversight board, the AP reports. Many predicted the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers was doomed when Cerf took over in 1999, but he steered it through international criticism for 7 years. “My sentence is up,” Cerf joked, having hit his term limit.

The board has been key in overseeing domain names and, lately, in expanding into languages beyond English. Though still criticized as slow and arbitrary, ICANN is here to stay. Cerf “has a certain star quality,” said ICANN’s chief exec. “He can say, ‘Me and my colleagues actually invented the Internet and here's how it works.’” (More ICANN stories.)