Paul Twomey, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), announced today he will step down from his position at the end of 2009.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is requesting that the U.S. government allow it to become independent.

ICANN made the request in a detailed report sent to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The report will be the topic of a meeting to decide ICANN’s progress on objectives the U.S. government has put in place that would lead to the organizations independence.