The U-S is ending its symbolic role as the holder of the Internet's address book. The US Department of Commerce says its contract with the non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, has expired.

The US will now hand over control of ICANN to the global community of Internet engineers, academics, businesses, and non-government and government groups. Several lawmakers sued to block the change, but the case was thrown out by a federal judge in Texas.

The US started the transition of the handover in March 2014, having managed the Internet address system for about two decades.