ICANN
was the IANA Functions Operator by virtue of a contract with the NTIA. A key aspect of the transition is that the community wanted to retain the ability to change IFOs. (I hope you are not, as an ICANN exec, trying to deny or reverse this basic principle of
separability which has been accepted by all 3 communities.) As a logical consequence of separability, ICANN's status as IFO is contingent upon acceptable performance. Thus, it cannot own the IANA-related IPR; it must receive them and use them only as long
as it it the designated IFO.