ICANN Be Reformed

In the 16th century religious reformers transformed Christianity. In the 21st century ICANN's proposed reformation could transform independent ISP operators into Members At Large. Not exactly a religions experience, but frighteningly alluring all the same.

by Julie Wheeler [March 18, 2002]

As was expected, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) President M. Stuart Lynn's Feb. 24 proposal to reform the global domain naming group was put forth at its at its meeting in Accra, Ghana last week. If the proposal is accepted, ICANN's structure would be transformed into a pseudo-governmental organization and its current board of directors dissolved.

The group resolved to create a committee and put together a plan of action for said reforms. Initial assignments include completing a mission statement for the organization, goals that would achieve this mission, and a timetable by which it would be completed.

Specifically, the resolution requires that the committee produce "a description of a proposed transition process from the current structure to any recommended new structure, including a description of how the present components of ICANN relate to the new proposed structure."

Though the board's resolutions [2.20 through 2.26] do not give any specifics as to the shape a reformed ICANN would take, it does recommend that the committee, now officially called the "Committee on ICANN Evolution and Reform," work closely with the president and staff to complete its tasks. The board also recommends that the committee work closely with the Internet community through public comment.

You can participate in this discussion online or send your comments by e-mail. Naturally, the mud is slinging in at the moment. Comments include predictions of doom and subsequent failure of the proposed reformation to prophecies that such action could transform ICANN into an oppressive governmental gatekeeper.

The board instructed the committee to collect all of the information and present its anthology at ICANN's meeting on June 28 in Bucharest, Romania. This means the committee must post its findings no later than May 31, so time allotted for public comment is limited.

Temptation
As you may recall, one of the more contemptuous elements of Lynn's reforms calls for the elimination of individual participants—businesses leaders, academicians, and tenured Internet users that currently share a voice in governing the group. However, it appears that cries of blasphemy from ICANN's At Large Members were heard.

The ICANN board made several resolutions regarding the role of individuals, businesses, academicians, and what it calls the "full range of Internet users" to ensure their future participation in "an appropriate role for those interests in ICANN's coordinating and management structures."

At the same time, the board said the current organizational approach to managing global domain naming issues is not working. It is particularly unimpressed with the election process, claiming it was concerned with the "fairness, representative nature, validity, and affordability of global online elections." And rightly so, since the most recent election of the five At Large board members was more like a combat zone in Afghanistan. So the election process didn't work well, but this doesn't mean that elections of At Large members should be done away with altogether.

Instead, the board wants to see the election process reformed, too. Resolutions 2.17 and 2.18 call upon those interested in ICANN participation to devote sustained energy to the creation of At Large structures rebuilt from the bottom, up. ICANN wants to see self-organized, local Internet participation from groups that already serve elements of Internet communities in broader ways.

One suggestion includes the participation of Internet service providers in this function. After all, ISPs have a vested interest in the integrity and stability of the domain naming system and many already have strong involvement in local Internet communities.

There is, however, one hurdle for an ISP-based group to overcome in order to pursue an At Large post at ICANN. There is a question concerning a conflict of interest, since ISPs profit from the domain naming system. The ICANN Names Council has established the "ISPCP," a constituency of ISPs and connectivity providers. Currently the constituency is underutilized and relatively unknown, but this could change if independent ISP operators decide to reform this subgroup and transform it into a viable At Large representative of ICANN.

But not matter what name, shape, or form an ISP constituency, it seems that ICANN is extending a challenge to the At Large community to either organize and be heard—or step aside and be governed.

—End