IP: Government Has More Questions for Internet Board

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/11/cyber/capital/02capital.html

By JERI CLAUSING 
Government Has More Questions for Internet Board

Markle to Donate ICANN Funds; Bridging the Digital Divide; White House Opposes Cybersquatting Legislation 


ASHINGTON -- The Internet's new oversight board opened its annual meeting Monday with a new round of questions from the 
federal government about its controversial bylaws and procedures. 
The latest query came in a strongly worded letter late last week from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to Esther 
Dyson, interim chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). 

ICANN was picked by the Clinton Administration last year to take over administration of the global network. Citing 
continuing controversy over how the organization makes its decisions, the Office of Advocacy of the SBA asked ICANN to 
discuss better procedural rules that would allow for more open decision making. 

Among the chief concerns that have been cited by ICANN critics over the past year have been the number of closed 
meetings it has held and problems in the way it handles public comments on proposed policies before they are adopted. 

"Advocacy believes that these procedural concerns are legitimate, and, to the extent they are being ignored, de facto 
barriers are being erected to the participation of small businesses and individuals in the ICANN decision-making 
process," the letter from Jere W. Glover, chief counsel for advocacy at the SBA, said. 

Specifically, the agency asked that ICANN adopt procedures mandating better public notification of its proposed 
policies and longer periods for public comment on those proposals before they are voted on by the board. Among the key 
decisions ICANN has made so far are what rules companies entering the business of registering Internet addresses must 
follow.