IP: Markle Foundation Commits More Than $1 Million To Improve Internet Governance, Including Initiatives To Make ICANN More Publicly Accountable

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

> http://www.markle.org/news/Release.199911021044.1219.html
November 2, 1999
Markle Foundation Commits More Than $1 Million To Improve Internet 
Governance, Including Initiatives To Make ICANN More Publicly Accountable
Markle’s efforts designed to help ensure that all users of the Internet are 
aware of ICANN’s role and have a voice in its decision-making through 
selection of members of ICANN’s Board of Directors
Markle will fund public participation in ICANN and has enlisted The Carter 
Center, Common Cause, the American Library Association, Harvard’s Berkman 
Center for Internet and Society, and the Center for Democracy and Technology
Key component of Markle’s $100-million initiative – spearheaded by Markle 
President Zoë Baird – to improve people’s lives through emerging 
communications media and information technologies
November 2, Los Angeles, CA – The Markle Foundation is committing more than 
$1-million to improve Internet governance, including several major 
initiatives designed to make ICANN, the Internet’s first international 
oversight body, more accountable to all users of the Internet, it was 
announced in a statement today by Zoë Baird, President of the Markle 
Foundation.
After a year of initial activities, the first elected Board of Directors of 
ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is now 
being selected; nine of the 19 Directors have already been elected by three 
supporting organizations representing technical and commercial interests. 
Users of the Internet at large will elect an additional nine Directors, and 
Markle is helping to ensure that this election process is representative, 
fair and credible.
Markle’s first initiative – a $200,000 grant directly to ICANN to initiate 
this process—will enable the organization to hire staff, conduct outreach 
(including easy-to-understand educational materials), create technical 
mechanisms for global voting, translate key documents into several major 
languages for the benefit of all potential ICANN members worldwide, and 
initiate the voting process.
Ms. Baird also announced that Markle had enlisted the support of, and is 
providing funds for efforts by, The Carter Center, Common Cause, the 
American Library Association and other organizations from around the world 
to help establish the election process, to reach out to Internet users, and 
to monitor the elections. These efforts are designed to encourage the 
greatest participation by the broadest geographic base of individuals and 
non-commercial users.
Ms. Baird said, “Global institutions are beginning to oversee Internet 
activities. The decisions they make will determine whether the Internet 
achieves its potential as a powerful weapon for democratic values and 
aspirations. Management of the Internet by a private entity will not be 
stable or legitimate if that entity does not adequately include the public 
voice. So it is essential that ICANN – which is establishing rules that 
impact individuals and organizations alike – be accountable to all Internet 
users everywhere. Specifically, that means building a legitimate way for 
individuals to vote and create an authority they can trust. We are bringing 
in experts who can make this happen.”
Ms. Baird added, “The public must be aware of what is going on, understand 
what is at stake and have a meaningful opportunity to express its opinion. 
President Jimmy Carter and the Carter Center, which has overseen scores of 
elections worldwide, and Washington, DC-based Common Cause, under the 
leadership of former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, give 
the Internet community the expertise of leaders who understand how to build 
and protect democratic institutions. They – and our other partners – will 
help us forge essential ties between the Internet community and established 
democracy advocates here and abroad.”
Esther Dyson, Interim Chairman of ICANN’s Initial Board of Directors, said, 
“We’re just delighted that Markle will make such a substantial contribution 
to ICANN’s At-Large Membership program. Markle’s commitment to broad public 
participation in setting policy for the Internet infrastructure is evident 
in the size of the grant and the attention to the issues that come with it. 
Although ICANN’s specific mandate is limited, we hope its activities will 
be a key foundation for Markle’s initiatives in building public interest 
and participation in the global medium. We plan to use the money to move 
quickly in public outreach, so that we can have broad and informed public 
input as we move forward in the design and implementation of the At-Large 
membership structure, which will ultimately produce 9 of our 19 directors.”