INTERNET GOVERNANCE PROJECT: "What to Do About ICANN"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

>     *********************************************************
>                     The Internet Governance Project
>                     announces a new policy analysis:
>
>                     "WHAT DO TO ABOUT ICANN:
>          A PROPOSAL FOR STRUCTURAL REFORM"
>
>                     www.InternetGovernance.org
>
>     **********************************************************
>
> The authors analyze how ICANN exercises governmental powers
> without possessing corresponding mechanisms for accountability.
> They propose three accountability mechanisms:
> 1. Creation of an international oversight body to replace US
>     oversight of ICANN
> 2. Restoration of ICANN's global elections
> 3. Decentralization of the Internet root zone and coordinated
>     management between ICANN and the ITU.
>
> The paper is available at the Internet Governance Project site:
>      http://www.internetgovernance.org
> The executive summary is below.
>
> This analysis will be discussed in an on-line forum to be held
> on April 22, 2005. Additional details to be announced.
>
>
> The Internet Governance Project is an interdisciplinary consortium of
> academics comprised of:
> Dr. Milton Mueller, Professor, Syracuse University School of
>       Information Studies
> Dr. Hans Klein, Associate Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology,
>       School of Public Policy
> Dr. John R. Mathiason, Adjunct Professor, Syracuse University
>       Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
> Dr. Lee McKnight, Associate Professor, Syracuse University School
>       of Information Studies
> Dr. Marc Holitscher, Lecturer, Institut für Politikwissenschaft der
>       Universität Zürich
> Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, Assistant Pofessor, Syracuse University,
>       School of Information Studies
>
> ###
>
>
>                             Executive Summary
>
>                     "WHAT DO TO ABOUT ICANN:
>          A PROPOSAL FOR STRUCTURAL REFORM"
>
>                    by Hans Klein and Milton Mueller
>
> With the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in
> Tunisia quickly approaching, and with the work of the UN Working
> Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) well underway, it is time to
> identify concrete policy options for Internet governance. Any
> initiatives in this area must address the criticisms that have been
> made of ICANN.  Although the international community has defined
> ³Internet governance² in a way that goes beyond ICANN¹s control
> of domain names and addresses, ICANN nonetheless remains
> central to many issues. Here we propose a series of structural
> reforms for it.
>
> The proposals here are designed to address the most important
> criticisms that have been made of ICANN. These criticisms include:
> *  Concerns about unilateralism by the US Government in its control
>    of the DNS root and its supervision of ICANN.
> *  Dissatisfaction with ICANN¹s Government Advisory Committee (GAC),
>     where governments have only advisory powers.
> *  The perception that ICANN¹s governance model does not properly
>     balance the interests of developed and developing countries and
>     suppliers and users.
> *  Concerns about the relations between ICANN, country code top
>     level domain administrators (ccTLDs), and national governments.
> *  The overall perception that ICANN lacks legitimacy.
>
> To address these issues, this paper proposes the following reforms
> for ICANN:
> 1)  Limits on power and internationalized oversight. A legally-binding
>      international agreement narrowly defining ICANN¹s powers and
>      replacing US Government supervision with internationalized
>      supervision .  This would allow abolition of ICANN¹s Government
>      Advisory Committee.
> 2)  Democratization. Reinstatement and strengthening of the At Large
>      membership of ICANN, especially a return to election of the At Large
>      Board members and the granting of voting rights on ICANN¹s GNSO
>      to At Large representatives.
> 3)  Competition. Coordinated sharing of responsibilities between ICANN
>      and the ITU in a way that would allow ccTLD managers and IP address
>      users a choice of alternative governance arrangements.
>
> See full analysis at:  http://www.internetgovernance.org
>
> ###


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