Does ICANN need an ombudsman?

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: ICANN's missing ombuds (fixed typos)
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 18:13:06 -0500
From: Jonathan Zittrain <zittrain () law harvard edu>
To: declan () well com

Ethan Katsh is one of the most consummately reasonable people I've ever
met.  He studies dispute resolution, and has quietly blandished ICANN for a
period of years to include a simple form of accountability in its
structure.  He succeeded twice -- an older set of ICANN bylaws had a
section about chartering an independent review panel, and a set of
amendments in December '02 requires ICANN to have an ombudsperson.  These
successes are rather hollow, since while pointing to these reforms in a
series of reports to the US Dept of Commerce and others, ICANN never
appointed the panel and hasn't hired an ombuds.

Ethan's description of the situation is laid out in a letter that's as
temperate as it is devastating: see <http://www.odr.info/icann/>.  Politech
has followed ICANN's ups and downs since its inception; I wonder if anyone
out there has ideas about how to actually press the institution to be true
to its own rules -- or to offer a persuasive explanation about why it so
far hasn't.  ...JZ


Jon Zittrain
Harvard Law School
Jack N. & Lillian R. Berkman Assistant Professor
  for Entrepreneurial Legal Studies
Faculty Co-Director, Berkman Center for Internet & Society
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/zittrain>


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