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We Think ICANN, We Think ICANN
by Andrew Noyes
In March, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will begin reviewing progress made by the body that manages the Internet-addressing system -- and in anticipation of that occasion, leaders from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers have been making the rounds in Washington.
The assessment of California-based ICANN is part of an agreement NTIA and the Internet body signed to continue transitioning the coordination of technical functions of the Web to the private sector. The three-year deal extends a contract between the two that expired in September 2006.
Before the winter holidays, newly appointed ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush, President Paul Twomey and Vice President Paul Levins spent several days meeting with Internet policy stakeholders in federal, industry and nongovernmental circles. The two of them also discussed with Technology Daily what they anticipate from the review and what Dengate Thrush, a New Zealander who replaced ICANN Chairman Vint Cerf last fall, wants to achieve during his tenure.
"We think it's a very important time for ICANN and the ICANN community, and one of things we wanted to do is explain how the model works to communities of interest here," Levins said during a chat in the lobby of a downtown hotel. "In our view, for nine years it has worked successfully and evolved through community input."
For those who believe in an Internet that is "coordinated, not controlled," now is the time to support that model, he said.
Body-Building In Internet Governance
In 1998, ICANN was seen as a startup. The upcoming review completes a process that began "when there was a lot to be done" and ICANN was little more than a set of bylaws and a board of directors, Levins said. Since then, the organization has matured in response to input from an increasingly involved and expanding population of stakeholders, he said.
Since its creation, ICANN has faced heavy criticism about its transparency and accountability but has worked diligently to overcome that perception, Levins said. Transparency and accountability is "not something you ever complete -- it's a journey," Dengate Thrush added. "We're taking steps to put in place accountability mechanisms, but I think they can be improved."
Still, Levins believes that "we've completed the exercise of building a body that the Internet community wanted and trusts to coordinate all of their activities." "We no longer need a list of things that ICANN needs to prove it can be the global coordinating body that it now is," he said.
Results can be seen in the formation of the Country Code Names Supporting Organization, which advises ICANN on country-based endings to Web addresses. The growth of the Governmental Advisory Committee, one of ICANN's key policymaking bodies, from 30 members to 120 is another testament to success, Levins said.
"ICANN can now make progress very rapidly," Dengate Thrush added. He cited as an example the creation of advisory bodies that give ICANN public input from regions around the globe. That process commenced in December 2006 and was complete in six months.
Apart from a public-comment period that ends Feb. 15 and the March review, there will be a determination by NTIA about what shape the new ICANN agreement will take and what the nature of the U.S. government's relationship should be going forward, Levins said.
When it comes to that affiliation, "where we are now may not be where we want to be in four years or where we want to be in 30 years," said Dengate Thrush, who is trying to plan for ICANN's long-term development.
ICANN needs to "start focusing on issues rather than on administration," and while the link to the United States is a critical one, he said "we need to make sure we have equally strong relations with all the other governments of the world that have an interest in a safe, secure, single, interoperable Internet."
Down the road, unlinking ICANN from NTIA "may be the best thing for the Internet community and the best thing for the U.S. government," Dengate Thrush said. Turning the organization into a true private-sector-led nonprofit could "work in everyone's interest," Levins added.
The Priorities Of ICANN's New Leader
Outside of the NTIA review, Dengate Thrush has clear priorities for his term. He already has asked the board to consider a "rational reorganization" of ICANN's committee structure. "I think we have some committees that we can disestablish and others that can be improved," he said.
Part of "tightening up the administration and functioning" of ICANN involves a better alignment of ICANN's thrice-annual meeting schedule with the group's financial cycle and its strategic planning cycle, Dengate Thrush said. He also hopes to facilitate closer cooperation between the board and the leaders of the CCNSO, Generic Names Supporting Organization and other "corporate divisions of ICANN."
Dengate Thrush addressed rumors of creating an ICANN Washington office by saying that once the relationship with NTIA changes, such an outpost could be considered. "Permanent representation here would be useful," he said.
Marina del Ray, Calif., is "an adequate place" to be headquartered because of its proximity to Asia, the East Coast and Europe, Dengate Thrush said, but ICANN is "a global body with global responsibilities." Levins agreed that "over time, it makes sense that the board and the organization might consider placement of staff in other places and have already done that." ICANN opened an office in Brussels, Belgium, the hub of the European Union, several years ago.
Dengate Thrush does not plan to move ICANN's home base to Geneva despite pressure from some countries for the organization to have more direct ties to the United Nations and distance itself from the U.S. government. "What we're doing is investigating the legal structure of ICANN and whether or not there may be a different legal structure for ICANN to be a better global, multi-stakeholder, open and transparent, bottom-up, geo-diverse organization," he said.
ICANN executives are "investigating a lot of countries, including Switzerland, as to what alternate legal structures may be available," Dengate Thrush said. "We're also investigating moving to a different legal structure in the United States."
Levins added: "You use the word 'international' and people immediately think it means we want to move to Geneva. The discussion is about being a global corporation with a global remit. It's not about us wanting to be some unaccountable entity" that is cloaked by the Swiss Alps.
The Master Of New Domains
Making progress on domain names in foreign-language characters is important to Dengate Thrush. "Most of the world doesn't speak English and 5 billion people have not yet gotten online," he said. "When they do, they won't be speaking English and that will make a dramatic difference to the politics and culture of the Internet."
Dengate Thrush, an intellectual property and Internet attorney who has been involved in ICANN since its inception, said the process by which ICANN introduces domain suffixes also needs attention because there could be thousands of specialized suffixes in the future. "We've had a couple of tries at this over the years and it's not something ICANN has done as well as it could have," he said.
The ICANN board has received a community-generated policy document on the topic that has taken two years to develop and staffers will report back on any barriers next fall, Dengate Thrush said. Applications for new suffixes could be accepted by the end of 2008 or early next year.
Meanwhile, country-code managers all want their own equivalent of English-lettered scripts to correspond with their languages. "That will make tremendous difference to Internet users in those countries," Dengate Thrush said. The current system is seen as "an alien intrusion into what should be their national space."
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