ICANN Ben Postman

General Information Structure of ICANN What ICANN does Conflicts Regarding ICANN Alternatives/Modifications

General Information Purpose: “As a private-public partnership, ICANN is dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internet, to promoting competition, to achieving broad representation of global internet communities, and to developing policy appropriate to its mission through bottom-up, consensus-based processes. Non-Profit Established 1998, taking the place of the IANA Marina Del Rey, California International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

Structure Comprised of many branches, organizations, and committees Branches – Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) – Country Code Names Supporting Organization (CCNSO) – Address Supporting Organization (ASO) Advisory Committees – International Governance Forum (IGF) – At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) – Route Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC) – Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) – Technical Liaison Group (TLG)

Functions Responsible for IP Address space allocation Protocol identifier assignment Generic top level domain (gTLD) name system management Country code top level domain (ccTLD) name system management Root server system management functions

Conflicts Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) Drafted in cooperation with WIPO Provides recourse for disputes concerning domain names March 14, 2002 Meeting in Accra, Ghana Reduce direct public participation North America rep Karl Auerbach sues for access to accounting records and wins September-October 2003 ICANN plays crucial role in decision on VeriSign’s service “Site Finder” VeriSign shuts down service, sues ICANN Settled February 28, 2006 May 17, 2004 Proposed budget increase from $8.27 million to $15.83 million Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries (CENTR) shoots it down November 2005 World Summit on the Information Society agrees not to get involved in day-to-day operations of ICANN after build up of speculation by UN As a result, IGF is set up

Alternatives/Modificatons Open Root Server Network(ORSN) European initiative Ran parallel to ICANN from Public and private parties involved in ORSN see lack of need Open Root Server Network(ORSN) European initiative Ran parallel to ICANN from Public and private parties involved in ORSN see lack of need EU proposes internationalization of ICANN through privatization This falls short of addressing all pertinent issues EU proposes internationalization of ICANN through privatization This falls short of addressing all pertinent issues UN proposes internationalization of ICANN but this ends in creation of IGF.

What ICANN does What impact ICANN can have on world affairs Pitfalls of ICANN Benefits of ICANN Success of alternatives to ICANN Future of ICAN Summary of Issues

Sources r_of_a_free_internet/ r_of_a_free_internet/ dyn/A Dec4?language=printer dyn/A Dec4?language=printer sheet.html sheet.html