Public Interest Groups Clash With ICANN Over Governance

A cadre of public interest groups released a report contradicting the findings of a recent study by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) into what role the online public should play in drafting global Internet addressing policy. The report sets the stage for a likely clash between public interest groups and Internet addressing authorities when ICANN - the body that manages the Internet's addressing system - meets in Montevideo, Uruguay, next week. CDT is one of a handful of groups involved in the NAIS (Non-governmental organization & Academic ICANN Study) Project - which today released the findings of its report on ICANN governance. The NAIS study was launched earlier this year to mirror an internal study by ICANN officials into how and whether the Internet public should be allowed to participate in the ICANN decision-making process. In its draft report, released earlier this week, the internal ICANN committee recommended that the Internet user community be given its own "supporting organization" within ICANN. The report further suggested that the user community be allowed to determine the makeup of one-third of the ICANN board of directors, which has the final say on all ICANN decisions. By contrast, NAIS today recommended in its findings that ICANN allow the Internet user community to elect one-half of the ICANN board members. That level of board representation would be "an important check within the ICANN board so that sweeping bylaws changes could not be made without" the consent of the Internet public, Davidson said. Under ICANN's existing bylaws, the board is supposed to comprise nine internally selected members representing Internet "stakeholders" and nine at- large members representing the online public.