[ga] Re: [ga-icann] ICANN May Face Restructuring

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>]

Patrick and all,

  And Stuart Lynn stated in the previously posted ICANN Announcement
that the Stockholm meeting was a great success.  Makes one wonder
whether Stuart considers a success...  Stew, care to help shed some
light on this discrepancy?

Patrick Corliss wrote:

> ICANN May Face Restructuring
> By Juliana Gruenwald, Interactive Week
> June 7, 2001 4:25 PM ET
>
> http://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2770858,00.html
>
> STOCKHOLM, Sweden - After more than two years of existence, the Internet's
> domain name management body could go through a major face-lift as it
> responds to calls for a shift in the representation of some of its
> constituencies.
>
> Internet industry representatives and others say the Internet Corporation
> for Assigned Names and Numbers will likely have to go through a
> restructuring if it agrees to act on a call by the operators of the
> country-code top-level domains, such as dot-uk. Looking for more of a voice
> with regard to issues under ICANN's jurisdiction, the ccTLD operators have
> asked for a separate supporting organization.
>
> The ccTLD operators made the request during ICANN's quarterly board meeting
> in Stockholm, which ended Monday. The ccTLDs are currently one of seven
> constituencies that make up the Domain Name Supporting Organization, which
> advises ICANN on domain name policy issues. The ccTLD operators say they are
> withdrawing from the DNSO because they do not feel their interests are
> adequately represented. The DNSO generally focuses on issues related to
> generic top-level domain names (gTLDs), such as dot-com and dot-net, but it
> also has been criticized for being ineffective.
>
> Country-code operators say they should have greater influence in ICANN,
> given that they provide as much as one third of ICANN's funding. They said
> they would continue to make voluntary contributions to fund ICANN's
> operations as long as the ICANN staff works toward the development of a
> ccTLD supporting organization.
>
> While noting that the ccTLDs still support the ICANN process, Peter de
> Blanc, the operator for the Virgin Islands country code, told the board,
> "What we're looking for is an improved structure."
>
> In addition to the DNSO, ICANN has two supporting organizations that focus
> on technical issues. Each of the three groups is given three seats on
> ICANN's 18-member board. The nine other seats are set aside for at-large
> representatives. ICANN President M. Stuart Lynn also serves on the board as
> an ex-officio member.
>
> The ccTLDs are expected to also want representation on the board, which will
> require ICANN to reshuffle its current makeup.
>
> Other constituencies are looking for representation as well. ICANN is in the
> midst of a study of whether general Internet users should have formal
> representation in ICANN. When it was created, ICANN was supposed to allow
> general Internet users to elect nine representatives to the board. But so
> far, ICANN has held only one election for five of the at-large seats. The
> other four seats are still held by directors appointed when ICANN was
> created in 1998. ICANN officials say they will not make a decision on
> whether to hold another election until the at-large study committee finishes
> its work.
>
> Some supporters of at-large representation say they are concerned that some
> of the four at-large seats could be given to the ccTLDs.
>
> "It certainly is very convenient for those who don't want half of the board
> elected by the at-large" community, said Milton Mueller, an information
> studies professor at Syracuse University.
>
> Don Simon, general counsel for public interest organization Common Cause,
> said it would be a "real breach of faith" if ICANN gave any at-large seats
> to the ccTLDs before the study is completed.
>
> Others say if ICANN does give the ccTLDs their own supporting organization
> with seats on the board, other groups that help fund ICANN's operations will
> demand representation as well. These include the registries that operate the
> existing gTLDs and the new ones set to become available this year and the
> registrars that sell Internet registrations to the public.
>
> "We will have to reconstitute ICANN," said Karl Auerbach, an at-large member
> of the ICANN board who opposes giving different business groups seats on the
> board.
>
> The line between ccTLDs and gTLDs has been blurred because some operators
> are marketing country-code domains such as dot-TV and dot-LA as global
> domains, one industry source said on condition of anonymity. As a result,
> those ccTLDs would have a competitive advantage if ccTLD representatives
> were added to the board, the source argued.
>
> ICANN officials have expressed support for the ccTLDs' call for greater
> representation. But how ICANN might be restructured is a matter for debate
> among interested parties.
>
> The ccTLDs' demand "will have implications [for ICANN's structure]. But how
> [we]...factor that in and how it will affect the conclusions, I am rather
> neutral," said former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, the chairman of the
> at-large study committee.
>
> Another member of the ICANN board, Jonathan Cohen, has proposed some
> alternative structures for ICANN. One proposal would create several
> supporting organizations that would elect members to the board. It would be
> made up of the three current supporting organizations and new ones created
> for ccTLD operators, gTLD operators, registrars and at-large Internet users.
> Under all three alternatives he has suggested, the at-large community would
> retain only five at-large seats, instead of the nine proposed when ICANN was
> created.
>
> Another proposal offered by Wolfgang Kleinwaechter, an international
> communication policy professor at Denmark's University of Aarhus, would call
> on Internet users to create their own Internet User Supporting Organization
> that would have nine seats on ICANN's board.
>
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Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
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