ICANN: "We have always been independent."

Now that the JPA has expired and ICANN’s ties with the government have essentially been cut, the organization has declared that nothing has changed and that it will continue to operate exactly as it has in the past.

Brad White, director of media affairs at ICANN, stated that while many have viewed the JPA as an end to government control over ICANN, there never was federal involvement in the organization’s affairs. “We have always been independent,” he said.

In this case, I would have to say that ICANN is right. While many foreign interests viewed the JPA with disdain, the American government never had direct control over the agency. So far the new Affirmation of Commitments has been popular with industry experts, but it is not a document of “ICANN independence.”

Source | Total Telecom

Photo | Flickr

New ICANN oversight model announced

With the expiration of the JPA today, a new framework for the oversight of ICANN has been announced. The new model puts less emphasis on U.S. government involvement and relies more on input from foreign governments and the private sector.

Called the Affirmation of Commitments, this new agreement lasts indefinitely. It calls for so-called “expert panels” to ensure ICANN is doing its job in regards to network security and stability, TLDs, IDNs, and ccTLDs, and the WHOIS database.

There will also be an accountability panel that ensures the organization remains ethical and transparent. This board is required to have a U.S. government representative.

Critics of American dominance over ICANN like Viviane Reding should be pleased with the new change. What impact, if any, the new oversight model has on the agency remains to be seen.

Source | Domain Name News

Photo | mproe

CADNA calls for audit of ICANN

CADNA, a non-profit organization often at odds with ICANN, has called for a full audit of the Internet governing agency– exactly one week before the expiration of the JPA.

CADNA wants the government to carefully investigate ICANN’s policies, structure, governance, and oversight methods before any changes are made to the JPA. Josh Bourne, President of CADNA, said:

ICANN is broken. We’re releasing our “Top Ten List” of things wrong with ICANN and proposing a full- scale audit of the nonprofit organization that controls Internet policy.

The “Top Ten List” explains ten problems the government would find wrong with ICANN if a full examination of the agency were conducted:

1. ICANN is a captured regulator
2. ICANN is not independent
3. ICANN is not transparent
4. ICANN is more interested in making a profit than working for the benefit of Internet users
5. ICANN is not accessible
6. ICANN is failing to address numerous issues corrupting the Internet
7. ICANN’s proposed gTLD rollout is poorly conceived
8. ICANN is not looking at itself critically
9. ICANN is risking cybersecurity, national security, and global security
10. ICANN’s relationship with the US government does not span all relevant agencies

Personally, I feel CADNA has a point. ICANN has a very poor track record and their motives are often open to question. I think the Internet would be a much better place if the government paid more attention to ICANN.

Source | SOA World

ICANN receives letter of concern from Congress

Two high-ranking Republicans from the House Judiciary Committee– Lamar Smith, R-TX, and Howard Coble, R-NC– sent a letter to new ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom this week expressing concern about the new gTLD system and the expiration of the JPA, slated to occur in less than two weeks.

The two expressed worry over “serious negative consequences” that could result if the new domain system is implemented, such as increased fraud, cybersquatting, and confusion among Internet users. They were also worried about how the lack of price caps on the new extensions would affect American businesses.

Smith and Coble also stated that they have “serious misgivings” about the expiration of the JPA given ICANN’s “less than stellar track record.” They have asked Beckstrom to respond provide more details about the gTLD system and the termination of the JPA by September 22.

Source | Nextgov
Photo | Flickr

More updates on call for U.S.-ICANN relationship

In a letter sent out on August 4, two Democratic congressmen called for a permanent relationship between the United States government and ICANN. Since the event made news yesterday, more details about the situation have emerged.

The letter published by the congressmen calls for the following to occur at ICANN:

Any further involvement of the United States in ICANN will more than likely cause an international uproar, and there is the possibility that it could refuse to cooperate with the government. Either way, I think ICANN hasn’t been as transparent and responsible as it could have been over the years and someone needs to clamp down on it. What the two politicians are calling for isn’t too unreasonable.

Considering the JPA expires on September 30, we should hear about any formal steps by the government to take hold of ICANN soon.

Source | DN Journal
Photo | Flickr

Congressmen call for permanent ICANN relationship

With less than two months of ICANN‘s Joint Project Agreement with the United States Department of Commence remaining, two key House members are calling for permanent government involvement in the organization.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, D.-Calif., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., made a statement regarding their views today:

Rather than replacing the JPA with additional JPAs or Memoranda of Understandings that expire every few years, we believe the time has come for a permanent instrument to which ICANN and the Department of Commerce are co-signatories. This statement of commitments and principles would ensure that ICANN remains perpetually accountable to the public and to all of its global stakeholders.

ICANN has previously declared that it neither wants government involvement nor a renewal of the JPA. The California organization has never really experienced any government oversight before, and it is unclear how the U.S. government could push itself into ICANN.

Personally, I think government involvement in ICANN is a good thing. Every other industry is regulated. Why the Internet has not already been made privy to federal oversight I do not know.

Source | eWeek

3 months of JPA remaining

Mark your calendars. On September 30- exactly three months from today- the Joint Project Agreement between ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce will expire.

Peter Thrush, the Chairman of ICANN’s Board of Directors, stated earlier this month that the California organisation has no intention of renewing this agreement.

Besides a congressional hearing to investigate accountability and transparency within ICANN, the U.S. government has kept quite on the the agreement issue.

I highly doubt JPA will be renewed. Regardless of what decision is made, the Internet will remain largely the same. ICANN has always asserted that the agreement is not an oversight mechanism, but merely a partnership of sorts.

Some in Europe are pushing for an international oversight entity, such as Viviane Reding with her “G-12 for Internet Governance”, but thus far no practical solution has been proposed.

Reding’s plan is flawed in that representation for the oversight panel would be a strict status quo of two members per continent (three for Australia and Asia combined), with no regard to the number of Internet users or population. More developed countries with a significant stake in the web would receive no more input than a developing country that just bought its first mainframe.

ICANN has been an American organisation since its founding. I don’t think this will change any time soon. It may have no official partnership with the U.S. government, but my bet is things will operate as they always have.

NRO to US Government: "ICANN is no longer your domain"

The Number Resource Organisation (NRO) call for an end to the United State’s special relationship with ICANN today. After the Joint Project Agreement between the two ends in September, the NRO wants to see better representation, coordination, competition, and stability in governing ICANN.

NRO Chairman Adiel Akplogan hit the nail on the head:

We believe that the principles that have guided the management of the [domain name system] until now will enable the growth and development of the internet in the future too, and advise that US Government involvement in ICANN is no longer necessary.

The NRO is an organization made up of five united Internet registries: AfriNIC, APNIC, ARIN, LACNIC and RIPE NCC. Together, they work to allocate IP addresses and Internet development.

Source: Silicone Republic

Africa Backs ICANN

In a statement regarding ICANN’s current partnership with the Department of Commerce, a representative group of African registrars and government leaders officially announced its support for the organization.

The group believes that Africa has benefited and will continue to benefit from the relationship.

The Internet’s sound and effective coordination should continue to be operated along the criteria and procedures that have given to the Internet its stability and secure operation, said the group.

There is concern that if ICANN is fully privatized or put under different control, African countries might be given a smaller piece of the pie, so to speak. This is a stark change in opinion from a year ago, when representatives from the continent wanted international governance for the organization.

In a place where obtaining network stability yet alone government stability is still a challenge, the group has good reason to fear exploitation. Africa needs to do everything it can to make sure its IT resources are preserved for future generations.

Source: IDG

Photo: Flickr

ICANN to End JPA with U.S. Government

For years, ICANN has operating under what’s known as the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) with the United States Department of Commerce.

The agreement is for “the purpose of the joint development of the mechanisms, methods, and procedures necessary to effect the transition of Internet domain name and addressing system (DNS) to the private sector.”

JPA expires on September 30. Yesterday, Peter Thrush, Chairman of ICANN’s Board of Directors, said he does not intend to renew it.

He states that the JPA has been misunderstood as an oversight mechanism:

But to the extent that there is a perception that the JPA is an additional instrument, that perception is harmful and destabilizing to confidence in the original vision of an lnternet that is coordinated not controlled.

Other developed nations have long expressed concern about there being too much ICANN oversight from Washington.