CDT POLICY POST Volume 8, Number 24, November 7, 2002 A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES ONLINE from THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY CONTENTS: (1) Domain Names Body Approves Restructuring Package in Shanghai (2) Further Refinement of ICANN's Mission and Powers Necessary (3) Significant Details Still Need Resolution (4) Governments Eye Expanded Role at ICANN ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (1) DOMAIN NAMES BODY APPROVES RESTRUCTURING PACKAGE IN SHANGHAI At its late-October meeting in Shanghai, China, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved sweeping new bylaws in an attempt to refocus and restructure the organization. Among other things, the new bylaws lay out ICANN's intended mission, revamp its process for selecting Directors, and reshape ICANN's policy-making process. ICANN is responsible for oversight of key central resources for the Internet, such as the domain names system. Since its creation in 1998, ICANN has been a controversial organization, largely due to concerns that it has not been adequately accountable to Internet users and that it has lacked strong limits on its powers. The new bylaws seek to address these concerns about ICANN. Significant questions still exist about ICANN. Though the new bylaws make progress in some areas, there is continuing need for improvement in others. In particular, ICANN continues to require stronger accountability measures, means for their enforcement, and a narrow, limited mission statement. CDT believes that ICANN needs to evolve significantly over the next several months if it is to prove itself as a credible manager for critically-important online resources. ICANN's newly-approved bylaws are available at: http://www.icann.org/minutes/minutes-appa-31oct02.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (2) FURTHER REFINEMENT OF ICANN'S MISSION AND POWERS NECESSARY Further attention to ICANN's mission and the extent of its authority is necessary. Because ICANN exerts authority over critical central Internet functions, its activities must be carefully constrained to avoid abuses of power. If its power is not adequately limited, ICANN in the future could leverage its authority to exert powers never contemplated in its creation and structuring, like content regulation. Effective limits on ICANN can prevent that kind of "mission creep" and, in doing so, increase ICANN's credibility in the Internet community. ICANN's new bylaws make some progress on this front. They include a statement of its "Mission and Core Values" in which a relatively non-specific set of coordination activities is coupled with a list of values for ICANN to take into account when conducting those activities. However, ICANN remains free to interpret those values broadly, and the mechanisms to enforce any limits on its power are not strong. CDT believes that the ICANN mission needs further attention. In particular, ICANN needs to commit to acting only when necessary to carry out a narrowly- defined, basically technical mission -- and that it will not act in other cases. Also, ICANN needs mechanisms that will enforce the bylaws' mission limits on ICANN's Board of Directors and other policy bodies. By developing a statement of mission that is strong and enforceable, ICANN will create an increased level of trust among Internet users and operators, as well as enhancing the efficiency of its own activities. Without such a statement, however, ICANN will continue to lack the confidence of the community it is meant to serve. CDT has posted a discussion paper on ICANN's mission and activities, with suggestions on establishing a workable definition for both. Available at: http://www.cdt.org/dns/icann/021030cdt.shtml ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (3) SIGNIFICANT DETAILS STILL NEED RESOLUTION The Board's approval of new bylaws in Shanghai is not the end of the effort to reform ICANN. As ICANN itself noted, major pieces of the ICANN structure still need attention. At its mid-December meeting in Amsterdam, ICANN is expected to make progress on some of these questions. ICANN's major agenda in Amsterdam will include (1) adoption of as-yet-unwritten bylaws describing how the operators of country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) -- domains associated with countries, such as .de or .us -- participate at ICANN; (2) revision of bylaws describing ICANN's relationship with the Regional Internet Registries (the bodies that manage the IP address space), and; (3) adoption of a plan to transition from ICANN's current mode of operation to its new structure. Over the next year, however, other critical questions also require attention. As discussed above, ICANN must continue refining the statement of its mission and activities. It also must demonstrate that public interest voices will be adequately included in its new structure. The new bylaws provide the outlines of an "At-Large Advisory Committee" to fulfill this need, but the ALAC does not yet exist, nor will creating it be an easy task. ICANN should make ensuring the ALAC's success a high priority, and should prepare itself to offer support to the challenging task of building a structure to bring public voices into ICANN's discussions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (4) GOVERNMENTS EYE EXPANDED ROLE AT ICANN At the Shanghai meeting and in recent weeks, there has been heightened discussion about the role governments may seek to play at ICANN. ICANN is a private, non-profit organization; historically, governments have played an advisory role in its activities, but have had no direct influence over ICANN's activities (Note: ICANN's authority ultimately derives from agreements with the US Department of Commerce; Commerce, however, has maintained a largely hands-off attitude towards ICANN's day-to-day activities). Whether governments should assume an increased position at ICANN has lately become an active issue that could implicate ICANN's future as manager of key Internet functions. In particular, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has expressed interest in having an increased role in domain name policy issues, notably in the form of four resolutions passed at ITU's recent meeting in Marrakesh. The ITU is an international treaty organization, made up of national government delegates, that coordinates the international telephone network. CDT and others, however, remain concerned that expanded involvement by the ITU or other government entities could undercut important goals that informed ICANN's design. One of ICANN's primary design principles was that it would manage key Internet functions in a private fashion. Private management has generally been viewed as quicker, more efficient, and more adaptive than "top-down" government regulation, as well as potentially more responsive to the quickly-evolving needs of the Internet community. Though ICANN has had difficulty establishing its credibility in several areas, particularly its accountability to Internet users, CDT continues to believe that a non-governmental administrative body can be an effective manager of these key functions. Increased involvement by government agencies threatens could undercut ICANN's chances at such effectiveness. Moreover, unless ICANN can establish clear limits to its mission and powers, more government involvement could create pressure for ICANN to expand its activities in inappropriate ways. ICANN's authority over key Internet features is not meant to enable the enforcement of national laws at the global level. Though national governments have the authority to exercise sovereignty over their citizens, ICANN should not be viewed as a tool to expand that authority even more broadly. The ITU's resolution regarding ICANN is available at http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/resolutions/2002/res102.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Detailed information about online civil liberties issues may be found at http://www.cdt.org/. This document may be redistributed freely in full or linked to http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_8.24.shtml. Excerpts may be re-posted with prior permission of ari@cdt.org Policy Post 8.24 Copyright 2002 Center for Democracy and Technology -- To subscribe to CDT's Activist Network, sign up at: http://www.cdt.org/join/ If you ever wish to remove yourself from the list, unsubscribe at: http://www.cdt.org/action/unsubscribe.shtml If you just want to change your address, you should unsubscribe yourself and then sign up again or contact: mclark@cdt.org -- Michael Clark, Grassroots Webmaster mclark@cdt.org PGP Key available on keyservers Center for Democracy and Technology 1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100 Washington, DC 20006 http://www.cdt.org/ voice: 202-637-9800 fax: 202-637-0968 ========== HURIDOCS-Tech listserv ========== Send mail intended for the list to <huridocs-tech@hrea.org>. 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