PFF Releases Transcript of Spring
Event
WASHINGTON D.C. -
As the Internet has
become the backbone of our Digital Age economy, the issue of
"Internet governance" has grown in importance. What's next for
the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN), the non-profit corporation responsible for
coordinating administration of the domain name system? This
topic was discussed at "ICANN
& Internet Governance: How Did We Get Here & Where Are
We Heading?" a Congressional Seminar
hosted by The Progress & Freedom Foundation. PFF has just
released a transcript of the
event.
At event, panel of former and
current ICANN board members and experts addresses three
overarching topics involving the organization: ICANN's
mission, its governance structure, and the proposal for new
generic Top-Level Domain names (gTLDs). These issues
were discussed in the context of the organization's past,
present and future. The discussion was moderated by
Michael Palage, PFF Adjunct Fellow and former ICANN board
member.
David Johnson, Visiting Professor
of Law at the Institute for Information Law and Policy at New
York Law School, addressed ICANN’s origins and its mission,
explaining that the intent was to create a new globally
effective regime to govern the domain name space. He
stated it was based "on the theory that if they did, the
government could defer to them the way it defers to all kinds
of private groups and standard-setting bodies in associations
and companies, for the matter, when the govern their own
affairs in a successful way that does not create undue harm
for others."
Milton Mueller, Professor and
Director of the Convergence Center at Syracuse University and
author of the definitive book Ruling the Root,
addressed concerns about ICANN’s raised by its structural
evolution, stating, "we need to stop playing games with
ICANN. Either it's a free-standing innovative form of
global governance or it's just a U.S. Government
contract. If it's the former, if it's going to be free
of the U.S., we need to get serious about the international
legal framework within which it operates. We have to set a
firm date for its liberation. We need to talk about
accountability to the general public and not just to the
latest special interest groups that make noise."
Mike Roberts, Internet Technology
Policy Consultant and the first President and CEO of ICANN,
also discussed accountability concerns under the U.S
Department of Commerce's Joint Project Agreement, currently
set to expire in September. Roberts stated that the
Department of Commerce, with its notice of inquiry released
last April, "is kind of bringing this to the cusp of the
dilemma where we have to either cede those quasi [governmental
functions] back to the government, or some coalition of
governments, which is more likely, or to find a way to put
more legal strength, if you will, in ICANN whereby a sense of
accountability strengthened."
Paul Twomey, who served as
President and CEO of ICANN till June 2009, discussed recent
critiques of the organization's new generic top-level domains
(gTLD) proposal. "Many of the issues that were raised in
the policy development process have re-emerged again in this
consultation process," Twomey explained. "We are looking
to a process of that sort of consultation and them coming up
with solutions."
Both the event transcript and an audio
recording can be found on the
PFF website.
The Progress &
Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that
studies the digital revolution and its implications for public
policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational
organization.
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