Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) President
Stuart Lynn spoke to a Senate subcommittee Wednesday afternoon, defending
his organization’s right to secret meetings and reiterating the importance
of dictating policy.
The Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space heard testimony
from a broad range of witnesses Wednesday to address concerns the Commerce
Department has not taken a strong enough role in overseeing the goings on
at ICANN. Witnesses include Lynn, Nancy Victory, U.S. Department of
Commerce Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, and
long-time ICANN critic (and board director) Carl Auerbach.
The General Accounting Office (GAO), the government’s official auditor,
says there are no detailed minutes of meetings between ICANN and Commerce
and the meetings themselves have been infrequent. This despite one of
several conditions in the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by ICANN
and the DoC in the late 1990s, which calls for a transparent
decision-making process.
ICANN’s chief avoided a direct answer to those concerns, saying the
organization needs to maintain a delicate balancing act between public
interest and private ICANN.
“I prefer that the key role of governments is fully seen in the light of
day, and that we collectively and openly determine what kind of
public/private partnership can ensure that a private ICANN executes its
core mission while respecting governmental concerns for the public
interest,” he said.
Other ICANN criticism centers on its overall ability to govern the nation’s
domain name system and whether the organization has the right to dictate
policy when it was originally instituted to provide guidance only on
technical matters.
Lynn went on the offensive, calling attacks by critics a subtle way to
protect self-serving interests.
“To be blunt about it, some want ICANN to perform only those policy
functions that hamstring their competitors but free them to do as they
wish,” he said. “It’s understandable, but misguided.”
“ICANN must, as it was always intended to do and has done from its
creation, address a limited set of policy issues directly related to its
core mission because they are inextricably intertwined with the technical
tasks required by that mission,” he added.
Also at issue is a 1998 agreement with the Commerce Department in which ICANN
agreed to cede its control over domain names to another private company or
organization by 2000, but delays have extended that deadline to September
of this year.
The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), an IT industry
trade group, said it anticipates ICANN and Commerce will sign a renewed
memorandum of understanding this fall and has issued a call for continued
private sector leadership and no government regulation of the Internet
governing body.
“ICANN plays a vitally important part in the continued momentum of the
Internet as a global medium,” said Harris N. Miller, president of the
Arlington, Va.-based ITAA. “Like any experiment in democracy, organizers
must solidify and encourage those initiatives that are working, and tweak
those that need reform. We support an organization that establishes
relationships with all of the players, and we strongly support continued
private sector leadership and transparency in all aspects of the procedures
of ICANN.”
Talking with Senators Wednesday, DoC Assistant Secretary Victory said
certain conditions might be instituted before signing a renewal contract
with ICANN in September. These might include open hearings and access to
private records.
Miller said that ICANN should move towards contractual relationships with
the country code top level domain (ccTLD) registrars, in addition to the
generic TLDs, the organizations which, in essence, maintain the address
directories for the Internet.
“I think (Congress) has concerns, as I do, about the processes at ICANN
that need more involvement by the DoC, which is why I called for a reform
back in February,” Lynn said in a press conference Wednesday evening after
his hearing. “I look forward to working with both Congress and the DoC to
make that happen.”
