ICANN Candidate Information Page

Dear Candidate:

In the interest of promoting a well-informed electorate in the upcoming ICANN At-Large election, the Center for Democracy & Technology, Common Cause, and the Bertelsmann Foundation are distributing the following questionnaire to At-Large candidates. As non-profit public interest groups working for transparency and democratic values in ICANN's proceedings, we are hoping to objectively poll the candidates on some of the critical issues facing ICANN.

We ask that you complete the following questionnaire and return it to us electronically at icann-poll@cdtmail.org. Results will be posted on CDT's web site, http://www.cdt.org/icann-election/, on the Bertelsmann Foundation's "Democratic Internet" project at http://www.democratic-internet.de/, and on other sites worldwide for the consideration of ICANN voters. We will begin posting responses as soon as we receive them. In order to assure that voters have adequate time to review the collected data, we ask that you return this questionnaire to us by Monday, September 25.

Also, while we encourage you to fully express your positions and proposals in the spaces provided, please do keep your answers as concise as possible.

Common Cause, CDT, and the Bertelsmann Foundation thank you for your participation in this effort to inform ICANN's membership, and wish you luck in your candidacy!

Sincerely,

Jerry Berman
Executive Director
Center for Democracy & Technology

Scott Harshbarger
President
Common Cause

Dr. Marcel Machill
Director Media Policy
Bertelsmann Foundation

* * *

ICANN'S MISSION

According to its charter, ICANN was established in 1998 with a mission of "performing and overseeing functions related to the coordination of the Internet domain name system" and the Internet address space, and certain other technical coordination functions. There has been substantial debate about the ways in which ICANN has interpreted that mission or the way its mission might evolve in years to come. In particular, many argue about how much ICANN's mission must or should include "policy development" activities, or be more narrowly constrained to technical decisions.

  1. In your opinion, has ICANN appropriately interpreted its mission to date?
    1. Yes, ICANN's activities have been consistent with its appropriate mission
    2. No, ICANN's activities have been too narrowly confined to technical activities
    3. No, ICANN's activities have expanded too much towards "policy development"
    4. No, ICANN has strayed from its mission in a variety of ways

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):

  2. In the future, would you support
    1. Broadening ICANN's responsibilities (please elaborate below)
    2. Narrowing ICANN's responsibilities (please elaborate below)
    3. Keeping ICANN's responsibilities about the same

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):

NEW gTLD's

One of ICANN's most visible actions will be the planned addition of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD's)--like ".com" and ".org"--to the name space. No new gTLD's have been added yet, but ICANN is expected to select a small number of new gTLD's this fall. Debate surrounding this issue has been intense, particularly regarding the number and character of the gTLD's that ICANN should introduce.

  1. Three years from now, do you think that the total number of gTLD's should be:
    1. Much larger than it is today (>30)
    2. Somewhat larger than it is today (10-30)
    3. The same or slightly larger than it is today (<10)

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):

  2. Three years from now, which of the following do you think should generally characterize the gTLD space?
    1. Predominantly open/unchartered gTLD's (like ".com")
    2. Predominantly restricted/chartered gTLD's (like ".edu")
    3. An even mix of both open/unchartered and restricted/chartered TLD's

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):

ICANN'S STRUCTURE

The ICANN Board of Directors is currently composed of nineteen members: nine selected by the At-Large Membership, nine selected by ICANN's three Supporting Organizations, and a President. At the Board's recent meeting in Japan, there was serious discussion about changing the Board's composition, possibly by reducing the number of At-Large Directors or re-evaluating the concept of an At-Large Membership itself.

  1. Do you feel that the present composition of the Board of Directors
    1. Over-represents the At-Large Membership
    2. Properly represents the At-Large Membership
    3. Under-represents the At-Large Membership

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):

  2. Do you feel that the current election, and the At-Large Membership as it is currently structured, are likely to:
    1. Do a good job providing the Board with input from a broad set of stakeholders
    2. Do a bad job providing the Board with input from a broad set of stakeholders
    3. Input from a broad set of stakeholders is not necessary

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):

  3. Many of the documents surrounding ICANN's formation called for a "bottom-up decision-making process" based on recognizing "consensus" among affected stakeholders. In fact, some of ICANN's registrar contracts only allow it to make policies where a consensus can be demonstrated. What best characterizes your beliefs about the role of consensus in ICANN's decisions:
    1. Consensus is important and ICANN has done a good job at demonstrating consensus for its decisions.
    2. Consensus is important and ICANN has done a poor job at demonstrating consensus for its decisions.
    3. Demonstrated consensus is not a practical or important prerequisite for ICANN's decisions.

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):

UDRP

Last year, ICANN and the accredited registrars for the ".com," ".net," and ".org" spaces approved the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Since then, the UDRP has governed the resolution of over 1000 disputes. The policy has sparked significant debate about the appropriate balance between the interests of trademark protection, domain name holder rights, and free expression.

  1. Do you feel that that the UDRP is currently
    1. Biased in favor of trademark protection
    2. A good balance between competing interests
    3. Biased in favor of domain name holders

    Your response: _____

    Comment (200 word max. please):


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