ICANN was created to move coordination and oversight of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) from the United States government to a private, international entity representing the worldwide Internet community. The DNS coordinates Internet addresses (e.g. www.icann.org) and translates them into Internet Protocol (IP) numbers understood by computers, making it possible for computers to communicate across the Internet and allowing users to efficiently navigate the network.

Management of the DNS is accompanied by the potential to impose taxes, content restrictions and other regulations on Internet address holders, and to use the threat of blocking traffic to their addresses to ensure compliance. While ICANN carries a narrow technical mandate that does not include such regulatory matters, its responsibilities for ensuring the reliable and stable functioning of the DNS are tremendously important. The manner in which it fulfills those responsibilities will play a key role in determining if our cyber world will be a democratic one.

An At-Large membership, made up of Internet users around the world, will select nine of ICANN's 19-member board of directors. The first of these At-Large elections are expected to be held this summer. The Markle Foundation has recruited the American Library Association, The Carter Center, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and Common Cause to bring their expertise to these elections. The American Library Association will use its information dissemination capabilities to notify potential At-Large members of their opportunity to participate. The Carter Center will apply its international expertise and experience in monitoring democratic elections to ICANN's At-Large process.

Common Cause and the CDT will perform an in-depth study of the ICANN At-Large membership structure and make recommendations on how it can best serve ICANN's goals of ensuring Internet stability and reliability, while both providing the global Internet community with opportunities for representation and operating in a fair, open and accountable manner. This ICANN At-Large Election Study is completely independent of ICANN. Common Cause and CDT will solicit opinions from the Internet community, as well as from experts in the fields of voting, elections and democratic process. We will also bring our distinct knowledge and experience to the process.

Areas of Inquiry:
As alluded to above, the following are key, potentially-conflicting goals for ICANN in its At-Large membership and elections process:

Stability: Ensuring consistency, reliability and efficiency in the functioning of the DNS is the core of ICANN's mission. To see that ICANN fulfils this mission well and does not move beyond it, the At-Large structure should be built in a way that discourages frenetic shifts in control of ICANN, avoids capture by a single self-interested group, and results in the selection of board directors who are technically knowledgeable and committed to maintaining the limited scope of ICANN decision-making.

Legitimacy: To be a legitimate oversight body for the Internet, ICANN must provide those who will be affected by its policies with opportunities for representation in its decision-making bodies, and operate in an open and accountable manner.

Sustainability: While it is impossible to anticipate the trajectory or speed of changes in the Internet and its stakeholders, care must be taken from the onset to structure the At-Large membership and elections in a way that helps preserve the legitimacy and stability of ICANN and its management of the DNS as circumstances change.

With these goals in mind, the ICANN At-Large Election Study will consider the wide range of questions that must be answered for the At-Large membership to be established and for nine At-Large board directors to be chosen, including those in the following general categories:

Structure: Should the members directly elect the At-Large board directors, or should there be an intervening At-Large council as currently proposed?

Members: Who or what should be eligible for membership? What should be the requirements for membership?

Candidates: Who should be eligible to be an At-Large candidate? What should be the qualifications for or requirements of candidates? Who should nominate them?

Elections: What system of voting should be used in the elections? Should they take place exclusively over the Internet?