CDT POLICY POST Volume 6, Number 7 March 15, 2000
A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES ONLINE
from
THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY
CONTENTS:
(1) Domain Names Body Moves Towards More Democratic Elections
(2) CDT & Common Cause Promote Fair And Representative Elections
(3) Voter Registration Continues
(4) Other Major Issues For ICANN
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(1) DOMAIN NAMES BODY MOVES TOWARDS MORE DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
At a public meeting in Cairo last week, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted unanimously to adopt a new set of rules that will improve democratic representation in its upcoming global election for a new board directors. ICANN is a technical organization with policy oversight responsibilities, and has long struggled with the issue of individual representation in its decision-making process.
The action last week followed strong criticism of ICANN's previous plan for indirect elections from a diverse group of nonprofit, business, and international stakeholders. CDT and Common Cause summarized these concerns in a detailed report submitted to the current ICANN board.
In a major shift, the new election rules allow individuals to vote directly for 5 out of the total 9 "At Large" representatives on ICANN's board of directors. These direct elections should take place before November 2000, and will be followed by an international study of the election process. The study will determine whether the final 4 directors will be elected by similar rules.
Public interest advocates viewed the change from indirect to direct elections as a major improvement, increasing the accountability and legitimacy of the election. Another major change included a nominations process to seek highly qualified candidates.
The At Large election has been considered the only venue for individuals to have a real voice in ICANN's crucial technical management functions. CDT and Common Cause commend the ICANN board for responding to the concerns of the Internet community. The adoption of several of our recommendations was a major step towards legitimate elections. However, much work remains to ensure that the election rules are implemented in a fair manner.
A brief summary of the new election rules is available on ICANN's homepage: http://www.icann.org/minutes/prelim-report-10mar00.htm
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(2) CDT & COMMON CAUSE PROMOTE FAIR AND REPRESENTATIVE ELECTIONS
The concerns expressed by diverse stakeholders in the ICANN process were summarized in a detailed report presented by CDT and Common Cause at the ICANN meeting in Cairo. The report was the result of a three month independent study of the ICANN election process, including outreach to leaders in the nonprofit, business, and technical communities. Experts in online voting, democratic process and international elections were also consulted for the study.
CDT and Common Cause uncovered uniform skepticism that the previous election plan would adequately address issues of representation, legitimacy, accountability and due process. The previous plan also inspired strong fears about diversity and capture, as well as magnifying confusion and concern about the scope of ICANN's mission.
The report included several public interest recommendations for improving accounability and fairness in the election process. CDT and Common Cause recommended that ICANN hold direct elections, clarify the scope of its mission, create a fair nominating process to generate quality candidates, and establish an independent election authority to monitor the election. CDT and Common Cause believed that an election could not proceed in a fair and representative manner until these concerns were resolved.
More information on the CDT/Common Cause ICANN Election Study: http://www.cdt.org/dns/studyoverview.shtml
Full text of the CDT/Common Cause report: http://www.cdt.org/dns/icann/study/
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(3) VOTER REGISTRATION CONTINUES
Internet users interested in the ICANN process can register to vote today. Shortly before the Cairo meeting, ICANN unveiled a new web site (http://members.icann.org/) where any Internet user can register to become a member, provided he/she is over the age of 16 and has a valid mailing address. At the Cairo meeting, the ICANN staff reported that several thousand people have already registered from around the world.
ICANN also held the first meeting of its Membership Implementation Task Force (MITF). The MITF is a group of volunteers from around the world who will assist the ICANN staff with implementing the election rules and conducting voter outreach. Currently, the MITF is dealing with such issues as translation of official ICANN documents from English to other languages and preparing educational materials about membership.
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(4) OTHER MAJOR ISSUES FOR ICANN
In addition to its elections, the ICANN board considered several other important issues at the Cairo meeting:
Several interest groups supported the introduction of new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), such as ".biz" and ".per". In particular, noncommercial groups advocated for the immediate introduction of 6 to 10 new gTLDs, with at least half reserved for noncommercial purposes. The board expressed a committment to take action on these proposals at the next ICANN public meeting in July.
In a separate resolution, the board noted that a list famous trademarks prepared by the World Intellectul Property Organization (WIPO) would be helpful in assessing trademark issues in the expansion of gTLDs. This resolution raised concerns from noncommercial representatives, as well as some intellectual property interests, who believe that the WIPO famous marks list is too restrictive for use on the Internet.
ICANN board also considered proposals on the management of country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs), the two letter abbreviations for countries (such as ".fr" for France). ccTLDs have been traditionally delegated to local managers, who operate according to local policies that are adapted to best meet the economic, cultural, and linguistic circumstances of the country or territory involved. ICANN is now trying to create a uniform policy for ccTLD delegation worldwide and to further define the relationship and role of the ccTLDs within ICANN. The board authorized the ICANN staff to prepare draft language for contracts with the ccTLDs to be considered in July.
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Detailed information about online civil liberties issues may be found
at http://www.cdt.org/.
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Policy Post 6.07 Copyright 2000 Center for Democracy and Technology