Policy Post 6.16 | Final Week Of ICANN Candidate Nominations Begins

CDT POLICY POST Volume 6, Number 16 September 1, 2000

A BRIEFING ON PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES AFFECTING CIVIL LIBERTIES ONLINE
from
THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY

CONTENTS:
(1) Final Week Of ICANN Candidate Nominations Begins
(2) Election Of ICANN's At-large Directors Begins October 1
(3) ICANN Continues Movement Towards New Top-level Domains

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(1) FINAL WEEK OF ICANN CANDIDATE NOMINATIONS BEGINS

Over the course of the next week, the composition of the ballot will be determined for the upcoming election of Directors for ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). Well over a hundred potential candidates have announced their interest in being added to the ballot, and those candidates are currently competing for the endorsements of 158,000 registered ICANN members.

Candidates from five geographic regions with the greatest number of endorsements, and with at least two percent of their electorate, will be added to the ballot, supplementing "officially" nominated candidates named by ICANN itself in late July. There can be up to seven candidates in each region. Voting will be conducted by region (see below).

ICANN has made web space available to all candidates, both "officially" nominated ones and those seeking member-nomination, on its own servers. You can find information on the "officially" nominated candidates and on the ICANN Nomination Committee at: http://www.icann.org/nomcom/

Information on the candidates seeking nomination by the membership, as well as the formal rules for the member-nomination process, can be found at: http://members.icann.org/nom.html

The member-nomination process is a key aspect of the ICANN election process. The deadline has now passed for individuals to submit new names for nomination to the ballot, but a week remains for members to endorse those candidates who have already stepped forward. However, although 158,000 users completed the initial online registration for the election, less than half of those have "activated" their accounts using the PIN mailed by ICANN in early August. Only those members whose accounts have been activated are eligible additional candidates to the ballot, and only activated members will be able to vote in the election when it begins on October 1.

** Act immediately -- "activate" your ICANN membership so that you can participate in this important election. **

If you have already registered as a member of ICANN's At-Large membership, you can activate your membership using the materials sent to you in the mail. Visit ICANN's At-Large membership site at: http://members.icann.org/

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(2) ELECTION OF ICANN'S AT-LARGE DIRECTORS BEGINS OCTOBER 1

At-large voting begins on October 1. ICANN has not yet announced the precise form that the election will have. The next month will offer opportunities to learn more about the candidates and participate in public forums, almost certainly centered around ICANN's At-Large membership site http://members.icann.org/. Those registered are encouraged to stay engaged and informed leading up to the election.

Five people will be elected to the Board of Directors as "At-Large Directors," each from a different geographical region. The election is scheduled to last ten days, and winners will be seated at ICANN's next meeting in Marina del Rey, California, in mid-November.

For more information about ICANN, visit its official web site at: http://www.icann.org/

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(3) ICANN CONTINUES MOVEMENT TOWARDS NEW TOP-LEVEL DOMAINS

As campaigning for the ICANN election heats up, one of the most noteworthy issues is likely to be the implementation of new top-level domains -- additions to the ".net," ".org" and ".com" domains that many feel have become overcrowded. For some time, ICANN has made clear its intention to select a small number of new TLD's in the very near future, ideally by year's end. Many informal suggestions for new TLD's have been circulating for some time, including ".banc," ".personal," ".movie," and ".union." On August 15, ICANN made the actual application process for new TLD's public, as well as the criteria by which the Board of Directors intends to evaluate applications.

The application process and evaluation criteria are complex. Applications will be expected to address a large number of concerns. These concerns range from ICANN's need to maintain the technical stability of the Internet to its desire to choose new TLD's that will serve as a "proof of concept" that new name spaces are feasible, useful, and effective at achieving diversity. There will also be a non-refundable $50,000 application fee. The end result is an application process requiring that participants have access to significant resources if they hope to be successful in their efforts.

Such conditions could make it very hard for non-commercial Internet users and those in developing countries to participate in the TLD process. CDT is calling on ICANN to maintain its promised commitment to diversity by adopting procedures that will encourage applications for the establishment of new TLDs from the Internet's non-commercial and less advantaged interests.

For more information on ICANN's Top-Level-Domain application process, visit: http://www.icann.org/tlds/tld-application-process.htm

For information about domain name space issues and about ICANN in general, visit CDT's Domain Names page at: http://www.cdt.org/dns/

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