Perhaps not surprising, power and money are high on the agenda for the group that oversees Internet technical matters as it conducts a thrice-yearly meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The board and members of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is grappling this week with a proposed doubling of ICANN's expenditures for fiscal year 2004/2005, initiatives to broaden the domain name system, and continuing questions over how much governance--if any--the group should have over the Net.
Net Goes Global
The meeting comes on the heels of an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development report that mostly applauds recent ICANN reforms on items such as domain names services, saying that the group has worked to promote fair competition and pricing.
The OECD report underscores the important work ICANN plays in extending the Internet's scope to countries worldwide. And it is the task of creating a truly global Internet, where all players are equitably represented, that ICANN is citing more than anything as justification for a fattened budget, which is proposed to grow from $8.3 million this year to $15.8 million next year.
"As the Internet becomes more global, ICANN's scope has increased and the range of people who interact with it has increased . . . so as a consequence we have to truly globalize the registration and domain name community and we need more funding," ICANN President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Twomey said during a conference call with press from Kuala Lumpur Monday.
Too Much Power?
However, another report recently issued by the Center for Democracy and Technology, warns that the group is straying from its mission as a bottom-up organization focused on the narrow goal of coordinating the Internet's domain name and numbering system.
The CDT says that ICANN's involvement in policy decisions threaten the decentralized and "revolutionary" nature of the Internet that allows for free speech and economic opportunity.
According to the Washington, D.C., civil liberties group, a bigger budget implies a bigger ICANN--which is something it does not want to see.
"Real or perceived expansion of ICANN's role are of particular importance because of ongoing discussions about larger issues of Internet governance," the CDT wrote in a recent bulletin. "Change in ICANN is needed--but not by making it an intergovernmental body or broadening its power."
The meeting in Kuala Lumpur will seek to address some of these issues, framed between the opposing viewpoints of an ICANN on the mend and one bursting at its seams.
Leaders Speak Out
ICANN leaders such as Twomey and Chairman Vint Cerf have been trying to douse speculation that the group is seeking a role as a regulator, however. They argue that ICANN's foray into regulatory decisions--such as its headline-grabbing tussle with VeriSign over its controversial Wait Listing Service for expired domain names--is a by-product of the increasingly complex state of the Internet.
"The Internet itself is not a regulated system in most of the world, however, it is built on top of systems that are regulated . . . and can make a big difference in Internet's evolution," Cerf said during the call Monday. Regulating issues like broadband access and copyright protection of books, music, and other media are not in ICANN's interest, he added.
Both Twomey and Cerf argue that ICANN is dedicated to sticking to its narrowly defined role and that they are working to impose a more "business-like structure" on the organization.
Part of this reformation is inked in the proposed 2004/2005 budget. For example, ICANN is seeking a variable fee from registrars of generic top level domains, based on the registrar's size, to cover for the amount of compliance, accounting, and database maintenance it does for them. However, it is offering reduced fees for smaller registrars that are under budget constraints. In its way, ICANN is trying to spread the burden and responsibilities of its charge as it claims to advance as an autonomous entity.
Master of Domains
ICANN currently operates under a three-year memorandum of understanding it signed with the U.S. Department of Commerce in September 2003 to manage global coordination of the Internet's root server system, generic and country-code to-level domain names, and Internet Protocol address space allocation.
ICANN reported this week that it has completed seven of its ten objectives under the memorandum of understanding on time or ahead of schedule, with Twomey claiming that the organization is "on its way to turning the corner toward autonomous operation."
But amid these top-level discussions of ICANN's role, the group hopes to address other issues this week, on matters such as internationalized domain names and new sponsored top-level domains.
"The Internet knows no boundaries and this meeting is an effort to bring together all stakeholders to help coordinate with a transparent approach," Twomey said. "People around the world who create the problems need to solve the problems," he added.
ICANN's meeting in Malaysia runs through Friday.
