Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a California non-profit corporation created in 1998 to oversee a number of Internet-related tasks previously performed directly on behalf of the US Government. The tasks of ICANN include managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses. ICANN operates based on a "Memorandum of Understanding" or MoU with the US Department of Commerce. Although ICANN is only authorized to make a narrow scope of technical decisions, its mission has expanded and often creeps into general social policy issues or international legal regimes.
IP Justice participates at ICANN through the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC). The Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) is the home for civil society organizations in ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). NCUC develops Internet policies that protect non-commercial activity on the Internet and it participates in the selection of ICANN Board Members. NCUC represents the interests of non-commercial users of the Internet and a wide diversity of groups participate at ICANN through NCUC including academic organizations, civil liberties groups, consumer advocates, library associations, and more.
- IP Justice Executive Director Robin Gross is the North American representative for NCUC on ICANN’s GNSO Policy Council. Norbert Klein is the Asian NCUC representative and Carlos Affonso Pereira de Souza is the Latin American representative for NCUC on the GNSO Policy Council. NCUC’s Chairman is Syracuse University Professor Milton Mueller, founder of the Internet Governance Project.
Above: Photo of (L) Norbert Klein and Robin Gross from NCUC, and Ross Rader of Registrar Constituency at July 2005 GNSO Policy Council Meeting in Luxembourg. Below: Photo of NCUC representatives with ICANN’s Liz Williams in Vancouver, November 2005.
The ICANN-wiki provides more detailed and timely information on ICANN meetings and policy issues under development. Many experts in the ICANN community contribute to Internet governance discussions at ICANN-watch.
ICANN Policy Issue: WHOIS Data Protection & Privacy IP Justice considers ICANN’s policies for the collection and management of domain name owners’ personal information to violate universally recognized freedom of expression rights. By forcing the disclosure and publication of every website owner’s name, home address, home telephone number and email address, ICANN intrudes upon the privacy rights of Internet users around the world. ICANN should respect the privacy rights of individuals and change its policies to provide for optional disclosure and to prohibit any use of the information without the subject’s explicit consent.
ICANN Policy Issue: Introduction of New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) Another important issue that the GNSO Policy Council is currently addressing is the introduction of new generic top-level domain names (gTLDs). IP Justice supports the introduction of new gTLDs and is concerned about the chilling effect on freedom of expression raised by some proposals to limit new gTLDs to only those words that are not controversial, are not trademarked, and have no religious meaning. IP Justice and the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) are members of the "Keep the Core Neutral" Coalition to protect free expression and innovation in domain name policy.
ICANN Policy Issue: GNSO Improvements
On 3 February 2008, the BGC issued its final report on GNSO Improvements (summary) with key proposals to reform the organization charged with making policy recommendations for top-level domains. (ICANN GNSO Improvements page)
6 Jul, 2008: Public’ online spaces don’t carry speech, rights (Associated Press) 
First Amendment protections generally do not extend to private property in the physical world, allowing a shopping mall to legally kick out a customer wearing a T-shirt with a picture of a smoking child. With online services becoming greater conduits than shopping malls for public communications, however, some advocacy groups believe the federal government needs to guarantee open access ...
6 Jul, 2008: ICAAN – Preventing Hatred v. Censorship of TLD Applications (Digital Journal)
With all the excitement over expansion of IP addresses to be expanded from 4-string to 6-string format, little has been reported on the current and proposed regulations to restrict new domain registration. Watchdogs are deeply concerned over censorship. ....
1 Jul, 2008: ICANN Go-Ahead on GTLDs with “String Criteria” of “Morality and Public Order”
"There has been wide coverage of ICANN’s decision this week to adopt a new process for creating new global Top Level Domains (gTLDs).... Civil libertarians supporting Susan Crawford’s line argue that if governments are able to pressure ICANN into prohibiting .jihad (which has perfectly non-violent meanings in Islam as well as the terrorist connotations it has recently acquired in the ...
1 Jul, 2008: Work Remains For ICANN’s New Top Level Internet Domains (IP-Watch)
Internet Technical Body an Authority on Morality? ICANN announced the "biggest extension of the DNS [domain name system] in 40 years" after its decision last week to finish implementation of a new policy for introducing new top-level domains (TLDs). According to the timeline presented at the ICANN meeting in Paris, new TLDs to compete against the existing .com, .biz ...
26 Jun, 2008: ICANN Board Approves Censorship Policy for Domain Names Based on Morality: 2 Board Members Speak Against It
Today in Paris the ICANN Board passed the GNSO's controversial recommendations to censor top level domains based on notions of "morality and public order", and broadly defined "community" wishes. However, 2 ICANN board members, law professors Wendy Seltzer (on behalf of the At-Large Internet Users) and Susan Crawford, made very powerful and compelling statements to protect free expression on ...
15 May, 2008: US Congress Cites Free Expression as Reason ICANN Must Remain Controlled by US Govt.
US Congressmen are up to their old tricks of pretending to care about free expression publicly, while undermining it's practice with their policy decisions -- especially when it comes to free speech on the Internet. Congressman Edward Markey, the Chairman of the Congressional Sub-committee on Telecommunications and the Internet sent a letter urging the US Government to refuse ...
1 May, 2008: New Canadian Internet Registry Association (CIRA) Whois Policy Strikes a Balance Between Privacy and Access (Michael Geist)
"Under the new policy, CIRA will continue to collect the same contact information from registrants as under its current policy. However, it will no longer require that such information be publicly available through its whois directory. In its place, CIRA will only require the public disclosure of limited technical information, though individual registrants may voluntarily "opt-in" to providing more ...
11 Mar, 2008: US Govt Seizes Blacklisted Domain Names of European Company for Selling Cuba Trips
"An interesting story broke recently in the NY Times about a Spanish travel company that had its domain names taken away by the US Government for selling Europeans vacations to Cuba. Even though the company's business was not targeted at the US and was lawful in its national jurisdiction, the company's websites were put on a domain name ...
27 Feb, 2008: One Internet, two modes of governance (IGP)
"Having received nearly 170 comments representing a diversity of civil society, private sector and government views from inside and outside the United States, it should be clear to the NTIA that its processes and decisions are relevant to a global Internet community. Regrettably though, the lineup of expected panelists does not reflect this diversity, but rather powerful domestic interests and ...
25 Feb, 2008: Class Action Lawsuit Against Network Solutions & ICANN for “Front-Running” of Domains and Defrauding Consumers
Network Solutions has forced millions of people to buy Internet domain names from them instead of cheaper competitors through a scheme that's netted the firm millions of dollars, a federal class action lawsuit filed today by Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP states. ICANN, whose policies facilitate the scheme, is also named in the suit, filed in U.S. District Court, Central District ...
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6 Jul, 2008: ICAAN – Preventing Hatred v. Censorship of TLD Applications (Digital Journal)
With all the excitement over expansion of IP addresses to be expanded from 4-string to 6-string format, little has been reported on the current and proposed regulations to restrict new domain registration. Watchdogs are deeply concerned over censorship. ....
1 Jul, 2008: ICANN Go-Ahead on GTLDs with “String Criteria” of “Morality and Public Order”
"There has been wide coverage of ICANN’s decision this week to adopt a new process for creating new global Top Level Domains (gTLDs).... Civil libertarians supporting Susan Crawford’s line argue that if governments are able to pressure ICANN into prohibiting .jihad (which has perfectly non-violent meanings in Islam as well as the terrorist connotations it has recently acquired in the ...
26 Jun, 2008: ICANN Board Approves Censorship Policy for Domain Names Based on Morality: 2 Board Members Speak Against It
Today in Paris the ICANN Board passed the GNSO's controversial recommendations to censor top level domains based on notions of "morality and public order", and broadly defined "community" wishes. However, 2 ICANN board members, law professors Wendy Seltzer (on behalf of the At-Large Internet Users) and Susan Crawford, made very powerful and compelling statements to protect free expression on ...
15 May, 2008: US Congress Cites Free Expression as Reason ICANN Must Remain Controlled by US Govt.
US Congressmen are up to their old tricks of pretending to care about free expression publicly, while undermining it's practice with their policy decisions -- especially when it comes to free speech on the Internet. Congressman Edward Markey, the Chairman of the Congressional Sub-committee on Telecommunications and the Internet sent a letter urging the US Government to refuse ...
20 Feb, 2008: Domain Names are Bigger than Trademarks: ICANN’s New Consumer Protection Role
The terminology “confusingly similar” lends itself to the expansion of trademark rights to domain names by commercial uses and governments to the disadvantage of non-commercial users. ICANN should refrain from taking on consumer protection type roles (such as preventing “confusion” in people) and only regulate issues related to the technical coordination of the Domain Name System.
5 Dec, 2007: IGP Blog on ICANN Domain Name Policy: “Land Grab? ccTLDs and multilingual names”
"The introduction of internationalized domain names (IDNs) offers the world one of the best opportunities it will ever have to introduce more diversity and competition into the domain name registry market. That market is currently dominated by VeriSign, which operates the .com and .net domains (as well as a couple of TLDs it bought, .tv and cc) and hence controls ...
13 Nov, 2007: Robin Gross’ Remarks at IGF 2007 on Internet Bill of Rights
Today I’d like to address a few issues that are specifically relevant to the positive development of the Internet and a healthy information society. 1. Freedom of Expression Rights. 2. Access to Knowledge Rights. 3. Communication Rights.
4. Privacy Rights and Data Protection. 5. Anonymity. 6. Excessive and ...
12 Nov, 2007: Internet Domain Name Censorship Vote Delayed (Toward Freedom)
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which makes policy governing the Internet's Domain Name System, recently held its 30th International Public Meeting in Los Angeles. ICANN has stumbled into serious controversy as it threatens to establish policies for systematic censorship of generic top-level domains ("gTLDs" such as '.com' or '.org'), and it left these issues unresolved as ...
2 Nov, 2007: ICANN forms group to hasten non-English domain names (AP)
The decision by ICANN represents another step toward the approval of internationalized domain names, or IDNs, as early as next year. The working group will focus on domains for specific countries, such as the Chinese-character equivalent of China's ".cn" suffix. ICANN started technical tests on such suffixes last month, but work on policy questions is still preliminary. ...
30 Oct, 2007: IP Community Critical Of Proposals On ICANN Agenda (IP-Watch)
"A draft by ICANN’s Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) on ICANN’s necessary evaluation of new TLD application requests also proposes checks on moral and public order - a task for which ICANN’s not fit, according to the Keep the Core Neutral Coalition (KTCN). KTCN wants ICANN to “stay within its technical mandate and refrain from embedding particular national, regional, ...
- View all entries under New Domain Names (gtlds)
1 May, 2008: New Canadian Internet Registry Association (CIRA) Whois Policy Strikes a Balance Between Privacy and Access (Michael Geist)
"Under the new policy, CIRA will continue to collect the same contact information from registrants as under its current policy. However, it will no longer require that such information be publicly available through its whois directory. In its place, CIRA will only require the public disclosure of limited technical information, though individual registrants may voluntarily "opt-in" to providing more ...
13 Nov, 2007: Robin Gross’ Remarks at IGF 2007 on Internet Bill of Rights
Today I’d like to address a few issues that are specifically relevant to the positive development of the Internet and a healthy information society. 1. Freedom of Expression Rights. 2. Access to Knowledge Rights. 3. Communication Rights.
4. Privacy Rights and Data Protection. 5. Anonymity. 6. Excessive and ...
4 Nov, 2007: Explanation of NCUC’s Votes on Whois at LA ICANN Meeting - “Halloween Vote” on Whois
NCUC strongly supported Motion #3 because it provided a mechanism to spur uncompromising parties to the negotiating table on Whois in good faith. Without a mechanism to bring to the negotiating table parties who already have what they want, there is no incentive to voluntarily agree to any changes to the status quo with whois. NCUC continues to ...
30 Oct, 2007: EPIC & NGO Letter to ICANN Board on Need for Whois Reform
"The purpose of this letter is to express our support for changes to WHOIS services that would protect the privacy of individuals, specifically the removal of registrants' contact information from the publicly accessible WHOIS database. It is also to propose a sensible resolution to the long-running discussion over WHOIS that would establish a bit of "policy stability" and allow ...
30 Oct, 2007: IP Community Critical Of Proposals On ICANN Agenda (IP-Watch)
"A draft by ICANN’s Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) on ICANN’s necessary evaluation of new TLD application requests also proposes checks on moral and public order - a task for which ICANN’s not fit, according to the Keep the Core Neutral Coalition (KTCN). KTCN wants ICANN to “stay within its technical mandate and refrain from embedding particular national, regional, ...
18 Oct, 2007: ICANN Public Comment Period on Whois Reform to Protect Privacy
Whois changes
Open:
14 Sep 07
Closed:
30 Oct 07
Explanation: A Whois taskforce convened in June 2005 completed its work and sent a final ...
22 Aug, 2007: Whois Privacy Stalemate Again (IGP Blog)
"The ICANN Working Group that was trying to reconcile data protection and privacy principles with the domain name system’s legacy Whois directory, which publishes the name and full contact details of all domain name registrants, was finished today. “Finished off” might be a better term. Despite flirting with the kind of compromises and reforms that might actually reconcile privacy rights ...
20 Aug, 2007: Final Outcomes Report of the WHOIS Working Group
22 May, 2007: Debate Over Confidentiality of Web Site Registration Information Continues (Law.com)
27 Mar, 2007: Internet Governance Project Blog
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