Individuals and nonprofit organizations are invited to join ICANN’s Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) to become involved in Internet policy discussions. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) manages the Internet’s domain name root server system and is accountable only to the US Department of Commerce, although the organization sets global Internet policy.

If you own an Internet domain name and are concerned about protecting your freedom of expression and privacy rights regarding your use of that domain name, please consider joining ICANN’s Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) to participate in the global policy debate.

As part of ICANN’s overall "GNSO restructuring", NCUC is in the process of becoming a much larger "stake-holder group" and has opened up its membership to individuals who use a domain name for mainly non-commercial purposes.  Previously, NCUC membership was only open to non-profit organizations, but now individuals are welcome to join, and the constituency is in the process of redrafting its charter to allow individuals to have full voting rights.

If you care about your right to register a domain name that includes a controversial idea or your right to own a domain name without the worldwide publication of your personal home address and telephone number on the Internet, NCUC is a place where you can get involved and help shape Internet policy making decisions.  NCUC is concerned with protecting noncommercial uses of the Internet such as education, civil discourse, political activism, freedom of expression, families, social development, and many more noncommercial uses.  Indeed the diversity of noncommercial uses of the Internet is enormous.  NCUC members include academic institutions, civil liberties organizations, development-oriented groups, library associations, citizen watchdog organizations, universities, media reform groups, legal clinics, free software foundations, and now individuals. 

By joining NCUC and getting involved at ICANN, you can:

  • Bring a more diverse voice to the table than ICANN has heard in the past;
  • Help ICANN to focus on its narrow technical mission;
  • Fight pressure to build restrictions into Internet connectivity and to grant greater privileges to intellectual property rights holders when making Internet policy.  

ICANN policy effects everyone who uses the Internet, but only a narrow set of interests have been historically represented at ICANN policy negotiations.  Please consider joining NCUC and bringing your energy and expertise to global Internet policy discussions.

If you have any questions about joining NCUC, please email NCUC’s Chairperson Robin Gross at the email address robin(at)ipjustice.org.  Thank you.

NCUC Website: http://www.ncdnhc.org/

Application to join NCUC as Individual:

   http://www.ncdnhc.org/individual-memb-provisional.txt

Application to join NCUC as nonprofit organization:

  http://www.ncdnhc.org/NCUC-Membership.txt

IP Justice’s webpage on ICANN and NCUC:

http://ipjustice.org/wp/campaigns/icann/

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)