ICANN critics may create rival Internet administration group

OCTOBER 29, 2002

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit group that runs the Internet's Domain Name System, might be challenged next year for some of its administrative power by a group of dissatisfied top-level domain (TLD) holders who feel ICANN holds too much sway. Rob Courtney, a policy analyst at the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a nonprofit public policy group, said rumblings of a possible challenge to ICANN were raised yesterday at a four-day session being held by ICANN in Shanghai to consider changes to its bylaws and structure. 

Courtney is attending the meetings on behalf of the CDT, which has criticized ICANN's recently proposed reforms as not going far enough to bring needed changes. In June, the ICANN board unanimously approved the proposed reform blueprint. 

The idea, Courtney said, is that a number of TLD holders may want to take over some of the Internet's administrative work now done by ICANN under a contract with the U.S. Department of Commerce. The so-called Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) maintains administrative contacts for the Internet, updates name servers and completes other administrative tasks, he said. 

Under an idea being floated at the ICANN meetings, some TLD holders are thinking of making their own bid for the next IANA contract, which expires at the end of March. 

More details at: http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/websitemgmt/story/0,10801,75485,00.html

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