ICANN Re-Examines Role of Governments in Internet Domain Functions
Overseeing Internet domain names creates a challenge for ICANN because it must balance the views of governments and make fair and effective policy decisions, ICANN stakeholders said at a Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee event Monday. ICANN should play a role in developing stronger protections for copyright holders and ensure it doesn’t cede balanced oversight to the requests of one government, some Internet experts said.
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ICANN’s current process has raised concern for some governments, said Jamie Hedlund, ICANN government affairs vice president. Some governments have been unhappy with ICANN’s authority to override advice from the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), he said. They want to have “an international governmental organization, like the United Nations or the International Telecommunication Union,” where world governments will have control and make policy decisions, Hedlund said. “Other governments are uncomfortable with the private sector role.” These legislators want the GAC “to have almost a veto and have the [ICANN] board report to the GAC,” he added.
The ICANN board’s approval of a contract for ICM Registry to run a new .xxx top-level domain (WID March 21 p1) “shows that in the absence of a consensus from all the governments, ICANN will try to follow its processes,” said NetChoice Executive Director Steve DelBianco. The role of the private sector has been threatened because “China has been asking the United Nations to take a much bolder role in asserting their control over critical Internet resources,” he said.
While new gTLDs can introduce competition and innovation, the advent raises some concerns for copyright holders, said Kristina Rosette, a Covington and Burling attorney who represents intellectual property constituents on ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization. Copyright holders “are more concerned about the massive potential for cybersquatting and infringement that you could see along with the introduction of new gTLDs if certain protections aren’t put in place,” she said.
Pending legislation, like the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, aims to protect IP rights holders from infringement, but there are technical ramifications to consider, Hedlund said. DNS technical experts have “strong concerns” not only that COICA won’t be effective, but “will create incentives for users in the United States to move name servers abroad,” he said.