Balancing IANA Transition Timeline With Inclusive Stakeholder Engagement Problematic, Say IGF Stakeholders
To execute the transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) by NTIA’s deadline next September, Internet governance stakeholders need to act quickly and limit the scope of the transition, said IANA technical experts and ICANN accountability stakeholders at the Internet Governance Forum session Friday (http://bit.ly/1nh17YM). The Istanbul event was webcast. Stakeholders from developing countries cautioned that the transition shouldn’t be carried out in haste and should bear in mind the needs of those with limited Internet access.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
There’s a “tension” between the transition’s deadline and the multistakeholder process itself, said Byron Holland, Canadian Internet Registration Authority CEO. NTIA will need transition proposals by June to execute the transition by the September deadline, but the “real content work” of the transition is “just getting started,” he said. This is a “very sobering and very tight timeline.” The multistakeholder process slows as the number of participants in the process increases, and nearly everyone in the Internet governance community will be participating in the transition, Holland said. The implementation of “significant” policy changes in a “lame duck” Obama administration also makes the transition execution “less likely,” but “not impossible,” he said.
Broader questions about the transition, such as human rights considerations, are important, but probably should be answered after the transition, said Joseph Alhadeff, Oracle vice president-global public policy. The “security and stability” of the transition are the overriding concerns, he said. There’s no reason to “introduce complexity into the process that wasn’t there before,” Alhadeff said. To account for the “diversity of views,” stakeholders need to participate in the transition proposal process “as early as possible,” he said. If proposals are submitted “last minute, it will derail the process,” he said. NTIA’s September deadline can be extended, but stakeholders need to get involved “now,” said Keith Drazek, VeriSign policy director.
There’s an assumption that all stakeholders have constant Internet access, but some in the developing world have limited access, said Towela Nyirenda-Jere, New Partnership for Africa’s Development program manager. Internet governance parties need to step out of their “comfort zones” and consider what “participation means” for those who lack ever-present Internet access, but want to be included in the transition process, she said. The transition deadline is “very important,” but it’s better not to have a “rushed decision” to ensure that both IANA’s technical functionality and ICANN’s accountability and transparency are achieved, said Benedicto Fonseca Filho, director-Brazilian Department of Scientific and Technological Affairs.
The option for replacing ICANN leaders would be a legitimate answer for its accountability, but it’s “not enough of a solution,” said Avri Doria, ICANN Generic Names Supporting Organization council member. There needs to be a “form of arbitration” between ICANN and its organizations to address potential complaints, she said. Doria said she doesn’t believe in the idea of ICANN board “capture,” where the board might achieve total control over ICANN, but said she’s concerned by its “hive-mind” mentality. The ICANN accountability question is “really nebulous,” said Paul Wilson, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre director general, who likened accountability to “turtles [stacked] on top of turtles.” Said Wilson: It’s “critical” for all parties to have “open” accountability arrangements.