Accra
Ghana
2002

Accra, Ghana 2002

contact: cyber@law.harvard.edu

ICANN

Berkman Center team members John Perry Barlow and Diane Cabell attended the ICANN meetings, participating, observing, and reporting back on critical issues. Watch this space for updates.

Some Thoughts on Restructuring ICANN, prepared by Patrick Lewis.

John Perry Barlow's Accra Manifesto

On the agenda in Accra are several items of particular interest to the Berkman Center:

  • Reassignment of the .org TLD (Top Level Domain)
    One of ICANN's important charter missions was to bring competition into the domain name space. As part of that goal, .ORG will be redelegated to a new registry management. The ICANN board will vote in Accra on the criteria for selecting this new .ORG management. Will this be a non-profit entity?
  • Consideration of Stuart Lynn's restructuring proposal
    ICANN's CEO believes its current structure is burdened by process and cannot perform its mission in "Internet time". He has proposed a new organizational structure which gives governments a new and direct voice in ICANN management.
  • At Large Study Report/Public Involvement
    Should there continue to be some form of direct user representation in ICANN's administration? What lessons were learned from the first At Large election and where will ICANN go from here?

  • Report on Status of Independent Review Nominating Committee
    As a global private non-profit organization, ICANN lacks checks and balances found in commercial markets or corporate and democratic government structures. Redress in a global environment is too expensive for most parties. A review process was proposed but failed to meet ICANN's goals in this regard. What next?

Other ICANN resources: