SOURCE: The Domain Name Rights Coalition
CONTACT: Jay Fenello, Fenello.com, 678-585-9765
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Public Interest Groups join with the DNRC in Urging ICANN To Keep
Promises Given Since 1998 - Elect 9 At Large Directors, and Eliminate
"Clean Sheet" Study Designed to Abolish At Large Representation
HERNDON, VA, November 10, 2000 /PRNewswire/ -- The Domain Name
Rights Coalition (DNRC), an organization dedicated to protecting the
interests of entrepreneurs, small business owners and individuals in
domain name issues, in conjunction with other Public Interest groups
such as Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility as well as
influential individuals in the area of Domain Names released a letter
calling upon ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers, to keep their word.
In 1998, ICANN pledged to the Department of Commerce that it would
never change the bylaws guaranteeing direct elections by the Internet
rank-and-file of 9 electors, or half the Board. "We commit that will
never happen," wrote Esther Dyson, Chair of ICANN and one of the
"Interim" unelected Board members, to the Commerce Department in 1998
as part of ICANN's petition to become stewards of the Domain Name
System (DNS). After receiving the contract to manage the DNS, however,
ICANN reduced the number of At Large Directors from nine to five, and
has announced it will re-examine whether to permit any Internet user
representation after the terms of the newly elected directors expire.
The letter calls upon ICANN to restore the representation promised to
the Internet community since 1998, and renounce its threat to abolish
At Large representation. "When ICANN was in serious trouble in 1998
and 1999, they promised open elections for all" said Mikki Barry,
President of the Domain Name Rights Coalition. "The Internet
Community relied on their word."
Barry cited Congressional Testimony of Esther Dyson at an oversight
hearing before the House Commerce Committee in 1999, as well as
letters to the Commerce Department and members of Congress, as
evidence of ICANN's initial insistence it would provide Internet
users the right to elect 9 directors. "But once Congress and
Commerce seemed satisfied and NSI was brought into the fold,
ICANN began a full reversal of their original stance."
Barry and other critics warned Commerce in 1998, when it first
considered ICANN's proposal, that nothing would stop ICANN from
changing its bylaws to keep out the public once Commerce approved
ICANN's applications. It was in response to this criticism that
Dyson pledged on behalf of ICANN that no such changes would occur.
Despite Dyson's pledge in 1998, and similar pledges in 1999, ICANN
did change its bylaws, extending the terms of the initial directors,
reducing the number of elected directors, and creating a "Clean
Sheet" study to re-examine whether to allow Internet users any direct
representation at all. When the limited elections ICANN permitted
elected two of ICANN's vociferous critics, there was a widespread
concern that ICANN might use the Clean Sheet study to eliminate At
Large elections altogether, or reduce them further. ICANN's bylaws
also have been changed to permit elected At Large directors only 2
years service on the Board with automatic removal at term's end, but
"constituency" directors receive 3 year terms and sit until further
elections are called.
"At the end of two years, the Board may well vote to eliminate At
Large, and extend their own terms indefinitely." according to Barry.
"Internet Users would have zero say in the very organization that
determines their rights."
Public interest groups warned ICANN that it would risk its legitimacy
if it did not fulfill its promise of nine elected members from the
At Large membership. The letter called upon the four remaining
"Boardsquatters," the four unelected "Interim" Directors who have
extended their terms three times, to resign. It also urged the Board
to follow the recommendations of Professor Michael Froomkin and allow
the five democratically elected directors from the At Large to fill
the four vacancies until new At Large elections could fill them.
Professor Froomkin's proposal is available at
http://personal.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/boardsquat2.htm
The DNRC letter can be seen at
http://www.netpolicy.com/icann111000.html.
The letter has already sparked a lively debate. Hans Klein, Chair
of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), cited
the letter extensively in a panel discussion at the on-going ICANN
meetings in Marina del Rey, where ICANN Board will soon decide how
to proceed with the study. "The prospect of a clean-sheet study is
a significant departure from ICANN's prior commitments," said Klein.
"We fear that the so-called "clean slate" study may attempt to make
a "clean sweep" of the At Large membership, ending democratic
accountability in ICANN." CPSR is a signatory to the DNRC letter.
The Domain Name Rights Coalition is an organization dedicated to
ensuring the rights of individual and small business users of the
Internet. Its website is located at http://www.domainnamerights.org.
The Domain Name Rights Coalition was formed in 1996, and has worked
for national and international policies which are fair and equitable
to all users of the Internet ever since. It has also worked to protect
the Internet as a global medium of communication and free speech, and
it is well known for its vigilant fight against the Domain Name Dispute
Policy of Network Solutions, Inc. and similar policies recommended by
the World Intellectual Property Organization and later implemented by
ICANN.
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Jay Fenello,
New Media Strategies
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http://www.fenello.com 678-585-9765
Aligning with Purpose(sm) ... for a Better World
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