Scaling Up the Internet ICANN Briefing Michael M. Roberts President

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Scaling Up the InternetICANN
BriefingMichael M. Roberts President Chief
Executive OfficerInternet Corporation for
Assigned Names and NumbersICANN www.icann.org
July 12, 2000Taipei, Taiwan
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New Millennium Challenges for the Internet

• Expand access to serve all of society
• Foster education, economic development and
  improved quality of life
• Maintain high level of technology innovation
• Strengthen institutions that provide
  stableoperation and support self-governance
  

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Why ICANN ?

• Technical management functions needed new home
  outside research community
• U.S. Government policy is to promote
  Internetself-governance
• Other governments wanted more balance inInternet
  policy decisions
• Industry frustrated at policy gridlock

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ICANN and the Geopolitics of E-Commerce

• Govts dont want one govt to run Internet
• Cyberspace populists don't want govtsto run
  Internet
• Businesses don't want regulation but do want
  competitive level playing field
• U. S. Govt wants Internet Names
  Addressesmanaged by competent neutral party
  workingfrom community consensus

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History of Internet Assigned Number Authority
(IANA)

• 1968-87 Federal research grants to develop
  TCP/IP and Arpanet
• 1987 - NSFnet - IETF - IANA (Jon Postel)
• 1992 - Decision to privatize NSFnet/Internet
• 1997 - Decision to privatize IANA and
  related functions
• 1998 - Incorporation of ICANN

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ICANN Primary Responsibilities

• Stable management of name and address systems
• Guidelines for operation and accreditation of
  Registries and Registrars
• Top level policy for allocation of IP
  addresses,E.g., 192.156.200.1, and for use of
  domain names,e.g., icann.org
• Dispute resolution, e.g. trademarks
• Administration of Internet protocol assignments

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ICANN Organizational Structure

• U.S. non-profit, public interest corporation
• Nineteen member international Board of Directors
• Directors elected from technical, businessand
  general interest constituencies
• Budget 3-5 million/year, to be funded byname
  and address registries
• Staff 10-15

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White Paper Principles

• White Paper new policy/management structure
  must promote 4 goals
• Stability
• Competition
• Private, bottom-up coordination
• Representation

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Major Challenges for ICANN in 2000

• Complete transition under U.S. Govt MOU
• Establish policy for new Top Level Domains
• Hold first election for At Large Directors
• Reach agreement on relationships with ccTLD
  organizations
• Confirm stable funding base

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Other Important Priorities for ICANN in 2000

• Technical advances in the Internet, espec.
• Improvements in root servers
• IPv6 Deployment
• Non-Ascii characters in DNS (e.g. iDNS)
• Study of At Large Membership
• Review of Supporting Organizations

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A Final Thought

• The qualities of the Internet that attract us the
  most
• - openness, respect for each other, individual
  empowerment, technological innovation -
• Are the same qualities most vulnerable to abuse.
• The Internet is everyones commons and everyones
  responsibility to maintain.