ICANN has launched a blog, which it says is part of its effort to address criticism over its openness and transparency.
Vint Cerf at ICANN by Veni (CC BY 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/3KWko9
Internet Governance
Much Ado About Nothing
Last week's headlines about a potential court order involving ICANN and the spamhaus domain? Denied .
ICANN Sacrifices Privacy for Shot at Independence
My weekly Law Bytes column (Toronto Star version, BBC version, homepage version) examines the recent agreement between ICANN and the U.S. government. Late last month, ICANN took a major step toward addressing some ongoing concerns by signing a new agreement with the U.S. government entitled the Joint Project Agreement. ICANN immediately heralded the JPA as a "dramatic step forward" for full management of the Internet's domain name system through a "multi-stakeholder model of consultation." It added that the agreement grants it unprecedented independence by removing many of the U.S. government’s oversight controls. These include the elimination of a twice-annual reporting requirement to the U.S. Department of Commerce (ICANN will instead release a single annual report targeted to the full Internet community) and a shift away from the highly prescriptive policy responsibilities featured in the original ICANN contract.
While the JPA may indeed represent an important change, a closer examination of its terms suggest that there may be a hidden price tag behind ICANN newfound path toward independence – the privacy of domain name registrants.
ICANN Sacrifices Privacy for Shot at Independence
Appeared in the Toronto Star on October 9, 2006 as Web's Naming Body Barters Away Privacy Appeared in the BBC on October 10, 2006 as Internet Privacy 'Sacrified" By ICANN Internet governance has attracted increasing attention in recent years as governments, business communities, and Internet users struggle to develop a […]
One Web Day
One Web Day, the brainchild of Susan Crawford, an exceptional law professor, is planned for this Friday. The event is an opportunity to celebrate the impact of the Internet on our lives and our communities. Here in Canada, CIRA has been an active proponent of One Web Day with a […]