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. 

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