Aussie steps into ICANN hot seat

Stuart Corner
Friday, 14 July 2006 13:11

IT Industry - Strategy

If criticism of ICANN is muted, he suggests this is less because deserves none than because criticism might precipitate a less attractive alternative.

"Many critics of ICANN are reluctant to voice their criticisms to NTIA or the USA government out of fear that the USA would use the need for oversight of ICANN's fairness and procedural due process as an excuse for USA government meddling in the substance of ICANN's decisions (of which the USA has a well-established track record)."

He concludes: "If ICANN is the best available model for Internet governance (of which I'm not persuaded), or at least is likely to be what we are stuck with, it's important to call attention to its faults and to try to get them corrected."

Levins defended ICANN's track record saying, "...the model has been successful and it has been scrutinised though the UN process and the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis.

"I think ICANN has enough credibility and the ICANN board has key architects like Vint Cerf and people who current manage the internet globally. It has build tup enormous credibility."

However he is the first to admit that ICANN has been less than diligent in communicating with its stakeholders, largely because it has not had anyone dedicated to this role, and because the organisation has grown in size and importance.

"They had a media advisor who did the job for a couple of years after they started up, but even that role has been empty for the past year. So the burden has fallen onto the senior management team and they have had to share that along with their other responsibilities. That is less than desirable: you need someone with specialist skills."