Statement supports multi-stakeholder approach and continued progress on transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability
[Washington, D.C., USA – 4 June, 2009] The Internet Society (ISOC), a global non-profit organization founded to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education and policy, has recommended that the Joint Project Agreement between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) be concluded on its expiry 30 September, 2009. The Internet Society believes that the continued success of the Internet depends on private leadership and the multi-stakeholder governance model.
The Internet Society thanks the United States government for fulfilling its responsibilities to the global Internet community as set out in its landmark 1998 Policy on the Management of Internet Names and Addresses, and submits that the goal of the current agreement – transitioning the technical coordination and management of the Internet’s domain name and addressing system to ICANN – has been achieved.
The Internet Society highlighted the government’s original view that “a private coordinating process is likely to be more flexible than government and to move rapidly enough to meet the changing needs of the Internet and of Internet users. The private process should, as far as possible, reflect the bottom-up governance that has characterized development of the Internet to date.”
“The Internet Society strongly believes that ICANN must focus on its role as steward of the shared public resource that is the domain name system within the multi-stakeholder model,” said Lynn St. Amour, Internet Society president and CEO. “The Internet Society is committed to playing its part and calls on the United States government to join with other stakeholders in support of the evolution of this approach after the end of the Joint Project Agreement.”
Full text of the Internet Society’s comments are available here.