Nov, 1998 : ICANN Holds First of Many Open Public Meetings

CAMBRIDGE, MA, Nov. 16, 1998 -- Over 200 members of theinternational Internet community gathered here yesterday to advise andquestion the initial board and management of the Internet Corporationfor Assigned Names and Numbers at the first of many open publicmeetings to be held around the world. Others participated in theCambridge event through a real-time webcast and real-time emailcomment.

"It was a useful meeting, drawing together a broad swath ofinternet stakeholders," said Jonathan Zittrain, Executive Director ofthe Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School,which facilitated the meeting. "For ICANN to succeed, it must beresponsive to the diverse voices heard--no easy task, but one that theboard has now shown it is willing to take up with energy and passion."

Extensive notes, video and background materials from the all-daymeeting are posted at cyber.harvard.edu, the Berkman Center's website. A full transcript will be available in about a week.

"This meeting had three broad purposes -- introducing the board tothe community and vice versa, trying to foster more consensus andgenerating concrete proposals about governance issues such asmembership and board structure and accountability, and educating theboard about some of the issues we'll be facing," said interim ICANNchairman Esther Dyson. "I'd say it was successful on all three counts,with a lot of collaboration from all sides. We need to earn people'strust over time, and I think we took a few useful steps in thatdirection yesterday. People don't need to believe we'll do everythingthey want, but they do need to believe we'll be fair and transparentabout what we do."

"I think we now have the basis on which to move forward with atransition agreement with the U.S. Government and to address thelengthy list of ICANN action items," said ICANN interim presidentMichael Roberts.

ICANN initial board member Gregory Crew, speaking for the board'sadvisory committee on membership, said that the input on these issueswas particularly useful. The staff of the Berkman Center will help thecommittee in the formulation of formal membership options, which willbe posted for public comment prior to a board vote, as called for byICANN bylaws.

Separately, ICANN noted that the process of Supporting Organizationrecognition is moving forward, with criteria to be published byyearend, after which applications will be accepted and posted forpublic comment.

Following its Cambridge premiere, ICANN is taking its show on theroad. Its second open public meeting will take place under theauspices of the European Community Private Sector Panel ofParticipants (EC-POP), hosted by the European Commission, in Brusselson November 25. Another meeting will take place in Asia in March, timeand location to be announced shortly. Detailed information on theseand all other public meeting will be posted at www.iana.org, the website of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, ICANN's predecessororganization. ICANN's own www.icann.org will be operating soon.

CONTACT:

Esther Dyson, Interim Chairman, +1(212)924-8800, edyson@edventure.com
Michael M. Roberts, Interim President and CEO, +1(650)854-2108,mmr@darwin.ptvy.ca.us
Gregory Crew, Director, +61(03) 9591 0491, gregcrew@iaccess.com.au