Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
Internationalization and
Technical Stewardship of the Internet
8 May 2005
Cairo, Egypt
Theresa Swinehart
General Manager, Global Partnerships
Internet Resources Management:
The Past
THE ARPA NETWORK – SEPTEMBER 1969
The early days of the Internet
•
•
•
•
•
Network set up in the US scientific community
Under R&D contracts to the US government
Administered by the UCLA from Los Angeles
Originally connected 4 universities
Growing slowly into a larger scientific research
network
• With increasing decentralisation and
• Involving scientists in the whole world
• Email was added in 1972, file transfer in 1973
Internet: The Mid 80’s
USENET 1986
Internet: from R&D to commercial
• Increased use of scientific community
• Most use in US universities and R&D
institutes
• International scientific use has
commenced
• Domain Names System invented in 1983
• First non-scientific use is considered
• 1990: first commercial provision of Internet
dial-up access
• 1991: www invented in CERN Switzerland
Community values
• Ensuring a single, end-to-end interoperable
Internet
• Bottom-up technical policy making and decision
making
• Participation open to all who wish to do so
• Legitimacy determined by open participation and
the value of the contribution to the joint effort,
rather than power
• Consensus based decision making, but not full
‘census based’ consensus
• Cooperation, Coordination and Consultation
among participants and groups pushing forward
initiatives
• Yet, VERY spirited and blunt public debate
The Internet Today
and….
The Challenges
The political world
The telecommunications world
The Internet Today:
• 200,000 interconnected networks
• 10,000’s of players from private sector
providing equipment, applications,
networks, pipes, services, research
• Academics assisting in research on
standards and protocols
• The backbone of the digital economy
• A multi-stakeholder platform
From the past …to the future
Small (4 university
networks, 100’s users)
Scientific purpose
US based
Scientific backbone
Single jurisdiction
Regulated relations
A few scientific issues
Industrialised countries
interest
 Huge (today over 200,000
networks, 1 billion users )
 Multi-stakeholder purpose
 Global
 Global economy backbone
 Multiple jurisdictions
 Contractual relations
 Multi-layered stack of issues
 Industrialised and developing
countries interest
ICANN and its structure
ICANN: The Basic Challenge
An effective mechanism for
technical self-management
by the global Internet
community serving a
globalized economy
Before ICANN, these stakeholders competed for influence
over the Domain Name and IP Addressing systems
ITU
(ITU-T)
WIPO
IETF
Foreign
Business
OECD
Universities
Intellectual
Property
interests
US
Business
Developing
World
Governments
Registries
UNDP
Root
Server
Operators
Security
Issues
FTC
NATO
Regional
Internet
Registries
OECD
governments
NSI/
Verisign
US Military
Registrars
ISPs
IAB
ETSI
ccTLD
registries
Consumers
FCC
W3C
Civil
Society
Groups
Within ICANN, all stakeholders work collaboratively in
the policy structure
Board of
Directors
President/
CEO
Governmental Advisory Committee
GAC
Address
Supporting
Organisation
Generic
Names
Supporting
Organisation
Country
Code Names
Supporting
Organisation
At-large
Advisory
Committee
ASO
GNSO
ccNSO
ALAC
Security and
Stability
Advisory
Committee
SSAC
Root Server
System
Advisory
Committee
Technical
Liaison
Group
RSSAC
TLG
What is ICANN responsible for?
• ICANN is responsible for the global technical self-management of
the Internet’s unique identifiers
• ICANN is dedicated to:
• Preserving the operational stability of the Internet;
• To promoting competition;
• To achieving broad representation of global Internet
communities;
• And to developing policy appropriate to its mission through
bottom-up, consensus-based processes
What ICANN does not do
• Content on the Internet
• Spam
• Financial transactions online
• Consumer Protection Law
• Privacy Law
• Data Protection Law
• Intellectual Property Law
• E-commerce, e-education, e-government, etc.
Stability and security with open architecture
Unique
New
protocols
and services
Diverse,
distributed
data networks
Domain
IP
Name
Number
System Resources
Secure
Protocol
and port
parameters
Variety of data
technologies and
applications
Stable
PRINCIPLES OF OPERATIONS
1.
Contribute to stability and security of the unique identifiers
system and root management
2.
Promote competition and choice for registrants and other
users
3.
Forum for multi-stakeholder bottom-up development of
related policy
4.
Ensuring on a global basis an opportunity for participation
by all interested parties
A Closer look at one area of success
• ICANN successful in changing the market structure for the
registration of generic TLD’s
• A US$1 billion annual reduction in domain registration fees
– Competition in the registrar business
• The market competition for generic domain name (gTLD)
registrations established by ICANN has lowered domain name costs
by 80%, with savings for both consumers and businesses.
Increasing Competition in gTLD Marketplace
Registrar Market Share
100%
90%
80%
70%
% of
COM/NET
Market
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
As of Dec 96
Network Solutions
As of Dec 99
Register.com
Tucows
As of Dec 02
GoDaddy
eNom
As of Dec 04
BulkRegister
Melbourne IT
Other
Establishing and fostering
competition and choice
Price
Registry
functions
Increasing
choice
through
registrar
competition
and new
gTLDs
Registrar
functions
Innovative
services
Fostering
competition through
market mechanisms
How stability and competition is accomplished
Outreach to and service
for all Internet users
Developed
nation Internet
communities
Developing
nation Internet
communities
Stability and security
Competition and choice
Independent bottom-up coordination
Global stakeholder representation
Stakeholders in the Domain Name System
Business, civil
society and
academia
Agreed
policy
Government and
inter-government
agencies
Responsive
process
Technical bodies
and organisations
Coordination
Collaboration
Cooperation
Stakeholders in the Domain Name System
Government and inter-government agencies
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
Inter-American Telecommunications
Union (CITEL)
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
UN Economic, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
African Telecommunications Union (ATU)
European Union (EU)
Commonwealth Telecommunications Oragnisation
Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie
Individual governments are also grappling with how to address new
information society issues that cross over many government
departments, foreign and domestic policy, cultural distinctions,
economic development and similar public policy challenges
Stakeholders in the Domain Name System
Business, civil society and academia
Business organizations have an inherent interest in contributing to the
Internet’s growth and potential
Civil society organizations, from all parts of the world and from all
aspects of society, remain committed to the potential of the Internet for
the needs of civil society
The academic community, regardless of location, has played and will
always play an important role in the Internet
Stakeholders in the Domain Name System
Technical bodies and organisations
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI)
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Forum
Internet Society (ISOC)
Internet Architecture Board (IAB)
Domain name registrars
Regional Internet number Registries (RIRs)
Security and technical experts
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
ENUM Forum
IPv6 Forum
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
Space research agencies
gTLD and ccTLD registries
Internet Service Providers
International multi-stakeholder representation and
participation
• Government Advisory Committee: about 100 governments and 5 +
International Treaty Organisations
• At-Large Advisory Committee: 18 At-Large Structures from four
global regions
• Board of Directors represents 14 nationalities
• ICANN Staff hail from nine different countries (Australia, Denmark,
France, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Niger, Taiwan, the United
Kingdom, and the United States)
OECD Report continued
• ‘When OECD countries allocate resources they
have certain common objectives irrespective of
the method chosen. These can include efficient
allocation of a resource and efficient use of that
resource, transparency in the award of resource,
non-discrimination, and the creation of
appropriate conditions for market competition.
There may also be other wider economic and
social objectives. Through statements and
actions it is clear that ICANN shares the ideals
inherent in these objectives.’
The International Multi-stakeholder Organisation of the 21st
Century:
• Transnational
• All stakeholders represented
– Including governments with choice of relevant
agency or agencies
• Flexible in organisational management
• No capture by individuals, groups, or
organisations
• Reflective of its own regime.
• Focus on effectiveness and relevancy
For more information please see
http://www.icann.com
Or send an email to
Theresa.Swinehart@icann.org