<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body><!-- AOL_MESSAGE --><p style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://internetgovernance.org/images/IGP_logo_Masthead2.gif" alt="" /></p>
<p><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">June 9, 2009</span></strong></span></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Internet Governance Project Calls For U.S.-Led International Agreement On ICANN</strong><br />
</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Citing U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2008 statement that the “global challenges we face demand global institutions that work,” a group of academic experts called on the United States to take decisive action on the future of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The group, </span></span><a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Finternetgovernance.org&esheet=5983449&lan=en_US&anchor=Internet+Governance+Project&index=1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Internet Governance Project</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> (IGP), urged the U.S. Commerce Department <a href="http://internetgovernance.org/pdf/IGP-June09NTIAcomment.pdf">in its comments</a> to let the so-called Joint Project Agreement with ICANN expire and engage with other governments to create stronger and more internationalized legal arrangements that will keep the organization accountable to Internet users. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> “It’s time to fish or cut bait on the ‘transition’ of the Internet’s naming and addressing system,” said Dr. </span></span><a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fischool.syr.edu%2Ffacstaff%2Fmember.aspx%3Fid%3D118&esheet=5983449&lan=en_US&anchor=Milton+Mueller&index=2"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Milton Mueller</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">, professor at the </span></span><a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fischool.syr.edu&esheet=5983449&lan=en_US&anchor=Syracuse+University+School+of+Information+Studies&index=3"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Syracuse University School of Information Studies</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> and chair of IGP’s Scientific Committee. “After 11 years, either ICANN is ready to be independent or it is not. If it still has problems, and it does, let’s take decisive action to fix them.” </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> While noting ICANN’s shortcomings, the IGP comment focused its criticism on the Commerce Department’s Joint Project Agreement (JPA) with ICANN. The JPA is a temporary form of supervision that allows the Commerce Department to negotiate goals and priorities for ICANN on a short time frame. The Internet Governance Project contends that the “JPA process is inherently broken” and “contributes to ICANN’s failings… It does nothing but invite the stakeholders in one privileged country to complain to their own government about policy outcomes they don’t like.” </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Instead of continuing an endless series of renewals and revisions of the JPA, IGP argues that the “U.S. government needs to let the JPA expire and immediately initiate an international agreement that completes the transition of ICANN to a stable, accountable form of global governance.” That agreement should: </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <!--portletbreak--> </span></span></p>
<ul>
<li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Affirm and formalize the nongovernmental status of ICANN </span></span></li>
<li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Formally recognize the sovereignty of other national governments over their top level domains </span></span></li>
<li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Prohibit ICANN from interfering with freedom of expression </span></span></li>
<li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Ensure the consistency of ICANN’s regulations with antitrust law and nondiscriminatory trade principles </span></span></li>
<li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Select an appropriate body of national corporate law under which ICANN should operate </span></span></li>
<li class="bwlistitemmarginbottom"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Dissolve ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee </span></span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> By taking the lead in the negotiation of an international agreement, IGP claims, “the United States can gain buy-in from other governments for its own model of Internet governance and ensure that the transition does not harm any of its own legitimate interests. But to succeed in completing the transition and to avoid fragmenting the Internet, the U.S. will have to win the acceptance of a critical mass of other countries and peoples.” </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> The Internet Governance Project is an alliance of academics that puts expertise into practical action in the fields of global governance and Internet policy. IGP’s Scientific Committee includes recognized experts in global governance and Internet policy from Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Technology University of Delft, Netherlands, the London School of Economics, and American University. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Learn more at </span></span><a href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.internetgovernance.org&esheet=5983449&lan=en_US&anchor=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.internetgovernance.org&index=4"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">http://blog.internetgovernance.org</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">. </span></span></p><!-- for IE <![endif]--><hr style="clear:both;"><i><span style="font-size:9pt;"><a rel="NOFOLLOW" href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?EmailRemove=_MTEzOTk2OTB8MTc1NDI1fHBsZW5hcnlAd3Npcy1jcy5vcmd8MTg2MDcxMQ==_"><u>Click here to safely unsubscribe now</u></a> from "Internet Governance Project Headlines"<!-- _!fbztxtlnk!_ http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?EmailRemove=_MTEzOTk2OTB8MTc1NDI1fHBsZW5hcnlAd3Npcy1jcy5vcmd8MTg2MDcxMQ==_ --> or <A href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Subscriptions=175425"><u>change your subscription</u></a> or <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=175425"><u>subscribe</u></a> <A href="http://www.feedblitz.com/f"><img align="middle" width="51" height="16" border="0" title="This update is powered by FeedBlitz, www.feedblitz.com" src="http://www.feedblitz.com/logos/1860711/175425/11399690/logo.gif"></a></span></i><hr class="dottedline">
<script src="http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script type="text/javascript">_uacct = "UA-130946-1";urchinTracker();</script><!-- for IE <![endif]-->
<hr style="clear:both;"><div align="center"><table style="background-color:white;color:black;"><tr><td><span style="font-size:10px;">Your requested content delivery powered by <a href="http://www.feedblitz.com">FeedBlitz</a>, LLC, 9 Thoreau Way, Sudbury, MA 01776, USA. +1.978.776.9498</span></td></tr></table></div><br>
</body></html>