[governance] Summary of IGP comments on the NTIA ICANN proceeding

[Milton L Mueller]

Only the summary, please go to the NTIA site for the complete comments. 
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/comments/2009/dnstransition/index.html 
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"The global challenges we face demand global institutions that work."
- President Barack Obama, 2008

ICANN lacks accountability and its processes are full of problems, but the JPA is not the right tool to use to fix them. The JPA contributes to ICANN's failings. Although it was intended to provide a vehicle for impartially assessing the adequacy of ICANN's legal and institutional framework for the global Internet, in reality it does nothing but invite the stakeholders in one privileged country to complain to their own government about policy outcomes they don't like. The U.S. government needs to let the JPA expire, and immediately initiate an international agreement that formalizes and completes the transition of ICANN to a stable form of multi-stakeholder global governance rooted in a nonprofit corporation. This international instrument should be used to provide a shared, global legal framework that can keep ICANN independent but accountable. It should be designed to keep ICANN focused on its narrow coordinating mission, to restore internal accountability of the Board to its membership, to check abuses by ICANN's Board, to delegate authority over ccTLDs to national governments, and to limit interference in or abuse of ICANN by governments. By taking the lead, the US can gain buy-in from other governments for its own model and ensure that the transition does not harm any of its own legitimate interests. But to succeed in completing the transition, the U.S. will have to win the acceptance of a critical mass of other countries and peoples.

Dr. Milton Mueller, Syracuse University School of Information Studies and XS4All Professor, Technology University of Delft, Netherlands 
Brenden Kuerbis, Doctoral candidate, Syracuse University School of Information Studies 
Dr. Michel van Eeten, Technology University of Delft, Netherlands 
Dr. John Mathiason, Syracuse University, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs 
Dr. Derrick Cogburn, School of International Service, American University Dr. Lee McKnight, Syracuse University School of Information Studies

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