THE FUTURE OF THE AT-LARGE MEMBERSHIP & PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN ICANN

Friday, March 9, 2001, 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Bellarine Room 2, Melbourne Exhibition & Convention Centre
Webcast at http://www.naisproject.org/

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM Introductory Remarks

Jeanette Hofmann, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin/NEXUS

9:15 AM - 10:30 AM Panel One: Re-Examining the Role of the "Public" in ICANN

The U.S. Government statement of policy (the White Paper), which called for the creation of the private, non-profit corporation that is now ICANN, said the following:

The development of sound, fair, and widely accepted policies for the management of the DNS will depend on input from the broad and growing community of Internet users. Management structures should reflect the functional and geographic diversity of the Internet and its users.

But three years later, with ICANN now making decisions critical to the future of the Internet, no clear consensus has immerged in the ICANN community on how to define the "broad and growing community of Internet users," on the proper balance in ICANN's governance between the public voice and the voice of more specific stakeholder communities, or on the potential of the public to contribute to ICANN's mission.

In this panel, members of the NAIS project will explore these questions with panelists and with members of the audience.

Moderated by Stefaan Verhulst, Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy, Oxford University

Invited Participants:

• Kim Heitman, Chair, Electronic Frontiers Australia
• Andrew McLaughlin, Chief Policy Officer, ICANN

Participating NAIS Members:
• Raúl Echeberría, Instituto Nacional de Investigatión Agropecuaria
• Jeanette Hofmann, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin/NEXUS
• Don Simon, General Counsel, Common Cause

10:30 AM - 11:45 AM Panel Two: Mechanisms for Public Participation in ICANN

The ICANN community is now evaluating its first At-Large election experience, through which individual Internet users worldwide selected five At-Large members of the ICANN Board of Directors in Fall 2000. As a part of this evaluation, the community must ask itself: Is directly electing members of the ICANN Board the most appropriate means for the broad community of Internet users to participate in ICANN's governance, or should alternatives be considered?

While broader questions regarding the basic purpose, concept and definition of the At-Large membership will be considered in Panel #1, this panel will focus on more practical questions of structure and process ­ evaluating various institutional forms and mechanisms for providing the broad community of Internet users with opportunities to participate in selecting ICANN directors and setting ICANN policy.

In this panel again, NAIS team members will discuss these questions with invited participants and members of the audience.

Moderated by Alan Davidson, Associate Director, Center for Democracy & Technology

Invited Participants:

• Ivan Moura Campos, At-Large Director, ICANN
• David Steele, Attorney, Christie, Parker & Hale, LLP
• Theresa Swinehart, Associate Counsel, WorldCom

Participating NAIS Members:
• Christian Ahlert, Center for Interactive Media, University of Giessen
• Myungkoo Kang, Department of Communication, Seoul National University

With generous support from the Markle Foundation.

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