As a new and unique body in need of a long-term system of public representation, ICANN has a special need to review its own past and to learn what it can from the discussion of the last several years. Most of the issues that the community now faces have persisted since long before ICANN's inception; they are of obvious importance but are complicated and, frequently, divisive.
From the time it was conceived, and in its current infancy, ICANN has had a clear responsibility to establish a public role in its decision-making. Such responsibility in itself has frequently placed ICANN at the center of controversy. While the organization has several times declared its intention to build in a lasting role for the community of Internet users (sometimes in response to pressure from outside interests), consensus on the form and responsibilities of that role has been elusive, and progress has been slow.
In this section, we attempt to trace the development of ICANN's responsibility to public participation, and the obstacles it has encountered along the way.
| 1.1.4 Legitimacy as a key to stability | 1.2.1 Early Commitments to the Internet "Public" |
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