2.2.5 North America

This report reviews the North American regional election for one of five contested At-Large seats on the ICANN Board of Directors. What follows is an analysis of the campaign leading up to that election, the election itself and its aftermath, and the implications for the broader prospect of public representation within the structure of ICANN.

Common Cause and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) collaborated in an extensive process that sought perspectives on the election from a broad range of sources. Among them:

Personal interviews. Staff interviewed, either in person or by telephone, a cross-section of North American participants in the ICANN process. These ranged from candidates in the election to members of ICANN's initial Board of Directors, to academic experts and systems engineers. A list of interviews appears as Appendix 3.
Media coverage. Staff collected television, radio, print, and online coverage that appeared in North America before, during and after the 2000 election. Stories were reviewed, summarized, and categorized to create a picture of the overall media presentation of ICANN.
Primary sources. Staff reviewed many of ICANN's "official" documents, especially regarding the election. These included the ICANN Bylaws (in their previous and current forms), Articles of Incorporation, committee reports, budgets, resolutions, minutes, and public correspondence. It also included "unofficial" records of ICANN meetings, such as the real-time scribe notes.
Survey data. To assist in establishing context for the 2000 election, staff reviewed recent public opinion data exploring notions of the Internet and theories of Internet governance.
U.S. government documents. ICANN's genesis is laid out in U.S. Commerce Department documents like the Green and White Papers and the MOU. Since then, ICANN has had regular interaction with the American government. Staff reviewed correspondence with government officials and congressional testimony, as well as the contractual negotiations.
Election-related data. To date, ICANN has made certain data regarding the election available to the At-Large Study Committee. The A.L.S.C., in turn, has made a significant amount of data public. Staff reviewed and reproduced, where appropriate, that data in this report.
Public discussion forums. Much of the online discussion that has surrounded ICANN since its incorporation has been made electronically available on public web sites. Public comment forums and mailing lists, both official and unofficial, have provided significant input for this report.
Personal and institutional experience. CDT and Common Cause, like their colleagues in the NAIS team, have been active participants in the ICANN process for some time; this analysis is inevitably colored by our experiences.

2.2.4.3 Conclusions and suggestions

2.2.5.1.1 Internet use