ICANN to Add 9 Board Members
The board of directors of the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as ICANN, will have nine new members when it meets this week in Los Angeles. Three of ICANN’s supporting organizations each selected three directors to join the board of the nonprofit group, which is set to take over administration of the domain name system from the Commerce Department.
Directors representing the Address Supporting Organization, which is concerned with the system of Internet protocol addresses that uniquely identify the computers on the Internet, are Robert Blokzijl, Ken Fockler and Pindar Wong. The Domain Name Supporting Organization, which addresses issues relating to the system of names that is used to identify places on the Internet, selected Amadeu Abril i Abril, Jonathan Cohen and Alejandro Pisanty. Jean-Francois Abramatic, Vint Cerf and Philip Davidson will represent the Protocol Supporting Organization, which focuses on the technical standards that make Internet communication possible.
The nine new board members will join the 10 interim board members who will decide whether to approve an agreement to end Network Solutions’ monopoly and bring full competition to the lucrative business of registering domain names. The Commerce Department and Network Solutions approved the agreement in September, but several other registrars are urging the ICANN board to seek changes that they say would level the playing field. The board is expected to approve the agreement without amendments Thursday.
ICANN will also consider methods for allowing individual Internet users to vote for permanent members of the board of directors and to have a voice within the global group. The Markle Foundation, a New York-based foundation that plans to give away $100 million during the next five years to ensure the public is served by the Internet and emerging technologies, plans to make a major announcement at ICANN’s meeting Tuesday.
