Icann - Who Knew?

How many people in the room have heard of ICANN? Don't worry, not many people recognize the organization who is involved in many of our everyday routines. ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is, as stated in their mission statement, "an internationally organized, non-profit corporation that is responsible for Internet Protocol (IP) address space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions." ICANN is also responsible for coordinating the management of the technical elements of the Domain Name Server or DNS to ensure universal resolvability. They also remain dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internet, promoting competition, and achieving broad representation of global Internet communities. Now that I have thrown all of this technical mumbo-jumbo at you, let's take a step back and really look at ICANN. Today, I will first give you a close up look at ICANN and what it does, then discuss with you their Universal Domain Resolution Policy or UDRP, and I will wrap up by giving you some of the opinions of the supporters and critics of both ICANN and their UDRP. Though ICANN stirs controversy around the globe it is what governs the Internet right now and a knowledge of what it does and how it can help you will ensure you don't fall victim to hackers, cyber-squatters, or any other computer nut jobs.

Transition: First let's look the history of ICANN and unbelievable growth of the Internet.

Body of Speech

I. ICANN was created in response to the Clinton administration's 1997 Framework for Global Electronic Commerce, which directed the Department of Commerce to privatize the domain-name system.

A. In the Internet's early history, DNS functions were carried out by volunteers and government contractors; a noncompetitive, government-funded system developed, with Network Solutions, Inc., or NSI, serving as the sole registrar of top-level domains until October 1998.

1. ICANN was officially established by the Internet Assigned Names Authority, or IANA, and NSI on September 30, 1998 and has been the Internet's governing body ever since.

B. To this day, ICANN is run by a 19-member volunteer board of directors that represent countries from around the world.

C. Since its incorporation, ICANN has established market competition for generic domain name (gTLD) registrations resulting in a lowering of domain name costs by 80% and saving consumers and businesses over US$1 billion annually in domain registration fees.

D. ICANN has also created UDRP, which we will discuss in detail in just a moment.

E. ICANN has kept the DNS running even as the number of registered domain names has grown by over 2,000 percent since July of 1998 from 2,154,634 to 46,412,165 in January of 2005.

Transition: After reading ICANN's website, it is very obvious that they consider their UDRP system one of their greatest successes.

II. ICANN's UDRP defines how disputes over domain-name registrations are resolved in the global top-level domains.

1. According the ICANN website the UDRP was adopted on August 26, 1999 and implementation began when the final policy documents were approved on October 24, 1999. (ICANN.com)

2. Anytime anyone purchases a domain name around the world they must agree to the UDRP before they complete their registration, because it is written in all ICANN accredited registrars agreements.

3. According to InterNic, a website operated by ICANN to provide the public information regarding Internet domain name registration services, the UDRP includes "a mandatory, non-binding, low-cost administrative procedure to resolve a certain set of claims -- namely, claims of abusive, bad faith registration. This means a bad faith violation of someone else's trademark. In situations other than these, the UDRP provides that disputes must be resolved by traditional means such as voluntary negotiation and lawsuits." (InterNIC)

4. When ICANN setup UDRP and created the rules to govern it, it made its system very black and white. The Complainant must prove all three rules and there are no exceptions. These rules are:

i. The domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights.

ii. You have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name.

iii. The domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

5. It is important to note that the UDRP has handled domain disputes in all different kinds of businesses, not just within the technology sector. Cases have been submitted by the likes of Julia Roberts, the World Wrestling Federation, and even our local college neighbor Full Sail.

6. As of October 10, 2005, 11,728 proceedings have been heard under the UDRP. As of May 10, 2004, the last time ICANN updated its statistical summary of proceeding, 9,377 proceedings had been heard under the UDRP that dealt with 15,710 domain names. Of the 7,790 decisions handed out by ICANN approved panels, approximately 80 percent of the decisions resulted in wins for the Complainant and name transfers. (ICANN stats)

Transition: These numbers do seem very strong, but as it is anytime governing power is involved, ICANN and its UDRP have their fair share of critics and supporters.

III. Let us first take a look at some of the criticism surrounding the UDRP system.

1. In a review of the first two years of UDRP, Gervaise Davis summarized some of the criticism of the system down to six areas of concern which were;

A. "Lack of consistency and rules for the selection of panelists among the resolution providers."

B. "Lack of consistency in decisions from all resolution providers."

C. "Lack of a practical and timely appeal process under the UDRP."

D. "Lack of any guidance for dealing with international issues in trademarks."

E. "Lack of a comprehensive search engine beyond the rudimentary ICANN facility and database."

F. "An overly detailed need for reciting procedural steps, which clutter the decisions and