Non-Commercial Groups Oppose Changes In ICANN Committee

Structural reforms within the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that altered the representation of non-commercial interests of internet users in ICANN policy development are “seriously flawed,” according to the body’s non-commercial users’ group. ICANN is the non-profit body that provides technical coordination of the internet. An open letter, available here, was sent to the ICANN Board of Directors by the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC), a group that represents non-commercial interests within ICANN and claims to have 152 organisations and individuals from 52 countries. The NCUC is opposed to a staff-proposed restructuring within the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), an organ of ICANN which consists of five commercial and one non-commercial stakeholder (the NCUC). The NCUC said ICANN said ignored consensus-based proposals by civil society on better representation within GNSO and instead introduced new proposals drafted unilaterally by ICANN staff. In the 18 August letter, NCUC is seeking a meeting with the full ICANN Board during their meeting in Seoul in October in order to address this and other concerns.