Lobbyists oppose Icann reforms

Recent calls by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) for internal reforms have met with opposition from public lobby groups.

Icann president Stuart Lynn said over the weekend that he wanted to transform the private non-profit corporation into a public/private partnership by changing the structure of the board and seeking additional funding.

Lynn pointed out that governments are an important and under-represented stakeholder in Icann, and that they must have a seat at the table. And he warned that unless the changes were made, Icann could fail in its objectives.

But public interest groups and internet watchdogs have slammed the idea which they claim will remove ordinary internet users from the process.

They have also expressed concerns that the US government would try to maintain control of the internet addressing system, making Icann a tool of the White House.

Set up in 1998, Icann was partly created to handle responsibilities in governing the internet. Such responsibilities had previously been under the jurisdiction of governments, including managing the top-level domain name system.

Icann meets in Ghana next month, where any restructuring programme will be discussed.