The Institutional Design of the IANA Transition Process

This chapter provides readers with a detailed overview of the IANA transition process, tracing back the steps that have led to the drafting of the transition proposal. The chapter introduces the procedural elements of the initiative describing the composition, rules of engagement, and approval procedure of the different bodies entrusted to draft the proposal, and draws on the huge amount of available documentation, including official statements, charters, public comments and submissions, meeting transcripts, and reports. It also gives an account of the content of deliberation in different sites and how it changed during the process.

1. 1.

   https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/iana-accountability-participation-statistics-2015-11-04-en. All the online resources mentioned in this chapter were last accessed on December 2019.

2. 2.

   https://www.ntia.doc.gov/press-release/2014/ntia-announces-intent-transition-key-internet-domain-name-functions. Accessed 12 June 2020.

3. 3.

   https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/draft-proposal-2014-04-08-en. Accessed 12 June 2020.

4. 4.

   https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/iana-transition-scoping-08apr14-en.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2020.

5. 5.

   As discussed in Chapter 3, ICANN’s supporting organizarions (SOs) and advisory committees (ACs) are the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO); the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO); the Address Supporting Organization (ASO). ICANN has the following Advisory Committees: Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC); Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC); Root Server System Advisory Committee (RSSAC); At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC).

6. 6.

   Comments are available at: http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/ianatransition/2014/date.html#0. Accessed 12 June 2020.

7. 7.

   https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/enhancing-accountability-2014-05-06-en. Accessed 12 June 2020.

8. 8.

   All the mentioned material can be found at: https://community.icann.org/display/acctcrosscomm/General+Process+Information. Accessed 12 June 2020.

9. 9.

   https://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-enhancing-accountability-06sep14/pdfAQjmNDuA3i.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2020.

10. 10.

    https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/process-next-steps-2014-10-10-en. Accessed 12 June 2020.

11. 11.

    https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/charter-icg-27aug14-en.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2020.

12. 12.

    https://www.iab.org/wp-content/IAB-uploads/2014/04/iab-response-to-20140408-20140428a.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2020.

13. 13.

    https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/rfp-iana-stewardship-08sep14-en.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2020.

14. 14.

    https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/50823498/CWG-Dec01PublicConsultFINAL.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1417638162000&api=v2. Accessed 12 June 2020.

15. 15.

    All the comments are available at: https://www.icann.org/public-comments/cwg-naming-transition-2014-12-01-en. Accessed 12 June 2020.

16. 16.

    https://community.icann.org/download/attachments/53773326/cwg-stewardship-draft-proposal-with-annexes-22apr15-en.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1430512223000&api=v2. Accessed 12 June 2020.

17. 17.

    Materials on the work of the Number Community can be found at https://www.nro.net/internet-governance/iana/iana-stewardship-transition/stewardship-transition-archive/. For the protocol community, refer to https://datatracker.ietf.org/wg/ianaplan/about/. Accessed 12 June 2020.

18. 18.

    https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2860. Accessed 12 June 2020.

19. 19.

    https://www.ianacg.org/calls-for-input/combined-proposal-public-comment-period/. Accessed 12 June 2020.

20. 20.

    Voulontary working groups entrusted to conduct periodic review of ICANN’s accountability and transparency.

21. 21.

    Later, new work parties were set up. WP3 “Emerging Issues” was established in July 2015 to deal with the accountability of supporting organisations, advisory committees, and ICANN staff. WP4 “Human Rights” was created in August 2015 to discuss the inclusion of a commitment to human rights in ICANN’s mission and bylaws. Stress Test 18 Work Party (ST18-WP) was established in November 2015 to address changes in the bylaw concerning the GAC. Finally, the Work Party–IRP Implementation Oversight Team (WP-IOT) was convened in January 2016.

22. 22.

    See p. 14 of the First Draft Proposal available at: https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=52897394. Accessed 12 June 2020.

23. 23.

    See https://www.icann.org/public-comments/gnso-review-2013-07-15-en and https://www.icann.org/public-comments/draft-ccwg-accountability-proposal-2015-11-30-en. Accessed 12 June 2020.

24. 24.

    See https://icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2016-03-10-en#2.b. Accessed 12 June 2020.

25. 25.

    See https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/report-comments-draft-new-bylaws-25may16-en.pdf. Accessed 12 June 2020.

26. 26.

    See https://www.icann.org/resources/board-material/resolutions-2016-05-27-en. Accessed 12 June 2020.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Department of Political and Social Studies of the University of Salerno, Internet and Communication Policy Centre, Fisciano, Salerno, Italy

   Nicola Palladino & Mauro Santaniello

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