ABOUT ICANN Offices are located in Brussels, Belgium, LA, Silicon Valley and

Washington DC. Structured as a multi-stakeholder model with decentralized

governance which results in individuals, industry, non-commercial interests and governments all being on the same level.

It allows for community-based, policy driven consensus in the creation of policies.

ICANN’s Supporting Organizations are responsible for making policy recommendations to the board

The Advisory Committees advise ICANN & the board & sometimes raise issues for policy development

The ICANN Board is the ultimate authority in accepting/rejecting policy recommendations

The ICANN staff is responsible for the implementation of policies created by the ICANN community.

ICANN’S MISSION Seek to coordinate the global internet system’s of

unique identifiers, at an overall level to ensure it operates in a stable and secure manner.

THE 3 TYPES OF UNIQUE IDENTIFIERS FOR THE INTERNET Domain Names- which form a system called the

Domain name System (DNS)

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses & Autonomous System (AS) numbers.

Protocol Port & Parameter Numbers

ICANN’S POWERS They can only exercise these under the direction of the

board, who can only act by a majority vote.

ICANN’S RESTRICTIONS Prohibited from acting as a Domain Name System

Registry/Registrar or Internet Protocol Address Registries in competition with entities affected by ICANN’s policies.

ICANN ORGANIGRAM

Boards of Directors

Governmental Advisory

Committee

Internet Engineering Task Force

Technical Liaison Group

Root server System

Advisory Committee

Security & StabilityAdvisory

CommitteeInternet Users

Per ICANN By laws, Article

VII, Section 2

ccTLDRegistries

Regional Internet

Registries

GNSO

ICANN Staff

Ombudsman

OMBUDSMAN

Independent, impartial and neutral personcontracted to ICANN.

Full-time position with salary and benefitsappropriate to the function, which is determinedby the board.

Appointed for a term of 2years initially but thisis subject to renewal.

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FUNCTIONS OF OMBUDSMAN Dispute resolution practitioner for issues which the

Reconsideration Policy & Independent Review Policy do not apply to.

Internal evaluator of complaints by members of the ICANN community who believe they have been treated unfairly by either the ICANN staff, board or constituent bodies.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE Community of volunteers which serves as the chief

authority in the selection of ICANN directors but does not select the president and directors which are appointed by the support organisations.

Composition of the Nominating Committee (Non-voting Delegates) A chair, appointed by the ICANN board.

A chair elect, appointed by the ICANN board as a non-voting advisor.

A liaison appointed by ICANN’s Root Server System Advisory Committee.

A liaison appointed by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee.

COMPOSITION OF NOMINATING COMMITTEE (VOTING DELEGATES) 5 delegates appointed by the At-Large Advisory

Committees.

1 delegate from Registrars stakeholder group.

2 delegates from Business Constituency; 1 representing large businesses & the other representing the small ones.

1 delegate from the Internet service providers Constituency

1 delegate from Intellectual Property Constituency.

1 delegate selected by the following entities; Council of Country Code names Supporting Organisation

Council of Address Supporting Organisation

Internet Engineering Task Force

TERMS OF SERVING IN NOMINATING COMMITTEE Each voting delegate must serve one year at least, two

at most

Non-voting liaisons serve for terms designed for them by the entity that appoints them.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Consists of 16 voting members and 5 non-voting

liaisons.

SELECTION OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS 8 Voting members selected by Nominating Committee

2 Voting members selected by Address Supporting Organisation

2 Voting members selected by Country Code Names Supporting Organisation

2 Voting Members selected by At-Large Community.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BOARD Nominating Committee and Supporting Organisations

need to keep in mind when selecting board, that the board is required to display diversity in terms of geography, culture, skills, experience and perspective.

The board elects a chairman and vice-chairman from the directors annually, and this chairman is prohibited from being the president.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF DIRECTORS Must be an accomplished person of integrity, objectivity,

intelligence and possess a reputation of good judgment.

Must be committed to the success of ICANN, understand its mission and the potential impact of decisions the board makes on the global internet community.

Must bring geographical and cultural diversity to the board.Must be familiar with the operations of gTLDregistries and registrars, ccTLD registries, IP address registries, internet technical standards, protocols, development procedures and legal procedures.

Must be able to work and communicate in English.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS The board ensures these pass periodic reviews of

performance & operations by an entity which is independent of the particular organisation under review.

Reviews occur every 5years.

Results of reviews are posted on ICANN’s website for public views and comments

Government Advisory Committee uses its own review mechanisms.

CRITERIA OF REVIEWS Does the organisation under review have a purpose

under the ICANN structure?

If so, do any changes need to be made in order to improve its effectiveness?

THE TYPES OF SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS

1. Address Supporting Organisation

Advises board with respect to issues relating to theoperation and management of internet addresses andoversees recommendations of the ICANN board oninternet protocol address policy and manages global policydevelopment activities.

Has an Address Council which consists of members of theNRO Numbers Council.

Comprised of representatives of 5 regional InternetRegistries.

THE REGIONAL INTERNET REGISTRIES AfriNIC- covers the African continent

APNIC- covers the Asia-Pacific region including Japan, Korea, China & Australia.

American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)-covers Canada, some Caribbean North Atlantic islands and the USA.

Latin America & Carribean Internet Address Registry (LACNIC)- covers Latin America and the Caribbean.

Reseaux IP Eauropeans (RIPE NCC)- covers Europe, Middle east & parts of Asia.

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RIR ZONES

HOW ADDRESS COUNCIL IS CHOSEN Through separate nomination & election processes in

each of the Regional Internet Registries regions.

Each region appoints 3 members to serve for two year terms.

The Council elects a Chair who appoints the vice chairs.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED IN ASO You must be affiliated with the RIRs.

RIRs have no membership requirements to participate in their policy development process/attend their meetings.

Any member of the internet community is welcome.

2. COUNTRY CODE NAMES SUPPORTING ORGANISATION (ccNSO) Develops and recommends to the board on issues

relating to country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) such as .za ,.uk etc.

Responsible for nurturing consensus across the Country Code Names Supporting organisation’scommunity, including name related activities of ccTLD.

Coordinates with other ICANN supporting organisations and constituencies under ICANN.

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CCNSO COUNCIL They administer & coordinate the affairs of ccNSO

whilst also managing the development of policy recommendations.

Lead & participate in various ccNSO Working Groups & they engage the community in topical issues.

MEMBERS OF CCNSO COUNCIL 3 ccNSO council members elected from each of

ICANN’s geographical regions.

3 members elected by Nominating Committee.

Some liaisons

1 from the Government Advisory Committee

1 from the At-large advisory Committee

1 from each of the regional organisations

3. GENERIC NAMES SUPPORTING ORGANISATION Policy development body responsible for developing

and recommending to the ICANN board essential policies relating to the generic top level domains such as .COM .NET & .ORG .

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GNSO COUNCIL MEMBERS 3 representatives from the registries stakeholder

group.

3 representatives from the registrar’s stakeholder group.

6 representatives from commercial stakeholder group.

6 representatives from non-commercial stakeholder groups

3 representatives selected by ICANN Nominating Committee

THE STAKEHOLDER GROUPS 1. Registries Stakeholder Group

Represents all gTLD registries under contract to ICANN.

2. Registrars Stakeholder Group

Represents all registrars accredited by and under contract to ICANN.

3. Commercial Stakeholder Groups

Represents full range of large and small entities in the internet

4. Non-commercial Stakeholder Group

Represents interests of non-commercial registrants and non-commercialinternet users of the generic top level domains.

ADVISORY COMMITTEES1. Government Advisory Committee

Provides advice on activities of ICANN which are related toconcerns of government, i.e. Where ICANN’s policiesinteract with laws & international agreements.

Chair of GAC elected by members of GAC GAC liaison on the Board elected by GAC & doesn’t vote,

just advises the board. No limitations on reappointment of GAC liaison on the

Board of ICANN. GAC liaison in Nominating Committee also nominated by

GAC and also does not have voting rights. GAC can put issues to board directly.

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GAC MEMBERSHIP Open to all national governments , district economies

recognised by international fora, multinational government organisations and treaty organisations.

GAC adopts its own charter and internal operating principles and procedures to govern their operation.

2. SECURITY & STABILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE Advises ICANN community & board on matters relating to

security & integrity of internet’s naming & address allocating system.

Communicates security matters with internet technical community, operators and management which is critical to the Domain Name system.

Engages in ongoing threat assessment & risk analysis of internet naming & address allocation services to assess where principal threats lie and act accordingly.

Communicates with those with direct responsibility for internet naming & address allocation.

Reports on its activities periodically to the board. Makes policy recommendation to ICANN community & the

board.

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3. AT-LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE Primary organisation in ICANN which is home for the

individual internet users.

Provides advice on activities of ICANN.

AT-LARGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2 members selected by Regional At large

Organisations (RALOs)

5 members elected by Nominating Committee

At-Large community set up in tiers and the grass root level consists of many At Lrge Structures which one should join in order to find their way into RALOs, where the committees are selected from.

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4. Root Server System Advisory Committee Advisory Committee to ICANN about operation of root

name servers.

Respond to ICANN board when they need technical advice.

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HOW ROOT SERVER ADVISORY MEMBERS R SELECTED Representitives hail from the organisations responsible

for operating the world’s 13 root name servers & other organsations concerned with stable technical operation of authoritative root server system.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED Usually have their meetings during the same time as

thr Internet engineering Task Force which is usually a few weeks after the ICANN meetings in a different location.

THE ICANN STAFF Execute and implement policies developed by the

ICANN community and adopted by the board.

Divided into HR, Project planning, Finance, Communication & the CEO and President of ICANN comes from them.

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IMPLEMENTATION OF ICANN POLICIESShould a policy substantially affect the operation of the internet/3rd parties (i.e. imposition of fees) than ICANN is required to;

Provide a public notice on the website explaining what policies are being considered for adoption & why, at least 21 days prior to the action of the board.

Provide opportunities for parties to comment on the adoption of proposed policies.

If the action will affect public policy, they have to request an opinion from GAC.

ICANN MEETINGS 3 international public meetings a year.

They last a week and consist of about 200 different sessions.

In most cases, anyone may speak but in a few cases you may need to be a member.

Newcomers accommodated on the Sunday before the meeting begins through a series of training sessions.