Senators Weigh ICANN's Future 

Jun. 13, 2002 

Members of an influential Senate subcommittee indicated Wednesday that they would support reorganization of the Internet's chief administrative body. 

In an afternoon hearing of the Senate's Science, Technology and Space Subcommittee, legislators asked a panel of experts to evaluate the performance to date of ICANN, the nonprofit group formed to oversee the Internet address system. 

Testimony centered on the question of whether ICANN, in its four years of operation, has taken on too powerful a role in setting domain-related policy. Panelists also considered what, if anything, should be done to rein it in. 

"Everyone agrees that ICANN is in dire need of reform. The only argument is the shape of that reform," said Karl Auerbach, a member of ICANN's board of directors elected through a voting process that the group has since eliminated. 

Auerbach stressed that ICANN must be made more accountable to the general public. 

Subcommittee members concluded that both a narrowly defined set of duties and increased government oversight are in order. 

"For ICANN to function effectively in the future, it must narrow its function to administrative rather than regulatory matters," said Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), one of the Senate's more vocal critics of ICANN. 

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