June 28, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the group that oversees the Internet?s name system, unanimously passed a resolution at its quarterly meeting on Friday to exclude ordinary Web surfers from its board.
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Under the group?s new system, the 19-member board of directors will represent technical, business, government and non-profit organizations, abolishing the online election of individual Internet users. The group will have ultimate say over future policy matters governing the Internet?s domain name system.
The move, say critics, could allow mainstream interests to exert more influence over the Internet.
ICANN chief executive Stuart Lynn called the vote an important step for the group, which is attempting to demonstrate its commitment to reform to lawmakers. He said individual Internet users would still be represented on the board by politicians and community groups.
At the meeting, ICANN also made efforts to address long-standing criticisms that the organization is to heavily weighted toward American interests, being based in California and staffed mostly by Americans. The board said it would work to include input from less developed Internet regions such as Africa and the Middle East.
At the meeting, ICANN also voted its approval of introducing a 30-day grace period, giving domain owners extra time to renew domain name contracts before they are taken over by speculators.
ICANN also suggested a 25-cent tax on all domain registrations in order to increase its funding, and a measure to introduce waiting lists for coveted domain names is set to be approved later in the summer.
