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Costa
Rica,
ICANN,
and
Nonviolent
Governance
There's
a
peaceful
feeling
in
the
air
at
ICANN's
meeting
this
week,
and
I
think
it
has
something
to
do
with
being
here
in
Costa
Rica.
Speaking
at
today's
opening
ceremony,
Costa
Rican
President
Laura
Chinchilla
described
how,
back
in
1948,
her
country
became
the
first
to
willingly
go
without
any
kind
of
armed
forces
for
national
defense.
In
that
respect,
Costa
Rica
is a
lot
like
ICANN:
alone
in a
hostile
world
with
only
its
constituents
and
allies
for
protection.
Costa
Rica
has
proven
that
this
nonviolent
approach
can
work,
but
only
if
you
keep
your
own
house
in
order.
If
ICANN
takes
nothing
else
away
from
this
week's
meeting,
we
can
at
least
hope
it
takes
a
page
from
its
host
nation's
playbook.
Everyone
here
at
ICANN
43
has
heard
the
mounting
calls
by
governments
and
the
United
Nations
to
assert
more
power
over
the
Internet,
and
by
extension,
ICANN
itself.
Since
ICANN
doesn't
have
a
standing
army
(or
maybe
THAT'S
what
all
the
new
gTLD
fees
are
for?)
to
repel
these
challenges
to
its
authority,
it
needs
to
be
creative
about
protecting
itself
from
growing
threats.
Part
of
ICANN's
defensive
strategy
seems
to
have
been
"the
best
defense
is a
good
offense."
Its
aggressive
new
gTLD
program
promises
to
dramatically
increase
the
global
reach
of
the
Internet,
thereby
growing
the
community
of
stakeholders
committed
to
the
ICANN
model.
It's
a
bold
strategy
that
carries
some
big
risks.
Even
as
ICANN
increases
its
global
footprint
with
new
gTLDs,
it
increases
its
exposure
to
external
threats.
ICANN
has
never
been
more
in
the
public
eye,
and
that
increased
scrutiny
means
increased
pressure
to
get
things
right.
ICANN's
growing
global
audience
now
expects
the
organization
to
meet
the
promises
made
for
its
ambitious
TLD
expansion
plan.
And
a
powerful
army
of
detractors
is
poised
to
pounce
on
the
slightest
slip
as
evidence
of
ICANN's
inadequacy.
Meanwhile,
governments
that
have
always
been
uneasy
about
ICANN's
bottom-up,
multi-stakeholder
model
are
anxious
about
fraud,
abuse,
and
challenges
to
law
enforcement
that
could
be
exacerbated
in
new
gTLDs.
Still,
many
of
the
issues
important
to
governments
remain
unresolved.
It's
against
that
backdrop
that
I've
been
thinking
about
the
U.S.
Commerce
Department's
declaration
that
ICANN
isn't
quite
ready
for
a
renewal
of
the
Internet
Assigned
Numbers
Authority
(IANA)
contract.
Maybe
Commerce
was
showing
its
"tough
love"
for
ICANN,
signaling
the
need
for
more
safeguards
against
controversial
new
TLDs
that
could
alienate
the
governments
now
defending
ICANN.
ICANN
can
either
heed
that
message,
or
else
start
assembling
that
army…
By
Steve
DelBianco,
Executive
Director
at
NetChoice.
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