A Premature Announcement
According to a current press report, ICANN's President and CEO has indicated that the corporation "would cut its ties" with the Department of Commerce (DOC) when the current Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) expires in 2006. The news story also stated that ICANN is determined "not be under the authority of any international organisation" such as the UN.

ICANN's intent to remain independent of the UN is praiseworthy. However, their apparent belief that the corporation will automatically become independent of the US government in 2006 is more than a bit premature. Although the Department has made clear in the most recent amendment to the DOC – ICANN MOU that they support "the policy of privatizing the technical management of the Internet and its underlying domain name system..." such privatization is not automatically conferred on ICANN in 2006.

As DOC explained in their statement accompanying the signing of the most recent amendment to the MOU, "as both the Department and ICANN recognize, much work remains for ICANN to evolve into an independent, stable, and sustainable DNS management organization." The ongoing need for ICANN reform is reiterated in the Department's FY ‘05 Annual Performance Plan which states that a "number of Internet related policy issues will require NTIA action, including ICANN reform..."

Although the DOC statement on the MOU extension explains that the MOU's three year time frame "should provide sufficient time for this work to be accomplished" there is no guarantee that such accomplishments will actually be achieved. In recognition of the "much work" that needs to be successfully accomplished before ICANN could become independent of the government, the MOU details specific milestones and a time line "intended to ensure ICANN is a sufficiently stable, transparent, representative, efficient, and sustainable management organization capable of handling the important DNS tasks well into the future." [emphasis added]

Thus, if ICANN is to become independent of DOC in 2006, the corporation will need to:

1. Successfully complete all of the requirements of the MOU; and



2. Openly and transparently document successful completion of the MOU tasks.