I-Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation, based in the United States (California). It ensures the organization of the internet domains. The organization gives addresses and names on the Internet, both for the names associated with the network (,. net .... .com…) or for states (ma, fr, es ... ..). The organization also manages root servers through the management Domaine Name Systems DNS on the internet.
 
In addition, ICANN corporation maintains security, stability and interaction on the internet taking into account the competitiveness and representation of internet international communities, respecting the spirit of compromise for the benefit of all. ICANN’s slogan is: We believe in consensus and practical laws.

ICANN is composed of multiple working groups bringing together professionals, users civil society, inter-governmental groups and international observers. These groups serve as propositional force to ICANN. At the end of every meeting like New Delhi meeting, the working groups are chosen by the managing members of the Corporation.  

II- ICANN Challenges

ICANN’s challenges are so important in view with their influence in the short and medium term on the socio economic development of the Internet global societies. These challenges are summarized as follows:

1 - Joint Project Agreement, ie partnership between the American government and ICANN in order to ensure a transparent transition of the management of domain and assigned names. The Corporation depends somewhat on U.S. Department of Commerce at a time when the global community is calling to cancel this relationship and establish a special and independent structure.

This project is at the stage of receipt of comments collected by the U.S. administration in charge of the IT sector. The Corporation works on the basis the principles of this partnership.

2 - Internationalized Domain Names-IDNs) ie the inclusion of the other Internet domain names that differ from those normally used, such as corcas.com. Each country defends its national and official languages before the Corporation. Arabic is the language one major example posing fewer problems.

Accordingly, corcas.com domain may turn in Arabic to كوركاس. com, there are a number of proposals under study for the introduction of languages; eg maroc.ma to المغرب. ma

 
Challenges are of socio-cultural nature, but also financial, there are new domain names for sale and can generate significant returns for the companies and associations registering domain names.

3 - Launch of top-level domain names such as names of cities and regions; it concerns demands of the internet communities in many cities such as Paris, Berlin and New York ... and regions such as Quebec and the region of Catalonia and a number of other regions.

4 - The transition from the IP current version to IPv6 in order to anticipate problems relating to assigning address spaces on the Internet in some regions of the world. 

III Participation of the Royal Advisory Council for Saharan Affairs in  ICANN thirty one meeting in New Delhi February  10 to 15, 2008

The Council participated in this meeting, accompanied by a representation from Morocco's National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) and the Moroccan Association for the Internet MISOC

The Council represented by Vice-President, Mr. Khaddad Moussaoui met with a number of ICANN managing members to review the various achievements in the Internet in the Sahara region. During these interviews, Mr. Khadad made clarifications on the latest developments in the Sahara issue. He explained to his interlocutors the geography of the region and the aspirations of the Saharan Internet community to have the domain name. eh

The vice president also delivered a speech to the participants in the Public Forum showing unconditional support provided by the Council to the request by ANRT to have .eh domain name. 

Speech by Mr. Khaddad El Moussaoui :

‘Mr. President of ICANN, members of the board of ICANN, ladies and gentlemen that represent different organizations of ICANN, ladies and gentlemen, participants of this event in this wonderful and hospitable country, which is India, please allows me to introduce myself.  My name is Khaddad El Moussaoui.  I am Saharawi, from the south of the Kingdom of Morocco.  I was born in Aaiun. 

I'm here in my capacity as vice president of CORCAS (Royal Advisory Council for Sarahan Affairs), the entity that represents all the tribal components and the different political, socioeconomic, and cultural sensibilities of the population of the Sahara.  In fact, I represent the majority of the Saharawi community. Today, I am here to get your total and unconditional support for CORCAS in its request from the ANRT for managing the domain EH, because this is the entity that has experience in this matter.

This is why I invite you to open the corresponding ticket for the domain EH that will be managed by ANRT for the Saharawi community that lives in the real cities of Esapuia el Hamra, from where EH and the gold river comes. I would like to invite you to visit the most important cities of the Sahara, even if it is virtually, through the Internet, through our Web site sahara-online.net, that is available in eight languages.  Our region is prosperous and the Internet is in full development, where the investment opportunities are high and very promising. 

Before I finish my intervention, I would like to suggest that you read the prospectus that we have provided during these days, where the history of the conflict in Western Sahara is presented.  Therefore, I beg you -- and forgive my insistence -- to take into consideration the legitimacy of the request made by ANRT to manage the domain name EH to reinforce Internet access in the Saharan region.

Let me congratulate you for the extraordinary organization of this event and the wonderful democratic environment in which all debates have been developed.  Thank you very much for the attention given to my presentation, and I am always at your disposal for any information which you may need from me.

Thank you’.

VI Corcas participation in ICANN's thirty-second meeting in Paris,  June 22 to 26, 2008

This meeting highlited the record number of participants from all over the world. Follows the speech by Mr. Eric Besson, French Minister of Digital Economic Development, summarizing  the challenges of ICANN meeting:

‘Thank you for the opportunity not to speak in English.  Can you all hear me?  I can see that there are people who have been beckoning to me.  Can you hear me?  Very well.

 Let me welcome you all, and a special word of welcome goes out to the two young ladies who are in the front row and who are going to be translating the future of Internet.  I have an 11-year-old daughter, and I can fully gauge what a chore this is.  One of them represents the old economy.  She's using pen and paper.  And the other one is using modern technology. 

So, anyway, it's a great pleasure for me to welcome you for the first time in France to Paris for this 32nd public meeting of ICANN.

My words of welcome go out to the members of the board of directors and, in particular, to its president, Peter Dengate Thrush, to the whole ICANN team, and, in particular, its CEO, Paul Twomey, as well as the people in charge of the different committees that make up this original organization. 

I'd like to welcome the president of the GAC, Janis Karklins, who we have the pleasure of having as ambassador of Latvia to Paris.  I'd also like to warmly welcome the sponsors who have made it possible for this event to take place in the best possible conditions.  Finally, I'd like to welcome all of you who have come from the four corners of the earth and who belong to an extreme diversity of organizations, of entities, of public commercial organizations, from the technical sector, and civil society.  You are ICANN.
 
I hope that this busy week will make it possible for to you make progress on the different subjects on your agenda.  I'd like to thank all of those who have contributed through the Agifem, an association that brings together major French stakeholders in technology information, such as the AFNIC, the Internet Society France, and the W3C.  This is the first time that ICANN has been held in Paris.  And that spurred the organization of several other meetings on different subjects and will contribute to the digital economy convention, a process launched by the prime minister on May 29th in which I am in charge of.  That broad consultation will, at the end of July, lead to an ambitious development plan for the digital economy in France.
 
I am delighted that this meeting is being held on the EVE of the French presidency of the European Union.  This meeting will give an opportunity for France to express its commitment, as well as Europe's commitment, to crucial subjects for the future of Internet, which, for France, is one of its priorities.

 During the French presidency, the European ministers in charge of the information society will be asked to take part in a conference on the 6th and 7th of October, 2008, in Nice on the Internet of the future.  That ministerial conference will make it possible for us to come up with common ideas which will take the form of draft conclusions that the French presidency will submit to the European Union council on November 27th, 2008.  The subjects that you will discuss might seem to be technical.  Nonetheless, they have a direct impact on the daily life of an increasing number of inhabitants of our planet.

 The functioning of the Internet as we know it would be impossible without the current domain name system.  The exceptional social and economic value of the Web is essentially due to the universal nature of this naming and addressing system.  That bespeaks the importance of international coordination for the management of these common resources, and, therefore, the considerable responsibility that rests with ICANN as the agency in charge of managing this mission of the public global interest.

 ICANN has been around for around ten years, and in that time, the Internet has undergone a major qualitative change.  It is now a vital infrastructure for the entire planet, and, therefore, the issues have developed accordingly.

 Today, Internet is at a turning point in its history.  More than a billion people are connected, and that number will double within the next five years.  That growth will only be possible and will only be beneficial to all if the number of available addresses is increased substantially and if other languages are recognized on the Web.

 This ICANN meeting has many subjects on its agenda, but I can see four main ones.  In each case, the question is how to adapt the technical and institutional means to the stunning development of Internet and to prepare for its universalization for the coming decade.  Now, those four subjects are:

 One, the migration from IPv4 to IPv6.
 Secondly, the diversification of generic domain names, gTLDs.
 Thirdly, the evolution toward domain names in non-Latin characters.
 And, finally, the institutional transition which should take place at the end of 2009 under the present Joint Project Agreement.

 On each of these subjects, I will emphasize less the technical aspects than the political issues and those of general issue.  Indeed, the replies brought to these four questions will structure the future of ICANN for a long time to come, as well as the naming system as a whole.
 
One, the migration between IPv4 and IPv6.  Let me begin by which might seem to be the most technical subject.

 I.P. addresses are a common global resource which might have at first seemed to be virtually unlimited.  But, in fact, became a victim of its own success, and now the Internet is facing a potential scarcity in IPv4 addresses.  The technical solution is the rampup of IPv6.  IPv6 will promote the appearance of innovative Internet applications, those that require networking of a great number of simple devices.  To give you an example, the management of street lighting or intelligent buildings, smart buildings might be improved.  And Internet can serve to connect at a low cost and reliably wireless sensors that will be integrated to domestic devices.

 For many reasons, the adoption is slower than possible, and, therefore, the two protocols will coexist for a long time to come.  Above and beyond the technical aspects, this is a political issue for all of us:  In the short term, the companies and public administrations might be tempted to stay with the old system and just limit their needs.  But then we would not be in a good position to take advantage of the new Internet technologies, and we might end up facing a major crisis once the IPv4 addresses are exhausted.
 
So, therefore, we have to optimize the collective management of a common resource which has become scarce, and, on the other hand, we must introduce cooperative mechanisms to encourage stakeholders to act in a way that's beneficial to the entire community, even if they don't derive an immediate direct benefit from it.

 A coordinated, just, and fair allotment of the remaining pool of IPv4 addresses throughout the world is indispensable.

 Using a secondary market mechanism would penalize the developing countries and might give undue income to the initial proprietors.  Moreover, closer cooperation between all the stakeholders is indispensable to ensure a gradual rampup of IPv6, taking account of the fact that the two systems will coexist for several years to come.

 Therefore, I call upon concerted action so that all the stakeholders will be ready for the transition and all the Internauts may use the latest innovations Internet has to offer.
 France's objective is that in 2010, 25% of the public administration of the companies and of the individuals should use IPv6.  I'm delighted that the transition to IPv6, therefore, is going to be taken up this week in several workshops.

 The second major issue is the transition toward a more diversified naming system and introduction of new gTLDs.

 The number of gTLDs was at first limited, as we all know.
 Since the year 2000, ICANN has carried out several experiments in order to introduce new gTLDs.  However, the general policy to introduce new gTLDs has lagged behind because of the complexity of the problem.  It is very difficult to draft new rules applicable -- new single rules applicable to such diversified situations.  So, therefore, different modalities for the purely commercial value of these and others that are more for community are of general interest and should therefore be considered.

 The main message is the following:  The development of domain names must optimize the creation of economic value, but also social value for the entire community, and especially for the end users.
 The introduction of new gTLDs should also be implemented gradually, in a clear and differentiated way, and in the interest of all.  The process is under way, and I hope that progress will be made this week in Paris.
 
The third issue is the transition toward domain names with non-Latin characters.  That's the third transition, and perhaps one of the most important.

 The internationalization of Internet is accelerating.  And the existence of multilingual domain names is essential in order to allow everyone to access Internet in his or her own language.  Moreover, the access to the network is a useful tool for development in the poorest parts of our planet.  In that context, the rapid introduction of domain names in non-Latin characters is becoming a moral imperative as well as a political necessity, and an issue of practical use for its users.  This is crucial in order to preserve the integrity of the essential functions of the Internet while allowing for linguistic diversification that its users are asking for.

 Above and beyond the technical challenge, it is a major symbolic issue.  This is bound up with the very credibility of ICANN as a really global agency.  The world community is expecting a lot of this process and is observing ICANN.  I will hardly surprise you when I say that France is particularly attached to the promotion of cultural diversity and therefore gives utmost importance to this issue.

 The Paris meeting gives us an opportunity to reaffirm our objective of internationalization.
 Mr. President, I see that you have neglected the glass of water, so allow me to use it.
 Anyway, an agreement this week on a simplified procedure for the introduction of ccTLDs will be a significant step forward in that direction.  It will enable the stakeholders to announce their intention to introduce ccTLDs and to take advantage of the considerable work already accomplished.

 I also note with interest that different meetings have been set up, informal meetings between the different territories that share the same script.  This is a prelude to the creation of script communities, which will make it possible for the domain name system to be managed on a distributed basis and according to a principle of subsidiarity closer to the communities concerned.  This is a subject in which reinforced cooperation should come to the fore, especially with the OECD, UNESCO, and ITU, the meeting with the IGF in Hyderabad at the end of the year will devote one of its sections to the question of multilingualism.  And I hope that progress in ICANN will make it possible to report significant developments.

 Finally, the institutional transition.  You know that on 30th September 2009, that is the deadline for the JPA between ICANN and the American department of trade.

 It is, therefore, a temporal timeline to achieve what's been called the transition of ICANN ever since the 1998 white paper.  But a transition is not an end point.  The transition of ICANN, therefore, is not simply a matter of implementing the JPA.  There must be a new institutional phase for this pioneer in Internet governance.
 A transition toward what?

 In my opinion, ICANN should be made viable in the long term.  It should adapt to an environment which is considerably changed since its founding.  It should be capable of treating new problems linked to the rapid development of Internet and to the different transitions that I have sketched out.
 This requires substantial change, and it can't simply amount to accomplishing the agreement underway.

 And all of this should be placed in a broader perspective.  ICANN is an original experience.  It's a pioneer.  It's one of the very first laboratories for this governance known as multistakeholder which was mentioned, for example, in the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005.

 In the course of its first ten years, ICANN has gradually set up several structures which organize the participation of various categories of stakeholders.  It has created and developed its own processes for consultation and for policy-making.

 The transition by the end of 2009 will give it an opportunity to turn a new page, to draw conclusions from the first ten years, and to make ICANN an even more accomplished organization of multistakeholders, bringing together the technical community, the users, the private sector, but also governments, to discuss matters of general interest and of public policy.

 Changes in internal functioning should, in my opinion, play a greater role in our reflection over the transition.  But this new step, which a member of the board of directors called a constitutional moment for the organization, cannot be successful unless the post JPA architecture is considered to be a progress over the current framework, and not considered the victory of one community over another.
 That will be our shared responsibility in the consultations to be held over the next months.

 One final point on this road map.  I am delighted that the consultation process launched in Paris this week is open-ended and very inclusive, as we wished for.  It is utmost importance that beyond the ICANN community, it should reach out to the other stakeholders that aren't part of our community yet.  The participants should be kept regularly informed of the progress made on the reflection and on the action taken on their comments.

 The organization of multistakeholder regional consultations and cooperation with other organizations will contribute to a great extent to achieving these objectives.

 The expert group to be set up can also facilitate the organization of these meetings.  In that context, France, which, as you know, will take up the presidency of the European Union as of July 1st, and which has many international organizations and structures, is willing to facilitate the organization of such a meeting for the European stakeholders, in cooperation with its partners.

 France, finally, would like to take advantage of its presidency of the European Union to language a European-wide reflection on the evolution of Internet, and, in particular, on its governance.  It's in this perspective that the European ministers in charge of the information society and electronic communication will be invited to take part in a conference in Nice on October 6th and 7th, devoted to the political and technological issues of the Internet of the future.  That ministerial conference will make it possible for us to think these issues over together and to draft conclusions that the French presidency will submit to the council of the European Union on December -- sorry, on November 27th, 2008.

 Ladies and gentlemen, the issues of Internet governance followed on the mandate that the president of the republic and the prime minister gave me, so, therefore, I will be very attentive to your proceedings, particularly via the representative of the French government and the representative of the GAC, our special delegate for the French society, Bertrand De La Chapelle.  This is an opportunity for me to show the importance that we give these issues and take a constructive part in future debates.

 I congratulate all the French holders -- AFNIC, the operators, the registrars, and different associations -- that have taken part for several years in these international processes.  And I'd like to encourage them actively to contribute to these discussions, as well as to the reflection undertaken in France.
 The coming months will be important for ICANN, and I hope that the Paris meeting will give the necessary impetus to go through the different important stages in treating the four major subjects that I sketched out.  So I wish you an excellent week in France, and a very pleasant stay in Paris.

 France was eliminated from the Euro football match, so there are no longer any good matches to watch on television.  Therefore, all your evenings will be free.  I would like to apologize to the two young ladies who I mentioned in my introductory remarks.  I know that I have been very long.  Thank you all for your kind attention.’