Editing ICANN (section)

==Structure==
From its founding to the present, ICANN has been formally organized as a nonprofit corporation "for charitable and public purposes" under the California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law. It is managed by a 16-member board of directors composed of eight members selected by a nominating committee on which all the constituencies of ICANN are represented; six representatives of its Supporting Organizations, sub-groups that deal with specific sections of the policies under ICANN's purview; an at-large seat filled by an at-large organization; and the president / CEO, appointed by the board.<ref>[https://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/bylaws#VI BYLAWS FOR INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS | A California Nonprofit Public-Benefit Corporation]. ICANN. Retrieved April 28, 2014.</ref>

There are currently three supporting organizations: the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) which deals with policy making on [[generic top-level domain]]s (gTLDs);<ref>{{Cite web |title=Generic Names Supporting Organization |url=https://icannwiki.org/Generic_Names_Supporting_Organization |publisher=ICANNWiki}}</ref> the [[Country Code Names Supporting Organization]] (ccNSO) deals with policy making on [[country-code top-level domain]]s (ccTLDs); the [[Address Supporting Organization]] (ASO) deals with policy making on IP addresses.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 25, 2012 |title=Bylaws For Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers |url=https://www.icann.org/resources |website=icann.org |location=Go to Governance, Bylaws, ARTICLE VIII-Article X}}</ref>

ICANN also relies on some advisory committees and other advisory mechanisms to receive advice on the interests and needs of stakeholders that do not directly participate in the Supporting Organizations.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 25, 2012 |title=Bylaws For Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers |url=https://www.icann.org/resources |website=icann.org |location=Go to Governance, Bylaws, ARTICLE XI and ARTICLE XI-A}}</ref> These include the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), which is composed of representatives of a large number of national governments from all over the world; the [[At-Large Advisory Committee]] (ALAC), which is composed of individual Internet users from around the world selected by each of the Regional At-Large Organizations (RALO)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Regional At-Large Organisations – ALAC – Confluence |url=https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/Regional+At-Large+Organisations |website=community.icann.org}}</ref> and Nominating Committee; the Root Server System Advisory Committee, which provides advice on the operation of the DNS root server system; the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC), which is composed of Internet experts who study security issues pertaining to ICANN's mandate; and the Technical Liaison Group (TLG), which is composed of representatives of other international technical organizations that focus, at least in part, on the Internet.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 25, 2012 |title=Bylaws For Internet Corporation For Assigned Names And Numbers |url=https://www.icann.org/resources |website=icann.org |location=Go to Governance, Bylaws, ARTICLE XI and ARTICLE XI-A, Section 2}}</ref>

===Governmental Advisory Committee===
[[File:ICANN Government Advisory Committee.png|upright=1.35|thumb|Governmental Advisory Committee representatives]]

====Representatives====
The Governmental Advisory Committee has representatives from 179 states and 38 Observer organizations, including the [[Holy See]], [[Cook Islands]], [[Niue]], [[Chinese Taipei|Taiwan]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Bermuda]], [[Montserrat]], the [[European Commission]] and the [[African Union Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=GAC Website (Main)|url=https://gac.icann.org/|website=gac.icann.org}}</ref>

====Observers====
In addition the following organizations are GAC Observers:<ref>{{Cite web |title=GAC Observers – GAC Website (Main) |url=https://gacweb.icann.org/display/gacweb/GAC+Observers |website=gacweb.icann.org |access-date=November 26, 2012 |archive-date=January 19, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119083947/https://gacweb.icann.org/display/gacweb/GAC+Observers |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[African Telecommunications Union]]
* [[Asia-Pacific Telecommunity]]
* Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)
* [[Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation]] (CTO)
* [[Council of Europe]]
* [[Economic Commission for Africa]] (ECA)
* [[European Broadcasting Union]]
* [[European Organization for Nuclear Research]] (CERN)
* [[European Space Agency]]
* [[International Labour Office]]
* [[International Telecommunication Union]] (ITU)
* [[International Criminal Police Organization]] (INTERPOL)
* [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement]]
* Latin American Association of Telecom Regulatory Agencies (REGULATEL)
* [[League of Arab States]]
* [[New Partnership for Africa's Development]] (NEPAD)
* [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]]
* [[Organization for Islamic Cooperation|The Organization for Islamic Cooperation]]
* [[Organization of American States]]
* [[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie]] (OIF)
* [[Pacific Islands Forum]]
* [[Secretariat of the Pacific Community]] (SPC)
* [[Inter-American Telecommunication Commission]] (CITEL)
* [[International Criminal Court]]
* [[United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization]] (UNESCO)
* [[Universal Postal Union]]
* [[World Bank]]
* [[World Health Organization]] (WHO)
* [[World Intellectual Property Organization]] (WIPO)
* [[World Meteorological Organization]]
* [[World Trade Organization]]
{{div col end}}

===Trusted Community Representatives===
As the operator of the [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority#Domain names|IANA domain name functions]], ICANN is responsible for the [[DNSSEC]] management of the root zone. While day-to-day operations are managed by ICANN and [[Verisign]], the trust is rooted in a group of Trusted Community Representatives. The members of this group must not be affiliated with ICANN, but are instead members of the broader DNS community, volunteering to become a Trusted Community Representative. The role of the representatives are primarily to take part in regular key ceremonies at a physical location, organized by ICANN, and to safeguard the key materials in between.<ref name="iana-tcr-criteria">{{Cite web |date=12 May 2017 |title=Criteria for Trusted Community Representatives |url=https://www.iana.org/help/tcr-criteria |access-date=17 July 2020 |publisher=IANA}}</ref>

===Democratic input===
In the [[memorandum of understanding]] that set up the relationship between ICANN and the U.S. government, ICANN was given a mandate requiring that it operate "in a bottom-up, consensus-driven, democratic manner." However, the attempts that ICANN has made to establish an [[organizational structure]] that would allow wide input from the global Internet community did not produce results amenable to the current Board. As a result, the At-Large constituency and direct election of board members by the global Internet community were soon abandoned.<ref name="participation" />

ICANN [[List of ICANN meetings|holds periodic public meetings]] rotated between continents for the purpose of encouraging global participation in its processes. Resolutions of the ICANN Board, preliminary reports, and minutes of the meetings are published on the ICANN website, sometimes in real-time. However, there are criticisms from ICANN constituencies including the Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Non-Commercial Users – Generic Names Supporting Organization |url=http://gnso.icann.org/about/stakeholders-constituencies/ncsg/ncuc |website=gnso.icann.org}}</ref> and the [[At-Large Advisory Committee]] (ALAC) that there is not enough [[Freedom of information legislation|public disclosure]] and that too many discussions and decisions take place out of sight of the public.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Public Participation in ICANN: A Preliminary Study |url=https://cyber.harvard.edu/icann/publicparticipation/ |access-date=2022-08-01 |website=cyber.harvard.edu}}</ref>

During the early 2000s, there had been speculation that the [[United Nations]] might assume control of ICANN,<ref name="U.N. Summit to Focus on Internet" /> followed by a negative reaction from the U.S. government<ref name="2005-07-us" /> and worries about a division of the Internet.<ref name="Power grab could split the net" /> At UN's [[World Summit on the Information Society]] in Tunisia in November 2005, the world's governments agreed not to get involved in the day-to-day and technical operations of ICANN. However they also agreed to establish an international [[Internet Governance Forum]], with a consultative role on the future governance of the Internet. ICANN's Government Advisory Committee is currently established to provide advice to ICANN regarding public policy issues and has participation by many of the world's governments.<ref name="icann_gac" />

Some have attempted to argue that ICANN was never given the authority to decide policy, e.g., choose new TLDs or exclude other interested parties who refuse to pay ICANN's US$185,000 fee but was to be a technical caretaker. Critics{{who|date=February 2011}} suggest that ICANN should not be allowed to impose business rules on market participants and that all TLDs should be added on a [[first-come, first-served]] basis and the market should be the arbiter of who succeeds and who does not.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weinberg |first=Jonathan |date=2000 |title=ICANN and the Problem of Legitimacy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1373114 |journal=Duke Law Journal |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=187–260 |doi=10.2307/1373114 |jstor=1373114 |hdl=10535/2623 |issn=0012-7086|hdl-access=free }}</ref>