A better way to govern the Internet

[Commentary] Our research shows that many organizations that have coordination and standard-setting functions similar to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) are governed by their direct users, who have a strong interest in the organization doing its job effectively.

In the case of ICANN, those direct users would be the Registry companies that coordinate the generic top level domains (gTLDs); the Registrar companies that assign and register the second-level domain names that companies and organizations use (such as aol.com); and the Regional Internet Registries that are responsible for distributing the specific Internet protocol (IP) addresses that are necessary for the Internet to function. Representatives from these three groups of firms should constitute ICANN's board of directors -- or at least a majority of the board. These groups have a strong incentive and the ability to focus ICANN on the technical tasks of keeping the Internet running smoothly and apolitically and of addressing potential problems that affect the Domain Name System (DNS), such as trademark issues. Their interests are also aligned with the business and individual users of the DNS.

[Lenard is president and senior fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. White is a professor of economics at New York University's Stern School of Business]