ITIF's Castro Slams ICANN CEO Chehade's Comments Against IANA CWG
ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade’s dismissive rhetoric about the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority cross-community working group (CWG) points to the need for strong oversight of the transition by Congress, said Daniel Castro, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation vice president, in an…
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op-ed for The Hill Tuesday. "There is no one today in the CWG who even understands how the functions work," Chehade said last month at a Domain Name Association event. "I sent my CTO David Conrad to explain to [the CWG] how the system works,” and “no one there even knew that he was talking about." Castro called the comments “disappointing” and said they “show that unless the Internet community, including the U.S. government, demands strong accountability reforms, the ICANN CEO is likely to dismiss these efforts out of hand.” “The greatest concern is that a future CEO or board might take ICANN in an undesirable direction,” said Castro. “‘Trust me’ is not a model for good governance on the Internet or anywhere else.” The CWG met in Istanbul last week to discuss its delayed names proposal (see 1503300057 and 1503170058). The CWG scheduled a 30-day public comment period of its draft proposal, which was originally slated for early April, beginning April 20. ICANN didn’t comment.