ICANN Public Meeting Details 

Meeting to be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Saturday, November 14, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Cambridge Marriott, Cambridge, MA 

Comments  •  Meeting Archive  •  Audio/Video Archive  •  Contact Information

The Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held its first public meeting on Saturday, November 14, at the Cambridge Marriott, Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm. The meeting is open to all interested parties. The board members will introduce themselves, and they hope to hear comments and concrete suggestions from the attendees on issues including:  

    Accountability and Representation—Possible Membership Structures 
    We have listened to comments and have decided to have members in order to foster accountability and representation—and better decisions! How should we do it? What are appropriate criteria for membership? Should there be different kinds—and if so, what kinds? How should members elect At-Large Board Members? How can we ensure broad geographical representation?  

    Technical Advice and Unbiased Expertise—Supporting Organization Structures 
    We need a structure to ensure that we get good technical advice and unbiased expertise. Our chosen approach, Supporting Organizations, needs clarification and definition. How can we design a structure so that SOs are broadly representative of their communities? How can we avoid conflicts of interest? What criteria should we use to approve SOs? What role should they play vis a vis the Board? How should SO Board members be selected and elected? What are the differences among the three SOs and how does that affect the appropriate structure for each?  

    Conflicts of Interest and How to Avoid Them—Transparency, Rules, and Other Mechanisms 
    We want this organization to be open, transparent, responsive, and free of hidden conflicts of interest. How can we ensure that? What kinds of rules and disclosure are necessary? How quickly can we realistically post minutes? We plan to hold open meetings along with most face-to-face board meetings, in all parts of the world. How often and how should we do that?  

    Time permitting, other issues may be discussed as well. 

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School will be facilitating and moderating this meeting, which will be one in a series of public meetings that the ICANN board will hold around the world during the course of the next year.  

Meeting participants are also invited to join ICANN board members at an informal reception (light refreshments and cash bar) at the Marriott, from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm, Friday, November 13. 



COMMENTS  

We are continuing to solicit comments for a week following the meeting, through Saturday, November 21 (midnight EST). All comments received will be posted for viewing on the BCIS site.

Use this comment form to submit comments.View received comments and registered attendees. 



CONTACT INFORMATION  

For additional information, please contact:  

ICANN 
Molly Shaffer Van Houweling 
Senior Assistant to the President, ICANN 
Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School 
The Berkman Center for Internet & Society 
Jonathan Zittrain 
Executive Director 
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School 
+1 (617) 495-4643 
ICANN Board: 
Esther Dyson 
Interim Chairman 
+1 (212) 924-8800 (but I'm not often there!) 


THANKS TO OUR CONRTRIBUTORS  
ICANN and the Berkman Center would like to thank everyone who contributed their expertise and services to this endeavor. While no such list can be complete, we recognize several of these contributors on the contributors page.