The group that oversees the Internet's traffic system moved closer to a complete overhaul over the weekend when a committee recommended changes aimed at making the controversial body function more smoothly.
In a report released late Friday night, a committee set up by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers recommended that the group retool its internal structure and change how corporate directors are chosen, but rejected a proposal to bring governments on board.
The committee, which consists of four of ICANN's 19 directors, emphasized that its report did not represent the official views of the entire ICANN board. But the report came out five days after the committee met privately with the other directors to come up with a rough consensus over how the global body should operate in the future.
"For ICANN to be successful in the future, when it will face even more difficult challenges, it must evolve into a more effective entity," the report said.
The committee asked for public feedback and said it hoped to approve a reform plan when ICANN next meets in Romania at the end of June.
Created to control the domain-name system that enables Internet users to find Web pages by typing in names like "www.example.com," ICANN has been plagued since its inception with questions about how it should function and who should participate.
In February ICANN's president, M. Stuart Lynn, recommended that the group abandon online elections and instead rely on a "nominating committee" to pick the board members who were not chosen by technical and business groups. Lynn's plan drew widespread opposition from critics who said it would reduce accountability as the planet's 500 million users would no longer have a direct voice. At a meeting in March, ICANN ruled out future elections and set up the committee to fine-tune Lynn's plan.
The restructuring committee, which is made up of four of ICANN's 19 directors, rejected Lynn's proposal to give national governments control of one-third of the board.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS