Event Wrap: ICANN 50

Published on:Thursday,3 July 2014

ICANN's 50th meeting was held in London last week with a record 3,115 attendees.

ICANN meetings now attract a wide range of stakeholder groups to discuss Internet names and numbers, as well as broader technical, business, and governance issues.

There were several reasons for the increased interest in this ICANN meeting: the transition of IANA stewardship; a Commonwealth-sponsored DNS summit; a High-level Government Meeting; the second At-Large Summit (or ATLAS 2); and the location in a major city.

A significant speech was made during the Welcome Ceremony by China's newly-appointed Minister of Cyberspace Affairs, Lu Wei, who acknowledged the progress on Internet governance made at NetMundial.

APNIC's participation at ICANN 50 focused on four areas: regular meetings and discussions related to APNIC and RIR/NRO activities; the US governments transition of IANA stewardship, ICANN accountability, and the future of the 1net discussion platform.

APNIC activities at ICANN 50 included:

• Paul Wilson participated both as a panellist and a public contributor at the IANA stewardship discussion session. Both Paul and Maemura Akinori made public statements during the session: Paul noted the existing provisions in place between the RIRs, IANA, and ICANN with regard to accountability and oversight; Akinori provided an update on the progress of IANA-related discussions in Japan.
• APNIC staff and several EC Members attended the open High-Level Government Meeting (HLGM).  Paul also attended the HLGM lunch where he spoke with government Ministers and officials including NTIA Secretary, Larry Strickling, regarding the IANA stewardship transition.
• APNIC attended discussions with the /1net steering committee to discuss the future of the discussion list (760 members) as well as improving its administration and transparency.
• Paul was interviewed by journalists from The Economist, Wall Street Journal, IDG and The Guardian, discussing topics including IPv4 exhaustion and the move to IPv6, the IANA stewardship transition, and ICANN and RIR accountability. Initial coverage appeared across ten technology trade titles including CIO, Computerworld and Network World.
• Pablo Hinojosa was a panellist on an Internet Governance session alongside representatives from the technical community, academia, business and civil society.
• Gaurab Raj Upadhaya participated in the invitation-only Law Enforcement Workshop between Internet security specialists and the law enforcement community.
• APNIC staff attended the NRO/ASO meeting with the ICANN Board.  Paul provided an update to the Board on IPv4/IPv6 and RPKI adoption, as well as explaining the NRO position to the Board on the IANA stewardship transition. The ICANN Board thanked the NRO for its constructive input into the IANA process comment period.
• Paul and Akinori attended a meeting with leaders of technical community (I*) organizations to discuss issues related to the IANA stewardship transition, technical coordination, and the upcoming Internet Governance Forum meeting.
• APNIC staff participated in the ICANN Asia Pacific Update, providing information on the opportunities for Asia Pacific community involvement in the IANA Oversight Transition process. A separate meeting between APNIC and ICANN Asia Pacific staff was held to discuss preparations for APNIC 38 and the upcoming APrIGF meeting in India.
• Geoff Huston participated in the ICANN Tech Day and DNS sessions. He also presented to the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee on the progress of APNIC’s investigations of DNS behaviour relating to the issue of Name Collision.
• APNIC staff attended the Commonwealth Technology Office DNS Forum where there were presentations by senior Ministers from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• APNIC staff met with Members and government officials from the Asia Pacific attending ICANN 50, including representatives from Internet NZ, Beijing Internet Institute, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs & Communications, Australia’s Department of Communications, TWNIC, JPNIC, NIXI, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Information, and the New Zealand government to discuss topics including development activities, the IANA stewardship transition, and APNIC 38.
• APNIC staff also held meetings with relevant global organizations including technical groups, law enforcement agencies, civil society groups, industry consultants, and DNS industry participants.
• Tony Smith attended several NRO Communications Coordination Group meetings with RIR communications staff, and APNIC staff attended a coordination meeting between the RIRs and ICANN’s Global Stakeholder Engagement team to discuss future communications activities.
  

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