[Party2] Purpose of ICANN and its mission

[Bruce Tonkin]

Just following up from the call today, ICANN has its purpose as defined in its Articles of Incorporation, and a simplified Mission defined in its bylaws.

My comment was that if the scope of the purpose/mission is to be clarified, and if the intent is to lock it in so it can't be changed by the Board without community approval of some form,  it is worth looking at the two sets of language.   

>From the Articles of Incorporation:  https://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/articles

"This Corporation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the private gain of any person.   It is organized under the California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law for charitable and public purposes.     The Corporation is organized, and will be operated, exclusively for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes within the meaning of § 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), or the corresponding provision of any future United States tax code. Any reference in these Articles to the Code shall include the corresponding provisions of any further United States tax code.

 In furtherance of the foregoing purposes, and in recognition of the fact that the Internet is an international network of networks, owned by no single nation, individual or organization, the Corporation shall, except as limited by Article 5 hereof, pursue the charitable and public purposes of lessening the burdens of government and promoting the global public interest in the operational stability of the Internet by 

(i) coordinating the assignment of Internet technical parameters as needed to maintain universal connectivity on the Internet;

 (ii) performing and overseeing functions related to the coordination of the Internet Protocol ("IP") address space; 

(iii) performing and overseeing functions related to the coordination of the Internet domain name system ("DNS"), including the development of policies for determining the circumstances under which new top-level domains are added to the DNS root system;

 (iv) overseeing operation of the authoritative Internet DNS root server system; 

and (v) engaging in any other related lawful activity in furtherance of items (i) through (iv).

The Corporation shall operate for the benefit of the Internet community as a whole, carrying out its activities in conformity with relevant principles of international law and applicable international conventions and local law and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with these Articles and its Bylaws, through open and transparent processes that enable competition and open entry in Internet-related markets. 

To this effect, the Corporation shall cooperate as appropriate with relevant international organizations."


The mission in the bylaws is much more stripped down and doesn't mention promoting the global public interest: 

 https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/bylaws-en#I


Instead it states:

"The mission of The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") is to coordinate, at the overall level, the global Internet's systems of unique identifiers, and in particular to ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet's unique identifier systems. In particular, ICANN:

1.  Coordinates the allocation and assignment of the three sets of unique identifiers for the Internet, which are

	a. Domain names (forming a system referred to as "DNS");

	b. Internet protocol ("IP") addresses and autonomous system ("AS") numbers; and

	c. Protocol port and parameter numbers.

2.   Coordinates the operation and evolution of the DNS root name server system.

3.   Coordinates policy development reasonably and appropriately related to these technical functions."



The ICANN community rarely references the Articles of Incorporation, but I think the purpose defined in those Articles is important.      

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin