<blockquote>In the end, ICANN displays features characteristic of a hybrid public-private regulator. Authority is formally delegated by the US, but importance is placed on the acceptance of ICANN as legitimate by the wider community (including technical experts). It is formed as a corporation, and regulates on a contractual basis. However, it is charged (legally) with pursuing the global public interest due to the way in which it was set up as a non-profit organization, and is essentially a monopoly. Institutional design has been approached from the start, and through successive reforms, with democratic norms in mind.<ref name="regroot">[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1632885 SSRN.com] - Regulating the Root: The Role of ICANN as Regulator, and Accountability; 2010</ref></blockquote> | <blockquote>In the end, ICANN displays features characteristic of a hybrid public-private regulator. Authority is formally delegated by the US, but importance is placed on the acceptance of ICANN as legitimate by the wider community (including technical experts). It is formed as a corporation, and regulates on a contractual basis. However, it is charged (legally) with pursuing the global public interest due to the way in which it was set up as a non-profit organization, and is essentially a monopoly. Institutional design has been approached from the start, and through successive reforms, with democratic norms in mind.<ref name="regroot">[https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1632885 SSRN.com] - Regulating the Root: The Role of ICANN as Regulator, and Accountability; 2010</ref></blockquote> |