ICANN Bylaws

The Bylaws for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names And Numbers is the foundational governance document for ICANN. The bylaws define the mission of ICANN, establish rules for the structure and operation of the SOs and ACs, and establish mechanisms for community engagement with the ICANN organization. The bylaws have undergone numerous revisions over the course of ICANN's history in response to reform efforts, policy development processes, and recommendations from organizational and specific reviews.

The current version of the ICANN Bylaws can be found here.

Evolution Over Time

Initially, ICANN's bylaws were similar to many young nonprofit organizations, with some specialized articles. Provisions that specified procedural and operational components of the organization, that might otherwise be defined by a statutory default, were included. The original bylaws anticipated the formation and operation of three supporting organizations: the Address Supporting Organization, the Domain Name Supporting Organization, and the Protocol Supporting Organization. In addition, the bylaws made it possible for the board to form and empower committees, and set the stage for three advisory committees to be formed: the Government Advisory Committee, the Root Server System Advisory Committee, and an advisory committee on membership, until such time as the question of At-large representation was answered satisfactorily.

Mission and Core Values

Prior to 2002, the bylaws did not contain any mention of the organization's mission, or its core values. During the 2002 Evolution and Reform Process, the Evolution and Reform Committee (ERC) recommended the inclusion of these sections to enshrine the guiding principles and goals of ICANN in its governance documents. At the time of the December 2002 omnibus amendments to the bylaws, the mission and core values sections were added as the new Article I. The organization's mission statement was defined within the narrow scope of coordination and protection of "Internet's unique identifier systems." The article specifies:

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.