ICANN 01

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ICANNLogo.png
Dates: 2-4 March, 1999
Location: Singapore
Venue: Singapore International Convention Centre
Pan Pacific Hotel
Website: ICANN 1 site
Historical Significance
First ICANN Meeting
Supporting Organizations established

ICANN 1 was held in Singapore, between March 2nd and 4th, 1999. Individual meetings were held in several venues around the city, including the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre and the Pan Pacific Hotel.[1] The second ICANN conference to be held in Singapore was ICANN 41, held between the 19th and 24th of June 2011.[2] During the opening ceremony of ICANN 41, Peter Dengate Thrush, then Chairman of the Board, reminded the audience of how much the Internet community and ICANN have come since ICANN's "humble beginnings as a largely American cultural phenomenon originally overseen by the United States Federal Government."[3]

Key developments

As ICANN's debut public meeting, held just 5 months after the formation of the non-profit, ICANN 1 established the groundwork for the structure of future ICANN Meetings. At the time of the first ICANN meeting, the DNS had a completely different makeup, as there were 171 million total Internet users, compared to 2 billion in 2011. Also, 56% of those Internet users were from the United States or Canada, and 15% from the Asia Pacific Region. Today, fewer than 14% of Internet users come from North America, and 44% are from Asia.

ICANN held two days of public forums followed by a day of closed door discussion on a proposal regarding the formation of Supporting Organizations within ICANN. The use of closed door meetings by the new organization drew extremely sharp criticism from some participants. Ellen Rony started a campaign using gray ribbon images on websites opposing ICANN's closed door tactics, and Network Solutions also issued a statement condemning the move.[4]

Outcomes

  • The structure and duties of the DNSO were determined, designating it as an advisory group within ICANN, responsible for policies concerning the DNS, as well as for selecting three of ICANN's 19 directors.[5]
  • It had previously been decided that supporting organizations with expertise in domain names would be needed, and that ICANN should create an internal group rather than rely on existing technical and professional organizations to report to its board. Thus, seven constituencies of Internet stakeholders were self-organized through the adoption of the Statement of Domain Name Supporting Organization Formation Concepts resolution. Later that year, the DNSO would be officially recognized as the larger umbrella group for these Supporting Organizations.[6]
  • The Board adopted a policy for the accreditation of competing registrars for the .com, .org, and .net TLDs.
  • The Board adopted a conflict of interest policy and a reconsideration policy, as required by the ICANN bylaws.[5]

Key sessions

Select topics discussed include:

  • Accreditation requirements for domain name registrars[8]
  • DNSO proposals
  • Shared Registry System testbed and guidelines
  • Discussion of ICANN policies and procedures
  • Consideration of reports from Advisory Committees[9]
  • Finances, staffing, and logistics

A complete agenda can be seen here.

ICANN Board

The Board of Directors at the time were

References

External Links