No organization with ICANN’s level of responsibility operates with the independence that ICANN enjoys, even under the current nominal oversight of the Department of Commerce. ICANN should be governed by its direct users-the registries and registrars-in order to build accountability into its structure. ICANN should hew closely to the technical functions involved in administering the Domain Name System. ICANN should have a clear mission of encouraging competition, which means allowing relatively free entry into the market for generic top-level domains and a minimal role as a regulator. For freer entry to work well, protections for incumbent domain name holders must be strengthened, so they are not subject to “nuisance” or “ransom” demands from new registries.
