Thread: Will the Obama Government Allow ICANN to be Privatized?

According to the Australian IT news site, ICANN's Joint Project Agreement (JPA) with the US government is up for review in September 2009.

ICANN has indicated that its wants to be released from the US government's hold, and wishes to privatise the domain name business while retaining its supervisory role

I don't think that the US government will release ICANN from its hold. They have shown many times that they want to control the internet. For example, look what's happening with the Kentucky gambling domains which were recently seized by the government.

What do you think Obama will decide in 2009?

What I feel is that there will be of changes in most of the fields. Obama is the person who is not here to compromise, he is expected to change the whole political scenario.

Originally Posted by sanju123

What I feel is that there will be of changes in most of the fields. Obama is the person who is not here to compromise, he is expected to change the whole political scenario.

I hope Obama will really make some drastic changes. But time will tell...

Yeah we can just hope for the best outcome. People have shown lot of faith n him and he has to liveup to that. He seems to be dedicated person and we all wish him good luck.

Domain Name Wire provides good coverage of congressional hearings concerning the governance of ICANN:

Congress Beats Up ICANN (Part 1)

Congress Beats Up ICANN (Part 2)

Congress Beats Up ICANN (Part 3)

They should simply split the root. ICANN is only in control because they control the root. Have alternative roots, and then ICANN can be bypassed. If ICANN can be bypassed, then no one will pay attention to them.

Well it looks my prediction was wrong! I just came across this article:

Economist: ICANN Will Be Set Free This Month