ICANN Budget Questioned

Thing I am writes "The proposed 2004-5 budget for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has hit a snag - the rest of the world is refusing to pay its share of the bill. ICANN last week proposed a budget of $15.8m for next year, nearly twice as much as its current annual expenditure."

Comments

ICANN doesn't run DNS servers

[0x0d0a]

ICANN doesn't run the DNS servers -- it's just reponsible for policy, assigning numbers and address ranges to avoid conflict, etc.

I would guess that the costs go to pay for engineers who know what they're talking about.

Of course, the ICANN meeting locations look like the typical VP-wants-to-tour-the-world-on-the-company-dollar deal.

However, in general, while ICANN isn't perfect, I'd have to say that they're a lot more The Good Guys than, say, certain other folks...and their entire yearly budget is probably less than what certain other folks (*cough* Verisign) pick up through misleading or netabuse-encouraging sales in a week.

ICANN Budget

[dncsky1530]

ICANN 2004 Budget
Main Points:

• "Four years ago as part of the approval of the 1999-2000 budget, the Board stated: "It is the intention of the ICANN Board to create a reserve account of at least one year's operating expenditures, to be funded over several fiscal years." Approval by the Board of the 1999-2000 budget implied that the Board accepted this statement about the appropriate level of reserves."
• 2002 .com domains: 33,333,000, 2003 .com domains: 31,819,000
• An increase in both staffing and expenditures to accommodate the additional programmatic requirements imposed by the new reforms and the new bylaws, that is, the transition from ICANN 1.0 to ICANN 2.0. This would require up to an additional 10 FTE (see below).

Re:Question about ICANN's place in the world

[RAMMS EIN]

``If you don't like what the corporation is doing, you can stop paying.''

And then you also lose the service.

ICANN is not quite in the same league as, say, newspapers. They provide services that cannot really be provided by more than one organization. You can't just switch. Therefore, competition won't work. I would say that government regulation is better than no control.

ICANN, the destination resort

[Animats]

ICANN holds meetings as if it were some big-time international organization. It's Esther Dyson's "queen of the Internet" arrogance. They need to downgrade a bit. Here's their July meeting announcement:

• You'll be guaranteed a tan this summer if you come to ICANN Kuala Lumpur which takes place from 19-23 July.

  Be a part of the meeting and enjoy the beauty and hospitality of Kuala Lumpur where the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), will be your host. The meeting will take place in the award winning Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. Centrally located in KL's Golden Triangle the meeting venue is centrally located to allow guests easy access to the best of Kuala Lumpur's sights and sounds.

  Set against the vibrant backdrop of KL, ICANN Kuala Lumpur will also be an opportunity for you to meet, network and interact with the Malaysian communications and multimedia community and industry.

  So book your berth to ICANN Kuala Lumpur by registering early. ...

  There's always lots to see and do in Kuala Lumpur. KL really is the city that never sleeps. From late night latte to night clubs, from some of the world's best scuba diving spots to tropical jungle getaways and some of Asia's best golf courses, you'll find yourself spoilt for choice.

They're all like that. The last four were in Rio, Montreal, Carthage, and Rome.