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ICANN and the Role of ISPs in the Internet Ecosystem: An Interview with Anthony Harris*

15 December 2014
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The event took place on November 25th in the Dominican Republic and was organized thanks to the support of INDOTEL, the regulatory agency of that country. More than 40 people participated in the event, whose purpose was to promote the incorporation and participation of Dominican Internet Service Providers in ICANN's ISPCP (a group of Internet service providers and connectivity providers). Anthony Harris*, a member of the ISPCP Group's Executive Committee, participated in this important initiative.

We want to thank Wanda Pérez (ICT consultant, Dominican Republic) for all her work, which made this a successful event. Attendance was excellent, and participants showed great interest in ICANN's activities.

The following is an interview with Anthony Harris*, in which he shared with us his thoughts about the importance of participating in ICANN's ISPCP Group and the possibility of replicating this experience in other countries.

AD: What is the ISPCP and what does it do?

AH: Within ICANN structure, the focus council that develops policy on Internet domain names is the Generic Names Supporting Organization or GNSO . This council is made up of several sectoral stakeholder groups called constituencies. The industry of Internet connectivity service providers participates in the GNSO through its own constituency: the ISPCP.

The ISPCP, as representative of the Internet connectivity sector, participates in ICANN bringing forward that sector's position to the policy development processes undertaken by the GNSO, and also contributing to various technical and macro-political discussions that take place within ICANN, for instance:

  • The launching of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and their impact on everyday ISP operations all over the world.

  • The issue of IPv4 addresses exhaustion and the need to promote the urgent implementation of IPv6 globally.

  • The issue of Internet governance, now focused on the process known as the IANA Functions Stewardship Transition, called for by the US government.

The ISPCP is a critical sector within ICANN, since connectivity services are essential for Internet operation around the world.

AD: Which topics were covered during this event?

AH: What the ISPCP is and what it does was the introduction. Then, we covered the following topics:

  • History of the constituency's milestones in ICANN

  • Overview of the LAC region evolution in ICANN

  • LACNIC's creation and achievements

  • Overview of ISPCP's members

  • Detailed picture of new gTLDs

  • Business opportunities offered by new gTLDs

  • Technical problems arising out of new gTLDs

  • What registries and registrars are and what they do

  • What needs to be done with IPv6

  • Internet exchange points and their strategic importance

AD: Why should Dominican ISPs engage in ICANN?

AH: Although they provide a local service in their territory, the Internet is a global network, and any change related to its critical resources —domain names, IP addresses and network protocols— will inevitably have an impact on ISPs' local operations. Whatever the size of the ISP, engaging in ICANN's ISPCP constituency, free of charge, will allow them to be informed and up to date regarding any news about these critical resources, and also to participate telephonically, in person if there is an event, or simply through a mailing list in all the activities organized by the ISPCP on behalf of the sector.

AD: What are the benefits of replicating this experience in other countries of the region?

AH: Based on the good reception we had in Santo Domingo, I understand this can be replicated in other countries of the region so that the ISP sector in each country can understand the importance of participating in ICANN's multi-stakeholder processes that are specifically related to the ISP business. Otherwise, they only participate in LACNIC meetings and fora that specifically and technically discuss the issue of IP addresses. Furthermore, engaging in the ISPCP alerts ISPs of business opportunities related to domain names, registrar or reseller activities, etc. The participation of the regulatory agency in an event like this is positive and also helps it understand more clearly ICANN's role and its activities.


* Anthony Harris has been involved in ICANN since its creation in 1999. He is the Executive Director of the Argentina Internet Association (CABASE), the Executive Director of the Latin America and Caribbean Federation for Internet and Electronic Commerce (eCOM-LAC), and member of the GKP Stichting Council (The Hague). Anthony is project manager for eCOM-LAC for the application of the new gTLD '.lat'.

At ICANN, Anthony is a member of the ISPCP Group's Executive Committee, a member of the Commercial Stakeholders Group's Executive Committee, and is also involved in the implementation of the Regional Strategic Plan [PDF, 1.62 MB]. He was a member of the GNSO Council for some years, co-chair of the first WHOIS working group launched in 2001, and he now participates actively in various ICANN outreach initiatives. In 2005, he organized the ICANN meeting in Mar del Plata (Argentina).

Authors

Alex Dans

Alex Dans

Communications Director, the Americas