Why I was Talking ICANN With Nominet Members

Earlier this week I was invited to provide an update on ICANN and what the key topics are for Nominet and their members.

The update was done online as a webinar from the Nominet HQ outside Oxford.

Below you’ll find my slides from the webinar:

So why was I talking about ICANN to Nominet’s members?

ICANN and policy stuff can seem confusing and generally hard to relate to. For any company operating in the hosting and domain name space, however, it’s important that they have an ear to the ground and voice their opinions. If you don’t then the policies that have an impact on your business will get developed without your input. Do you really want that?

When I first got online over 20 years ago the Internet was a curiosity. It was a handy tool to read the newspaper or read film reviews. It wasn’t an integral part of my daily life nor that of my family and friends.
These days it’s hard to get most things done without interacting with the ‘net on a fairly regular basis and arguably those of us who leverage the latest technologies are able to be more efficient and productive than those who don’t.

And of course 20 odd years ago I would never have imagined for even an instant that I’d end up basing my professional career around a system of bits, bytes and tubes! 20 odd years ago I had many ideas for what I wanted to be, but running an internet business was most definitely not one of them.

Internet governance is like any kind of governance or politics. If you turn up and engage you can move the needle. Maybe not a huge amount at first, but being present and engaging will have a lot more impact than not turning up but simply complaining about the outcomes.

So how can you get involved with ICANN and “internet governance”? The answer will depend on who you are. If you’re an ICANN accredited registrar you can join the Registrar Stakeholder Group. If you’re not, but still want to get involved there are plenty of other avenues open to you such as the Internet Infrastructure Coalition (disclosure: I’m the incoming Chair), ECO or your local ISP association.

And of course you can simply start getting involved directly with ICANN.

How?

Just check the public comments section on the ICANN website. Every policy development (and change) will involve multiple public comment periods where literally anyone who wants to can share their opinion. If the topic is one that’s close to your heart then it’ll be easier to get engaged.

If you’re interested in finding out more feel free to email me or harass me on Twitter 🙂