Caught on camera: ICANN CEO slams the internet's kingmakers

Video footage has surfaced of ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade slagging off an independent team investigating how the internet's crucial IANA body will be governed in future. Chehade said during breakfast with domain-name industry types: "There is no one today in the CWG [Community Working Group] who even understands how the functions …

[I ain't Spartacus]

I suspect the best bet is going to be the US keeping control of the IANA contract, and running things as a relatively benign dictatorship. While promising to relinquish it as soon as everyone else can agree on a sane way to do so.

There's an agreement to be had, but I wonder if anything's possible with the current leadership at ICANN? They seem too intent on gorging on the power and lovely gTLD money to do anything reasonable to sort out their governance.

It might put the cat amongst the pigeons if a bunch of the obviously now pissed off with ICANN senior internet great and good started putting together a rival to bid for the IANA contract though...

[nematoad]

Ah!

"... that sees the organization given full control over the contract in return for some improvements in ICANN's processes."

Or in other words having the fox in control of the hen house.

ICANN already has an unfortunate reputation for being opaque and unaccountable despite measure supposedly put in place to keep them under control. If the Netmundial fiasco was anything to go by, with a stacked committee and permanent places for ICANN and its friends than they are the last people to be given full control of IANA.

Arm's length and strict supervision is what is needed with this bunch of would-be commissars.

[Anonymous Coward]

I think ICANN's operating model for internet governance is the Intl. Olympic Committee...

Or perhaps FIFA.

(No, that's not a good thing)

[asdf]

Re: I think ICANN's operating model for internet governance is the Intl. Olympic Committee...

Yep they should look to US college basketball for a real model in efficient corruption.

[Ole Juul]

Re: I think ICANN's operating model for internet governance is the Intl. Olympic Committee...

In fact if he keeps this up much longer, we're going to need a Chehade icon on El Reg comments.

[asdf]

surprise?

Its usually the bureaucrats and non technical VIP "people" persons that go into any major project and waste its budget and time to the point of failure before turning it over to the technical types in desperation.

[Terry Cloth]

[T]he risk it could be "captured" by the industry itself[.]

It hasn't already happened?

[justacontractor]

Managment must change before ICANN can be trusted with IANA functions

This is very unfortunate. From what I saw this "I know better" top-down non-transparent mindset is pervasive inside ICANN. Sad because it is exactly the current top mangament that understands the least - but will not listen to those that have much more experience in the CWG and elsewhere.

Therefore, the managment must change before ICANN can be trusted with the IANA functions. The timing is unfortunate but I would rather have a stable Internet than managment that puts themselves above the community and the tasks at hand.

What I find strange is that this is only comming out now when it has been a growing problem for many years. I suppose enough money buys silence.