The nonprofit corporation charged with the technical management of the Internet has hired an outside PR agency to address charges of secrecy and inaccessibility.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, (ICANN) on Wednesday retained Alexander Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide to deal with inquiries from the press and public.
But critics say the move is merely cosmetic and that the corporation should institute democratic decision-making processes.
"I think it's a bad idea and silly waste of money," said Jim Dixon, telecommunications director of EuroISPA, a European ISP trade group based in Brussels. "They should open up their [board] meetings and hold them in public rather than hire a PR firm to spin their decisions."
ICANN is a private, nonprofit organization charged with taking over management of the Net from the US government. In addition to overseeing technical standards, the group will devise and administer a new plan for managing the top-level domains: .com, .org., and .net.
But since its inception late last year, ICANN has been widely criticized for being secretive and unaccountable. In November, the White House halted its operations and ordered the group to realign its membership structure, hold open meetings, publish minutes, and set up a process for appealing decisions.
Despite protests, board members -- who were appointed by the late John Postel before his death last October -- still meet in private.
