[Ncsg-discuss] Is ICANN helping to subvert its own governance model?

[Mueller, Milton L]

I think the ICANN CEO's letter (as Farzaneh said) raises as many questions as it answers, but overall it is good news.

Good because ICANN is explicitly backing away from the CAIGA model for AFRINIC. The CEO blog says "ICANN’s funding of the IG Blueprint development did not include any directive to cover AFRINIC governance, modify AFRINIC, or envision a different RIR structure to serve the region." It also says that "In response to common requests from governments and Smart Africa in discussions related to CAIGA, ICANN has continuously reiterated that the Internet Coordination Policy-2 (ICP-2) and the requirements under it, remain the governance mechanism for any RIR."

ICANN's backing away is, in my opinion, a bit disingenuous; saying that ICANN's support for SA had nothing to do with AFRINIC or its governance seems not very plausible given the whole array of facts, but now that ICANN and most of the community have disassociated themselves from a model in which CAIGA would establish some form of state-led political oversight over AFRINIC, there is little to be gained by fussing over this.

I also think it is not so productive to fuss over how inclusive or exclusive SA was at this point. There are Africans who feel that it was a power grab and as Emmanuel documents there is plenty of evidence of widespread consultations. There is nothing inherently wrong with coordinated continent-wide efforts to discuss IG, as long as we are mindful of the decades-long efforts by states and intergovernmental institutions to control or assert "political oversight" over the native internet governance institutions, and the need to resist them.

Now that everyone involved is recognizing that the authority to reform rests with AFRINIC members, what matters is developing a viable reform plan within AFRINIC and executing it. AFRINIC is not out of the woods yet. Some difficult issues about its ongoing management, its place of incorporation and its insulation from crippling forms of litigation remain.

--MM

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From: NCSG-Discuss <NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> on behalf of Emmanuel Vitus <emmanuelvitus at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2025 6:51 AM
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Subject: Re: Is ICANN helping to subvert its own governance model?


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