The ICANN quarter meeting that was celebrated this summer in Kuala Lumpur wasn’t ordinary. Not only because the decision taken there could hardly make a revolution into Internet : the dedicated day to International Domain Names for example, didn’t do no more than to confirm the things that have already perceived since several month ago by the Registries –and their users- : the implementation is hard but it represents a real opportunity for the diversity on the net contents and a recognition of the population that doesn’t speak English properly. The “official” adoption of IP&6 had the same logic : the new version of the protocol is discussed from more than four years and, if the possibilities for the future are passionate (an address for each object that can exist in the net), the concrete reality is only technical at the moment. No, the truly change is in the air. It may seem that if “ICANN 2.0” about which we were spoken from more than two years ago were a reality about which the community protagonists would finally reach an agreement, and in pursuit of they would be ready to act in group.

Therefore, some ccTLDs were gone of Malaysia with the same doubts and reticence about the ccNSO and they will always deny to make part of since they don’t modify the norms of function. However, the Organization celebrated its first official meeting and its members established a first and ambitious calendar. The CENTR, the ccTLDs European association which innumerous members still reject the ccNSO, named itself “observer” in a gesture of good fair and to make easier the relations between the ccNSO and “others”. The International Union of Telecommunications (ITU) proposes a Working Group over the Internet governance and the evolution of the statutes of ccTLDs, but it did this at the end of the meeting, and it gave the private protagonists the possibility of expressing themselves and to interchange opinions. The observers majority qualified this as “constructive debate”. Also, the Registrars will have to pay the most important part of the new budget – it was officially accepted at the end of the meeting – got a term in the expensive starting of the new EPP protocol that will only be obligatory at the end of the year. In fact, the budget was completely duplicated, but it is joint clearly with the objectives of the ICANN.

Comme As Paul Twomey remembered, Internet (and the ICANN) can’t be satisfied with good wills and with some hands for going on. The homesick will have pity of this ; the others can congratulate themselves because they could see the real advance of the Internet Community in this meeting. The innumerous naming that must be done in the next months will help this : 3 positions in the Management Counsel, 3 in the ccNSO, 2 to the At-Large Committee - representing the Internet individual users – and 1 to gNSO. The criterion on the contracts were published and will be evaluated by a Committee presided ad hoc, comments apart, by old French people from .France Telecom. Is it another proof that Internet has new airs ? See http://www.icann.org/

JCV & SB