ICANN 06

Dates:	13th - 17th July 2000
Location:	Yokohama, Japan
Host:	Japan
Venue:	Pacifico Yokohama Conference Center
Website:	ICANN 6

ICANN 6 took place in Yokohama, Japan, and was the first ICANN event to take place in Japan.

Bylaws Amendments

The board approved bylaws amendments enabling the appointment of five "At-large" directors to the board in 2000, with an eventual total of nine At-large directors. A temporary, four-person nominating committee was formed to assist with the initial selection of At-large, and a temporary election committee was formed to ensure the election of such directors was supported, well-structured, and fair. In addition, the board commissioned a tabula rasa study of At-large membership issues, including:

• Whether the ICANN Board should include "At Large" Directors;
• If so, how many such Directors there should be;
• How any such "At Large" Directors should be selected, including consideration of at least the following options: selection by an "At Large" membership; appointment by the existing Board; selection or appointment by some other entity or entities; and any combination of those options;
• If selection by an "At Large" membership is to be used, the processes and procedures by which that selection will take place; and
• What the appropriate structure, role and functions of an "At Large" membership should be.

The board set deadlines for the study to conclude and present findings by mid-2001, with the goal that the board would act on the findings and recommendations of the study by the time of the 2001 Annual Meeting.

Policy Developments and Highlights

The board took action to initiate the first round of new gTLD applications. A topic paper, circulated for public comment in June, served as a guide to discussions among board members. In addition, recommendations and reports from supporting organizations and advisory committees provided additional context and implementation guidance. Public comment on the topic paper was robust, although the summary presented at the meeting noted that roughly one quarter of the responses were "non-substantive or off-topic," while roughly half of the comments pertained to proposals for specific TLDs..

The conversation regarding ccTLD delegation and administration policies was continued from ICANN 5 in Cairo. The prepared materials included a number of new position papers and statements from various constituencies. The period for written public comments was very short, but comments were also received at the Public Forum on July 15. The presentation during the forum focused on the progress toward drafting a standard agreement between ccTLD administrators and ICANN, as well as other best practices and principles for ccTLD administration.

Social & Community Highlights

The board acknowledged the work of Becky Burr in her role at the U.S. Department of Commerce in making ICANN a reality:

It would not be an overstatement to conclude that, without the enormous contributions of Becky Burr, ICANN would not be here today, or at a minimum would not have made the very significant progress that is reflected at this meeting. She could not have done it alone, but we could not have done what we have done without her tireless devotion to the objective of a viable and effective ICANN.