If Karl Auerbach has his way, one of the first things the Internet's oversight board will do when he joins in November, will be to remove Mike Roberts from his position as president and chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
Roberts is only the interim CEO of ICANN, and a search has begun for his replacement. But Auerbach said he would like to force Roberts to step down immediately.
"Political candidates say a lot of things during campaigns that they have to turn into useful work after they get elected," responded Roberts, who critics such as Auerbach say has failed to promote consensus within ICANN.
Roberts' comment sums up the challenges facing Auerbach, a Cisco Systems researcher from California, and Andy Mueller-Maguhn of Germany, another surprise winner in ICANN's election, when they take their seats on the 19-member board.
The two ICANN critics were elected last week in the Internet's first global election for seats on the board of ICANN, which oversees the network's Domain Name System.
More than 34,000 Internet users worldwide participated in an online contest. One candidate was chosen from each of five global regions, and they will replace five of the original nine board members appointed when the Clinton administration in 1998 chose ICANN to take over administration of the Internet. Nine other board members were selected last year by ICANN's three technical and business membership groups.
There was a clear regional split in the election. North America and Europe embraced opposition candidates who were nominated by ICANN's individual members, while the winners from Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America were selected to run by ICANN's nominating committee.
In North America, candidates critical of ICANN took the first three spots out of a field of seven candidates, while the contender who appeared to have the support of many business groups - Harris Miller, president of the Information Technology Association of America - came in fifth.
The election shows, in North America and Europe at least, that "that portion of the Internet community that voted thinks ICANN is in need of reform," said Jonathan Weinberg, a law professor at Wayne State University.
Michael Heltzer, the International Trademark Association's government affairs manager for the US and Canada, said his group had recommended the election of Miller. Still, he said he is encouraged by Masanobu Katoh's election to the Asia-Pacific seat; Katoh is general manager of Fujitsu's Washington office and a business community representative on ICANN's Names Council.
But while many of those who are critical of ICANN see the election as a wake-up call, they acknowledged that the new board members face an uphill battle in their efforts to institute reforms, such as improving ICANN's transparency and accountability to the Internet community.
It will be "extraordinarily difficult," Auerbach said. But "I will try to be the standard by which other board members will be measured."
While Auerbach has been a vocal ICANN critic and fixture at its meetings, Mueller-Maguhn will bring a different dynamic. He is the spokesman at the Computer Chaos Club, an organisation made up of computer hackers and others. But like Auerbach, Mueller-Maguhn campaigned on greater openness and transparency within ICANN.
Despite technical problems in registering voters and casting ballots, some of the groups that were monitoring the election hailed it as an overall success.
