| The 1997 white paper that triggered the creation of ICANN sums up the thoughts at the time: "From its origins as a U.S.-based research vehicle, the Internet is rapidly becoming an international medium for commerce, education and communication. The traditional means of organizing its technical functions need to evolve as well. The pressures for change are coming from many different quarters: * There is widespread dissatisfaction about the absence of competition in domain name registration. * Conflicts between trademark holders and domain name holders are becoming more common. Mechanisms for resolving these conflicts are expensive and cumbersome. * Many commercial interests, staking their future on the successful growth of the Internet, are calling for a more formal and robust management structure. * An increasing percentage of Internet users reside outside of the U.S., and those stakeholders want to participate in Internet coordination. * As Internet names increasingly have commercial value, the decision to add new top-level domains cannot be made on an ad hoc basis by entities or individuals that are not formally accountable to the Internet community. * As the Internet becomes commercial, it becomes less appropriate for U.S. research agencies to direct and fund these functions." |