WASHINGTON - Three public advocacy organizations concerned about how the Internet is managed have launched a program meant to boost public participation in charting the future of the computer network.
The Internet Democracy Project starts just in time for the upcoming elections to the board of the quasi-governmental body that oversees the Internet's future.
''The goals of the Internet Democracy Project are to encourage participation by non-governmental organizations in Internet governance and to promote the principles of a civil society,'' said Hans Klein, chair of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility.
The CPSR, along with the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the American Civil Liberties Union have formed IDP as an informational clearinghouse and watchdog organization to ensure that their values are not lost within the secretive Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
ICANN, chartered by the U.S. government and created two years ago to coordinate the technical management of the Internet, is controlled by a 19-member board of directors headed by chairwoman Esther Dyson.
In November, five at-large directors, one from each region of the world, will be elected to the ICANN board. Almost any Internet user can participate in the elections.
''There is real need to focus the attention of civil society on the seemingly technical issues that organizations like ICANN are addressing,'' said Barry Steinhardt, associate director of the ACLU. ''If our voices are not heard while the governance structures are being created, it may be too late.''
ICANN has also been criticized for favoring large companies over individuals. That's where IDP hopes to step in to protect privacy and consumer rights.
IDP will sponsor a forum later this month on the ICANN elections process in Yokohama, Japan, the site of the next ICANN board meeting. At that meeting, ICANN will consider adding more top-level domain names to the familiar ''.com,'' ''.org'' and others.
Although IDP is currently focusing on ICANN, the organization says its mission isn't limited to that group.
''ICANN may be the most prominent organization in some corners of the globe, but it is hardly the only group that will affect the future of the Internet,'' said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC. ''Our work will be broader and we will encourage the participation of the public voice at every opportunity.''
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On the Net: Internet Democracy Project: http://www.internetdemocracyproject.org
American Civil Liberties Union: http://www.aclu.org
Electronic Privacy Information Center: http://www.epic.org
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility: http://www.cpsr.org
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers: http://www.icann.org