ICANN Says It Can’t Be Internet Cop

Allen R. Grogan,, the chief contract compliance officer for ICANN ((the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) says the organization has been under some pressure to police illegal activity on the Internet, but it’s not going to happen. More than two dozen countries have laws against blasphemy, he points out. Nearly a hundred forbid hate speech, and some forbid holocaust denial. Many ban pornography, while some ban images of uncovered arms and legs. ICANN doesn’t have the resources or authority to address these issues by becoming judge, jury and enforcer, Grogan says. Its mission, per its bylaws, is technical – “to coordinate, at the overall level, the global Internet’s systems of unique identifiers, and in particular, to ensure the stable and secure operation of the Internet’s unique identifiers.”