ICANN

Bottom up. At ICANN, rather than the Board of Directors solely declaring what topics ICANN will address, members of sub-groups in ICANN can raise issues at the grassroots level. Then, if the issue is worth addressing and falls within ICANN's remit, it can rise through various Advisory Committees and Supporting Organizations until eventually policy recommendations are passed to the Board for a vote.

• Consensus-driven. Through its Bylaws, processes, and international meetings, ICANN provides the arena where all advocates can discuss Internet policy issues. Almost anyone can join most of ICANN's volunteer Working Groups, assuring broad representation of the world's perspectives. Hearing all points of view, searching for mutual interests, and working toward consensus take time, but the process resists capture by any single interest– an important consideration when managing a resource as vital as the global Internet.
• Multistakeholder model. ICANN's inclusive approach treats the public sector, the private sector, and technical experts as peers. In the ICANN community, you'll find registries, registrars, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), intellectual property advocates, commercial and business interests, non-commercial and non-profit interests, representation from more than 100 governments, and a global array of individual Internet users. All points of view receive consideration on their own merits. ICANN's fundamental belief is that all users of the Internet deserve a say in how it is run.