Participation in International Governance Regime by the "Rest of the World": An Analysis of ICANN and South Korea

Abstract

This paper explores the participation, policy agendas, and effectiveness of representatives from outside of North America and Europe in the processes of THe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN is an important and interesting example of how the Internet and e-commerce are creating new forms of international governance. ICANN is a private corporation, created at the end of 1998. How does the unique ICANN approach to an international governance problem affect the rest of the world (ROW) than the U.S.? Does the reliance on a private sector organization with some channels open to civil society participation make representation of ROW needs and interests easier or harder? How effectively have ROW actors participated in ICANN's regimes? What procedures and substantive policies would improve the benefits recieved by the ROW in the ICANN process? Relying on the empirical evidence from South Korea, the paper establishes a general framework for analyzing this problem.