Does Functioning As A Regulator Raise Legal Bills?
For the year ended June 30, 2002, ICANN spent over $1.1 million on the law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. ICANN's legal bills amounted to almost 20% of their total revenues for the year. ICANN's legal bills accounted for a similar percentage of their revenue in the previous year when their spending on outside counsel topped $1.4 million. For the year ending June 30, 2000, ICANN's expenditures on outside lawyers were significantly lower, about 12% of total revenue.

ICANN's legal costs appear to be quite high for such a modest-sized entity, particularly one that is a tax exempt, non-profit organization. The question arises as to what extent are ICANN's legal bills being driven by their functioning as a regulator rather than simply as a day-to-day technical manager of the internet?

The question of whether ICANN's legal expenses are being fueled by their extracurricular internet governance activities should be of importance both the Department of Commerce, which is responsible for overseeing ICANN, and to internet users around the world who are directly and indirectly funding the organization. ICANNfocus.org will continue to explore the implications of ICANN's role as an internet regulator.