Citing anonymous sources at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, Le Temps reports that ICANN is “very likely” to relocate from Los Angeles to Geneva as it seeks to shed U.S. influence and pursue greater internationalization.
The newspaper noted that the move to Switzerland was already announced last year but nothing came of it. Over the past year, and especially after Edward Snowden’s high-profile revelations on U.S. surveillance, ICANN’s top management has repeatedly announced its intention to distance itself from the United States. The corporation is currently under U.S. jurisdiction.
At a meeting in Montevideo last autumn, ICANN stressed the need for the corporation’s further internationalization. ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade called America’s unique role in ICANN’s oversight “just not sustainable.”
Formal relations between the United States and ICANN may become a focus of the meeting on the Internet global governance in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on April 23-24.
