What has worked best about ICANN? From the point of view of those who want to extend trademark law without the benefit of action by national legislatures, ICANN has been the best thing since the Louix XIV.(posted 8900 days ago)In a less flippant vein - I personally believe that other than the work of the membership advisory committee, ICANN has done essentially nothing that is positive in its year+ of existance.
What has worked least? From the point of view of public participation in decisionmaking, ICANN has been an utter failure. ICANN's processes are highly exclusionary - those who are the prime targets of ICANNs policies are not permitted any meaningful role in the definition of those policies. The nearly absolute exclusion of individuals and the massive dilution of non-commercial interests has placed ICANN firmly in the hands of those who want the internet to be essentially a vehicle for commerce by large corporations.
In addition, ICANN's adherence to its own procedures, its bylaws and its articles of incorporation has been a nothing less than an unprincipled joke. Look at how ICANN physically ejected legitimate parties from various meetings and then amended the bylaws months later to retroactively justify their actions. Look at how ICANN entered into the NSI/ICANN/NTIA agreements in direct violation of Bylaw Article VI Section 2(c). Look how ICANN has fabricated "consensus" to justify its actions without ever being able (or willing) to provide evidence that such consensus exists. Look to the gerrymandered "elections" that were held to fill the new board seats. etc, etc.
Overall, if ICANN were to be dismantled and we started all over again, we would not be any worse off. Indeed, I believe that such a "system reset" would be a good thing as it would serve notice that the shenanigans that have occured under ICANN's banner will not be tolerated.
I might add that if for no other reason, ICANN's existance should be placed into suspended animation until NTIA can clearly show that it has the authority to act as it has done. One of the most grievious failures of the last 24 months is not ICANN itself, the the failure of the Federal government to act as a government of limited, enumerated, and delegated powers - we have seen government expansion in its most overt and unchecked form. And we have seen the failure of Congress to have any meaningful reaction when NTIA flaunted its self-proclaimed powers over these matters.