Every ICANN president has vigorously asserted that ICANN is not a regulator. This is not merely a casual opinion, it is a demand imposed upon them by ICANN's lawyers. To admit that ICANN is a regulator - - or even provides some regulatory function - - is to invite even deeper state scrutiny and attempts to make ICANN into a multilateral, treaty-based body than now exists.
In a submission to ICANN's Accountability and Transparency review team more than a decade ago, a number of At-Large members submitted an analysis that called on ICANN to recognize the obvious and embrace its inner regulator:
Not much has changed. While a few references are dated, the paper's observations and commentaries are as valid now as then.
___________________
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto
@evanleibovitch/@el56