The Ombudsman will act as an impartial officer and will attempt to resolve complaints about unfair treatment by ICANN using ADR techniques.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that it has posted Ombudsman Framework for Public Comment. Last week, ICANN announced the appointment of Frank Fowlie as the Ombudsman.

The ICANN Ombudsman is independent, impartial, and neutral. The Ombudsman's function is to act as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) office for the ICANN community who may wish to lodge a complaint about a staff or board decision, action or inaction. The purpose of the office is to ensure that the members of the ICANN community have been treated fairly. The Ombudsman will act as an impartial officer and will attempt to resolve complaints about unfair treatment by ICANN using ADR techniques.

The Office of Ombudsman reports only to ICANN's Board of Directors. The Ombudsman cannot be removed from office, except by a 75% majority vote of the board. The Ombudsman has the ability to access all ICANN documentation, files, etc, and can interview staff and board members about issues under ADR.

The complete Framework can be found here.