AnnouncementICANN Extends Global Outreach During Rome Meeting

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held itsfirst meeting of 2004 in Rome where a record number of delegates took partin over 27 fora to discuss the issues regarding the technical coordinationof the Domain Name System (DNS).

The Public Forum was opened by Italy's Minister for Innovation andTechnology, Lucio Stanca, who noted, "one of the most important reasons forthe Internet's success is that no single entity controls it. We see ICANN asan asset. It should play a major role in the future." ICANN's bottom up,consensus driven process ensures the continuity of this mission. ICANN isgrateful to the Italian government for its powerful endorsement.

ICANN's global framework expanded with the formation of the Country CodeName Supporting Organisation (ccNSO), a new, global, policy development armof ICANN. The event marked the culmination of six years of interaction amongCountry Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) managers. The ccNSO will provide ccTLDmanagers a forum to address global policy issues that affect ccTLDs, withthe side benefit of sharing regional Internet issues and policies whileattending to the needs of their local communities and jurisdictions.

ICANN Vice Chairman Alejandro Pisanty described the significance of theoccasion. "The ccNSO has been an extreme show of consistency of purpose,leadership, and intelligence. Having worked intensely in its early stages, Iam most grateful for the efforts of the Launching Group and hope many in theccTLD community will also recognise them and promptly join the organisation.This is a key moment in ICANN history."

Additionally, the ICANN Board appointed Jean-Jacques Damlamian, a seniorFrench businessman, as chair of ICANN's Nominating Committee. The NominatingCommittee is composed of representatives from ICANN's broad community and isresponsible for appointing members to the ICANN board and ICANN supportingorganizations.

Focusing on registry issues, the Board voted to authorise an effort todetermine the process by which a successor registry operator for .net willbe determined. The current registry agreement will expire in 2005. ICANNwill post a formal process towards the assignment of a successor registrybefore 30 June 2004. VeriSign, Inc., the manager of the .net registry, wouldcurrently be eligible to re-bid.

In another action, the ICANN Board approved the results of negotiations withVeriSign regarding the deployment of VeriSign's proposed Wait ListingService (WLS).

For further press information please email baker@icann.org.