ICANN Board Appoints Louis Touton Vice President, General [...]

Marina del Rey, CA (October 19, 1999) - The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced today that its Interim Board had appointed Louis Touton as the organization's Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. ICANN is the non-profit, global, consensus based organization charged with overseeing the technical administration of the Internet. Touton will be the first Vice President and General Counsel for the year old organization.

In his new capacity, Touton will be responsible for all legal affairs of the corporation and report to the CEO and Board of Directors. Touton joins ICANN from the law firm of Jones Day Reavis & Pogue where he has been a partner since 1989. Touton joined the firm in 1981 and has primarily handled intellectual property work for technology clients. Touton will assume his new responsibilities on November 1 and will participate in ICANN's first annual meeting November 1-4 in Los Angeles, CA.

"I feel very fortunate in having someone of Louis' demonstrated talents, experience, energy and enthusiasm on the ICANN staff," said ICANN Interim President and CEO Mike Roberts. While at Jones Day, in the capacity as one of ICANN's outside counsel, Touton has already made substantial contributions to the development of ICANN policies in the areas of registrar accreditation and domain name dispute resolution.

"The Members of the ICANN Board and I are extremely pleased that Louis is joining ICANN," said Interim Chairman of the ICANN Board Esther Dyson. "His professional credentials are impeccable, but in addition he is a pleasure to work with and has already invested a great deal of professional and personal time in understanding the challenges and work ahead for ICANN."

Touton has his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and B.S. degrees in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from MIT. Following his appointment, in a letter to Interim ICANN President Mike Roberts, Touton announced his intention to waive his salary for his first year of service. In his letter, Touton says, "I firmly believe that the ICANN cause is a good one and deserves the volunteer spirit it has so broadly evoked."

The full text of the letter can be found on the ICANN web site at https://www.icann.org/correspondence/touton-to-roberts-18oct99.htm.