[Infowarrior] - DOC-ICANN Sign Historic Accord on Internet Governance

[Richard Forno]

        FOR RELEASE:                         Immediate

MEDIA CONTACTS:                        Brad White
                                       Director of Media Affairs, ICANN
                                                 Ph. +1 202.429.2710
brad.white at icann.org

Michele Jourdan
Corporate Affairs
Ph. +1 310.301.5831
michele.jourdan at icann.org

Commerce Department and ICANN Sign Historic Accord on Internet  
Governance

Washington, D.C… September 30, 2009… ICANN and the U.S. Department of  
Commerce have signed an historic Affirmation agreement supporting the  
ICANN model of international multi-stakeholder and bottom-up  
governance of the global Internet addressing system.

“This new Affirmation marks an exciting new stage in ICANN’s  
development as a truly international entity and it confirms once and  
for all, that the ICANN model of public participation works, and works  
effectively” said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN Chief Executive Officer. “One  
world, one Internet, everyone connected – this is our goal at ICANN.  
This agreement gives international stakeholders an even more powerful  
voice in our activities moving forward.”

More than a decade ago it was envisioned that the Internet’s  
addressing system would be coordinated by a private, multi- 
stakeholder, non-profit corporation, specifically ICANN. The rationale  
was that the Internet not be controlled by any single government,  
group of governments or special interest.

“A decade ago the US government was a catalyst for a global discussion  
on how to coordinate the vital resource that is the Internet’s unique  
identifiers,” said Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN’s Chairman of the  
Board.  “They understood that it needed to be coordinated not  
controlled.  That vision has been affirmed in the model of private  
sector leadership that ICANN represents.”

Under the Affirmation agreement, the U.S. will remain committed to  
participation in ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), which  
is one of the bodies that advises the corporation in its crucial  
mission of assuring that one human being can contact another anywhere  
on the planet.

The agreement also mandates that ICANN’s accountability to the  
Internet community must be reviewed at least every 3 years by a  
committee made up of representatives of the community, which will  
include the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Communications and Information  
of the Department of Commerce.

Global business and Internet leaders welcomed news of the Affirmation  
agreement.

·       “The Affirmation of Commitments by ICANN and DOC fulfills a  
long- standing objective of the original formation of ICANN: to create  
an organization that can serve the world's interest in a robust,  
reliable and interoperable Internet.” – Vint Cerf, co-inventor of the  
Internet.

·       “Google and its users depend every day on a vibrant and  
expanding Internet; we endorse this Affirmation and applaud the  
maturing of ICANN's role in the provision of Internet stability.” –  
Eric Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google, Inc.

·       “ICANN”s assurances on openness, stability and competition are  
remarkable, particularly as they are backed up by a strong oversight  
process that involves the global community.  This is what we needed  
for moving ahead into the next phase of the internet.” – Jim Lewis,  
Center for Strategic and International Studies.

·       “VeriSign commends the Internet Corporation on Assigned Names  
and Numbers (ICANN) and the Department of Commerce the ten years of  
work by both parties towards the evolution of governance around the  
Domain Name Addressing System.  We are encouraged that the new  
agreement by ICANN and the U.S. Department of Commerce will allow for  
more international participation in the policy creation at ICANN and  
expand ICANN’s efforts as technical coordinator of the domain name  
addressing system to ensure a robust and secure Internet.” – Mark  
McLaughlin, President and CEO of Verisign.


To read additional reaction to the Affirmation Agreement go here:http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-30sep09-en.htm#reaction

To read the Joint Affirmation Agreement go here:http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-30sep09-en.htm#affirmation 
.

To see a videotaped interview with CEO Rod Beckstrom discussing the  
Affirmation Agreement go here: : http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-30sep09-en.htm#video 
.