FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug 24, 2010

Applicants Sought from Internet User Community for Seat on Board of Directors

The ICANN group representing individual Internet users is calling for applications from those who may be interested in helping to develop policy while serving on the organization’s Board of Directors.

ICANN’s At-Large community (representing individual Internet users) is undertaking a global search to fill a Board seat reserved for an Internet user who does not represent a particular government, corporate or non- profit entity.

“This is all about providing a voice for the average everyday Internet user in the global non-profit organization charged with coordinating the Internet addressing system,” said Cheryl Langdon-Orr, the Chair of the At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC). “ICANN wants to hear from all segments of the Internet community, including the individuals who often simply feel they don’t have a voice in policy formation.”

ALAC is looking for someone with a broad international perspective and a background in Internet users’ interests, consumer policy and/or civil society worldwide. The At-Large Board member would have a voice in the numerous ICANN issues which help define the organization, such as:

• The expansion of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) – that portion of a web address name at the end of an address name (i.e., .com, .org, .asia, etc.). ICANN is considering how best to expand the current list of 21 to include a vast variety of names and words.
• Guidance on the implementation of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), which allows for the introduction of Internet address names formed from non-Latin based languages, where scripts such as Chinese, Korean or Arabic will be used in the last portion of an address name.
• The transition from IPv4 to IPv6. This change in Internet Protocols will vastly expand the available number of global Internet addresses, since the current IPv4 addresses are quickly diminishing.

“The Internet is defined by its unique ability to give everyone a voice,” said Langdon-Orr. “This is an opportunity to extend that concept of inclusion to ICANN’s top level.”

Interested parties can obtain more information by writing ICANN’s Board Candidate Evaluation Committee at BCEC-Request@icann.org. The deadline to apply for the At-Large Board seat is September 6, 2010.

To read more about the ICANN’s At-Large Community’s search for a Board member and the process for application, go here: https://st.icann.org/working-groups/index.cgi?at_large_director_candidate_2010_workspace

To read more about ICANN’s At-Large Community go here: http://www.atlarge.icann.org/en/whatis.htm

CONTACTS:

Brad White – Director of Global Media Affairs Washington, DC USA Ph: +1 202.570.7118 brad.white@icann.org

Michele Jourdan – Media & Marketing Coordinator Los Angeles, CA USA Ph. +1 310.301.5831 michele.jourdan@icann.org

Heidi Ullrich – Director for At-Large Los Angeles, CA USA Ph: +1 310.578.8647 Heidi.ullrich@icann.org

ICANN’s mission is to ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer – a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn’t have one global Internet. ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers. ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet. For more information please visit: www.icann.org.