Chairman Welcomes ICANN Community to a Celebration of Exciting Ten Years of Working Together<br><br>ICANN Chairman foresees a busy and exciting 2008 for the multi-stakeholder community which makes up the global coordinator of the Internet's system of unique identifiers.
<br><br>3 January 2008<br><br>MARINA DEL REY, Calif. : The Chairman of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today welcomed the beginning of its tenth year of operations.<br><br>"Happy New Year to all those involved in the work that ICANN does," said Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of the Board of ICANN. "I extend my personal best wishes to you all, and thank you in advance for the contributions I know you will be making to ICANN's mission in 2008."
<br><br>Peter Dengate Thrush, spoke about the year ahead, including announcing a celebration of a decade of great contribution by the ICANN community to building a strong and effective ICANN.<br><br><b>"It is going to be another busy year for ICANN, as it has been every year since our inception in 1998. To mark our 10 year Anniversary, I am pleased to announce that there will be a special celebration around our Annual meeting, scheduled for later in the year in Africa. This will be our 33rd international meeting - truly a great time to celebrate all those people who have contributed so much to ICANN over that time, and ICANN's achievements."
</b><br><br>"Sooner than that, there will be an opportunity for public comment on ICANN's performance as the US Department of Commerce conducts an enquiry as part of the scheduled review of the Joint Project Agreement. ICANN will shortly publish its statement within that process, and I encourage others to consider posting comments," said Mr Dengate Thrush. "The call for comment can be found at
<a href="http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/ICANN_JPA_110207.html">http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/ICANN_JPA_110207.html</a> and submissions are due by 15th February 2008. ICANN is working with NTIA, and we will be jointly reviewing the input from the community."
<br><br>"A lot of work is going on behind the scenes as ICANN staff and contractors work through the implementation issues arising from ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization's policy statements on the introduction of new Generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs)," said Mr Dengate Thrush. Existing gTLDs include .org, .museum, and .com. "Tied up with this is work on internationalizing the Domain Names System, building on the trial of 11 non-ascii scripts conducted in 2007. We can expect to see a process for applicants for new gTLDs, including those in many "non-Roman" scripts, being announced during the year. We are hopeful that the system will be in place to start accepting new applications by later this year."
<br><br>These are just 3 highlights from what will be another year packed with developments, said Mr Dengate Thrush<br><br>"I look forward during 2008 to meeting with many of you at our meetings, hearing from you through our public participation processes, and working with colleagues on the board and staff to maintain the mission of maintaining a secure, stable interoperable Internet. I especially look forward to celebrating our 10 year milestone with you all."
<br><br>About ICANN:<br><br>ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability. ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit:
<a href="http://www.icann.org">www.icann.org</a>.<br><br>Media Contacts:<br><br>Jason Keenan<br>Media Adviser, ICANN (USA)<br>Ph: +1 310 382 4004<br>E: <a href="mailto:jason.keenan@icann.org">jason.keenan@icann.org</a><br>
<br>International: Andrew Robertson<br>Edelman (London)<br>Ph: +44 7921 588 770<br>E: <a href="mailto:andrew.robertson@edelman.com">andrew.robertson@edelman.com</a><br>