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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> ICANN Media Relations Team [mailto:press@icann.org] <br><b>Sent:</b> Friday, October 28, 2011 5:14 PM<br><b>To:</b> Anne-Rachel Inne<br><b>Subject:</b> ICANN Board Focuses on Assistance for Developing Economies<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><img id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://www.vocus.com/images/pr/icannheader2_logo.jpg"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><em><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>October 28, 2011</span></b></em><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br></span><em><b><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>For Immediate Release</span></b></em><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='text-align:center'><strong><span style='font-size:15.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>ICANN Board Focuses on</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br></span><strong><span style='font-size:15.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Assistance for Developing Economies</span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>42<sup>nd</sup> Public Meeting Concludes in Dakar, Senegal</span></strong></span><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <br><em><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Dakar, Senegal… </span></b></em>The ICANN Board of Directors today passed a resolution to review a proposal from a special working group that would create a support system for deserving applicants of new gTLDs, many of whom are expected to be in developing countries. The Board further directed the President and CEO to develop a detailed plan by December 8, for the scoping and implementation of the recommendations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> “It is very important that deserving applicants, such as those from emerging economies, be included in the new gTLD program,” said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer. “It is necessary to encourage diverse participation in this new program and to broaden the scope of our multi-stakeholder model.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> The ICANN Board of Directors also made clear today that it wants to enhance the organization’s policies relating to conflicts of interest, ethics, confidentiality and an overall code of conduct. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>“We want to achieve a Gold Standard in terms of conflicts and ethics practices,” said Steve Crocker, Chair of the ICANN Board. “Specifically we are working on a system which will lay out how Directors interested in specific new generic Top Level Domain applications will be restricted from participation in the deliberations and decisions regarding the new gTLD Program.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> In closing ICANN’s 42<sup>nd</sup> public meeting in Dakar, Senegal, the Board passed a resolution stating that, “ICANN will treat decisions relating to approving any single new gTLD application in an ethical manner and with care to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>ICANN’s next public meeting will occur March 11-16 in San Jose, Costa Rica. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>### <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>To read the resolutions passed by the ICANN Board, go here: <a href="http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/">http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>To download high resolution pictures from the Dakar meeting, go here: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/icann/sets/72157627841166127/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/icann/sets/72157627841166127/</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>MEDIA CONTACTS: </span></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Brad White<br>Director of Global Media Affairs<br>Washington, D.C.<br>Tel. +1 (202) 570 7118<br><a href="mailto:brad.white@icann.org">brad.white@icann.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> Andrew Robertson<br>Edelman Public Relations<br>London, U.K.<br>Tel. + 44 (7811) 341 945<br><a href="mailto:andrew.Robertson@edelman.com">andrew.Robertson@edelman.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>About ICANN: </span></strong><em><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.</span></em><strong><i><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> For more information please visit: </span></i></strong><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.icann.org/"><em><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>www.icann.org</span></b></em></a><em><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>.</span></b></em><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>If you would rather not receive future communications from ICANN, let us know by clicking <a href="http://ICANN.pr-optout.com/OptOut.aspx?523509x19831x63777x1x3696907x24000x6&Email=anne-rachel.inne%40icann.org">here.</a><br>ICANN, 4676 Admiralty Way Suite 330, Marina del Rey, CA 90292 United States<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div></body></html>