Background on Newest ICANN At-Large Structures:

Catalan Chapter of the Internet Society and Asociaci�n Costarricense de Derecho Inform�tico

 

Catalan Chapter & ACDI 

- Two more organizations were certified on 23 April as "At-Large Structures" by ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee: the Catalan Chapter of the Internet Society, based in Spain; and Asociaci�n Costarricense de Derecho Inform�tico, based in Costa Rica.

- The Catalan Chapter of the Internet Society currently has 124 private individual members, located primarily in Catalonian speaking areas (Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Valencia) under the Spanish State territory, the South of France, and the sovereign state of Andorra. The group's mission is �to increase awareness of the Internet and constructive and responsible ways to use it. As part of the international Internet community we do our part to assure the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the Catalan speaking areas and throughout the world. Promote Internet usage, free exchange of information and freedom of speech; ensure Internet for schools and protect privacy.� More information is available at http://www.alac.icann.org/europe/applications/isoc-cat-19jan04.htm and www.isoc-cat.org.

- Asociaci�n Costarricense de Derecho Inform�tico is a new professional society with 19 founding members and 30 incoming members who are all attorneys specializing in new technologies and Internet law in Costa Rica.  ACDI's goals include to: investigate and promote the investigation of the legal problems derived from Internet; investigate and promote the investigation around the application of technologies in legal matters; and advise and offer consultative opinions to the government and other public institutions in the decisions that involve new technologies and Internet Law.  More information is available at http://www.alac.icann.org/latin/applications/acdi-02dec03.htm and http://www.hess-cr.com/~acdi/ .

At-Large Involvement

- The purpose of this certification is to recognize that a group meets the necessary criteria to involve individual Internet users (called �At-Large�) at the local or issue level in ICANN activities, and that the groups will support their individual members' informed participation in ICANN efforts that affect end-users.

- They join 10 organizations based in the Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America regions that already have At-Large Structure certification:

o Societa' Internet (Europe)

o Arab Knowledge Management Society (AKMS) (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

o Alfa-Redi (Latin America/Caribbean Islands)

o F�rderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft e.V (FITUG) (Europe)

o Internet Society Luxembourg A.S.B.L. (Europe)

o Internet Society Bulgaria (Europe)

o Moroccan Internet Society (Africa)

o Anais AC (Africa)

o Sudan Internet Society (Africa)

o Internet Society - Finland (Europe)

- Additionally, ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee is conducting due diligence on five more recent At-Large Structure applications from:

o Democratic Republic of the Congo Internet Society (Africa)

o Internet Society Vasudhay Kutumbhkum (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

o Internet Society Taiwan Chapter (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

o At Large @ China (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

o National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion Association  (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

At-Large Structure Certification

- Any group (either existing organizations or newly formed for this purpose) that enables informed participation by individual Internet users in issues addressed by ICANN can apply for At-Large Structure certification. Interested groups complete and submit to the ALAC a short application form, and groups that meet the minimum requirements are certified.

- At-Large Structures are expected to have a role in the development of ICANN policies. Their members receive information on, and are asked to share their views on, ICANN's work and Internet developments, and they have opportunities to participate in ICANN policy-making groups at the regional and international levels.

- A variety of civil society organizations have expressed interest in participating in ICANN as At-Large Structures, including community networking groups, professional societies, consumer advocacy groups, and academic organizations. A complete list of At-Large Structure applicants and their status is posted at http://www.alac.icann.org/applications/.

- ICANN launched this method for At-Large involvement last year to give the world's Internet users a stronger voice in how the Internet develops. The growing involvement in ICANN of geographically and professionally diverse user groups is intended to help ensure that ICANN's consensus-development efforts best reflect the interests of the global Internet community.  The ALAC, for example, is soliciting input and offering recommendations on ICANN's work on such matters as privacy of personal Whois data and the introduction of new domain names, and At-Large delegates help select members of ICANN's Board and other leadership positions.

At-Large Advisory Committee

- The At-Large Advisory Committee was created last year to provide advice on activities of ICANN that relate to the interests of individual Internet users, and also to help the At-Large community throughout the world organize for structured involvement and informed participation in ICANN.  ALAC members include: Africa -- Pierre Dandjinou, Clement Dzidonu, Sunday Folayan; Asia -- Hong Xue, Izumi Aizu, Toshifumi Matsumoto; Latin America -- Sebastian Ricciardi, Erick Iriarte, Tadao Takahashi; Europe -- Vittorio Bertola, Thomas Roessler, Roberto Gaetano; and North America -- Esther Dyson, and Wendy Seltzer.  Biographies of these individuals, and information on the ALAC, can be found at alac.icann.org. ALAC members can be reached at committee@alac.icann.org.

ICANN

- ICANN is a non-profit organization responsible for coordinating the global Internet's systems of unique identifiers, including the systems of domain names and numeric addresses that are used to reach all computers on the Internet. ICANN's mission is to ensure the stable and secure operation of these unique identifier systems, which are vital to the Internet's operation. In addition, ICANN coordinates policy development related to these technical functions. For more information, see http://www.icann.org.