[registrars] ICANN and U.S. Department of Commerce Announce New Three-Year Agreement

["Ken Stubbs" <kstubbs@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> ICANN and U.S. Department of Commerce Announce New Three-Year Agreement
> 
> Marina del Rey, California USA (17 September 2003) - The Internet
> Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the United States
> Department of Commerce (DoC) today announced that they agreed to extend
> their joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for three additional years
> until September 30, 2006.
> 
> "This new agreement clearly indicates the DoC's recognition that ICANN
> is
> the right organization to manage the Internet's naming and numbering
> systems," noted ICANN President and CEO, Dr. Paul Twomey.  "We look
> forward
> to working with the DoC to complete, within this term, the transition
> toward
> privatization that began with the first MoU five years ago. We are
> pleased
> that we were able to reach agreement with the DoC on a term giving us
> three
> years to get the job done."
> 
> ICANN Chairman, Vint Cerf, added, "This agreement between ICANN and the
> Department of Commerce marks a major milestone in ICANN's history and
> the
> process of transition from the historical purely governmental oversight
> of
> the Internet to a public/private partnership. I am very grateful for the
> efforts of ICANN's CEO, Paul Twomey and his staff, working with the
> Department of Commerce, to complete this critical step on behalf of the
> ICANN and Internet communities."
> 
> The MoU highlights ICANN's responsibility to ensure the stability of the
> Internet and foster its globalization. Toward those ends, ICANN will:
> implement an objective process for selecting new Top Level Domains;
> implement an effective strategy for multi-lingual communications and
> international outreach; and develop a contingency plan, consistent with
> the
> international nature of the internet, to ensure continuity of operations
> in
> the event of a severe disruption of operations.
> 
> In November 1998, the U.S. Department of Commerce entered into the first
> MoU
> with ICANN, recognizing it as the private sector, not-for-profit
> corporation
> that should assume a set of technical coordination and related policy
> development responsibilities for the Internet.  Subsequently, there have
> been three additional one-year extensions of the MoU, recognizing
> ICANN's
> significant progress towards achieving the tasks necessary to transition
> oversight of the naming and numbering system to a public/private
> partnership.
> 
> Additional details concerning ICANN and the MoU are available at
> <www.icann.org>.
> Please direct inquiries to <hewitt@xxxxxxxxx> or 310-301-5801.
> 
> Mary Hewitt
> ICANN
> Director of Communications
> 4676 Admiralty Way, #330
> Marina del Rey, CA. 90292
> 310-301-5801 (direct)
> 310-823-8649 (fax)
> 323-304-3310 (mobile)
> 
>