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News & Alerts | WSIS Workshops | WSIS Working Group Members

The WSIS Working Group was self-formed last year by individuals involved in a variety of ICANN stakeholder groups to increase awareness and understanding of the United Nation's World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process and related issues that affect ICANN.

WSIS is a process in which governments are attempting to address a broad range of international legal, regulatory, economic, and policy issues related to the Internet. During this process, some governments proposed that an intergovernmental organization be responsible for "Internet governance," a phrase that remains undefined and some consider to include or mean the administration and coordination of the DNS.

News & Alerts

ICANN Forum on the Working Group on Internet Governance Report, 13 July 2005, Luxembourg

The WSIS Working Group is circulating for comment a draft statement on ICANN and WSIS. The Working Group intends to publish the statement at ICANNs Mar del Plata meeting.

WSIS Workshops

In the ICANN tradition of bottom-up, consensus-based, global participation, the WSIS Working Group has taken the initiative to organize workshops to:

1. Inform ICANN stakeholders and the broader community about recent developments and upcoming events related to WSIS and ICANN;
2. Foster a dialogue and mutual understanding of positions of different stakeholders on WSIS as it relates to ICANN and other issues of interest;
3. Raise awareness of the diverse interests, priorities and activities related to WSIS; and
4. Enhance stakeholder participation in WSIS as it relates to ICANN's activities.

A wealth of information is presented at the WSIS workshops and is available at:

1. Rome, March 2004
2. Kuala Lumpur, July 2004
3. Cape Town, December 2004
4. Mar del Plata, April 2005

WSIS Working Group Members

• Vittorio Bertola & Izumi Aizu, Chair/member of the At-Large Advisory Committee
• Marilyn Cade, member of the Business Constituency
• Tony Holmes, member of the Internet Service & Connectivity Providers Constituency
• Jeff Neuman, NeuLevel, Inc., member of the gTLD Registries Constituency
• Peter Dengate Thrush, InternetNZ & Chris Disspain, member/Chair of the ccNSO
• Denise Michel & Theresa Swinehart, ICANN
• Axel Pawlik & Paul Wilson, Chair/member of the Regional Internet Registries
• Lucy Nichols, member of the Intellectual Property Constituency
• Ross Rader, member of the Registrars Constituency