Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

Rod Beckstrom Named ICANN CEO

Internet founders and leaders are joining industry executives and government officials in praising the selection of Rod Beckstrom as the new Chief Executive Officer and President of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

"Rod Beckstrom has exactly the sort of strong personal and technical background that ICANN needs, as we enter a period of unprecedented growth and change for the Internet," said ICANN's Board Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush, in announcing the appointment. "In addition to his cyber security expertise, he's been a successful CEO of a global enterprise, done NGO work and volunteer work and a bestselling author. It's an extreme understatement to say we are enthused."

Beckstrom is the former Director of the U.S. National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), where he formed an effective working group of leaders from the nation's top six cybersecurity centers spanning the civilian, military and intelligence communities.

The announcement of Beckstrom's selection as CEO occurred at the conclusion of ICANN's 35th international meeting in Sydney, Australia.

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How have your comments influenced the next version of the Applicant Guidebook?

New gTLD and IDN documents published for Sydney meeting

In preparation for the Sydney meeting, a range of documents have been published within a 15-working-day deadline to give the community sufficient time to review them.

A comprehensive summary and analysis of public comments made to the second version of the Applicant Guidebook allows people to see how their comments will affect the next version of the guidebook. Several areas where the guidebook can be amended have been published as excerpts. And two documents have been published dealing with the overarching issues identified earlier in the year. Of particular note is a final report from the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) regarding trademark protection.

Also posted is the third revision to the Fast Track Implementation Plan. This is accompanied by a number of explanatory memos.

The Sydney meeting will be used to develop solutions to the overarching issues. The third version of the Guidebook will be published after the Sydney meeting when solutions to the overarching issues can be included. With that in mind, it is anticipated that applications for new top-level domains will be accepted starting in the first quarter of 2010; and the Fast Track process will begin shortly after the Seoul meeting in October.

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