Increasingly, governments and intergovernmental forums are holding discussions and developing policies, legislations, and regulations that impact the Internet. In some cases, the results of these discussions may impact ICANN's ability to develop policies, run its operations, and fulfill its mission. As governments attempt to regulate the global nature of the Internet and its content, it is becoming increasingly important for ICANN to expand our engagement surrounding potential legislative and regulatory efforts that may impact ICANN's mission or operations.
In April of 2018, we began to identify and regularly report on legislative developments around the world that could have an impact on ICANN. After discussions with the ICANN community, and during the process of developing ICANN's next Strategic Plan, the org began to formalize the next steps in its approach to engagement, after identifying and reporting.
Today, we are publishing a charter titled, "ICANN Organization Engagement with Governments and Standards Bodies." Our approach will be limited to providing technical information on issues, regulations, and legislative efforts that impact ICANN's Mission or Articles of Incorporation. We simply want to identify issues that could impact our ability to work in service of our mission, provide information and education to governments on those issues, and help ensure that lawmakers around the world have the full benefit of our technical expertise.
Anytime we talk about government engagement, we get questions about lobbying, or if we are seeking to influence legislation, a politician or public official on a specific issue. We will not influence or impact the development of any legislation. That is not within our remit. We will comply with local laws and local definitions of lobbying, which vary greatly, so our approach to engagement may also vary depending on the region we are in, and we will not be lobbying.
This isn't something the org will be successful in if we try to do it alone. We're interested in your views on new legislative and regulatory efforts that you hear about, and in hearing your thoughts on how those efforts might impact ICANN and its mission. Please review the draft charter, and if you have feedback, please leave it here in comments or share with your regional Global Stakeholder Engagement representative.
This effort is critical to ensuring that we're prepared for any impacts that legislative or regulatory efforts may have on issues within ICANN's remit, and that lawmakers are prepared for the impacts their policies and regulations may have on their constituents.
