Internet NZ Former President Does Well

Thu, 23 Dec 2004

From: InternetNZ, www.internetnz.net.nz

InternetNZ (The Internet Society of New Zealand) is delighted that's its immediate past-president, Peter Dengate-Thrush, has been elected to the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN.

Dengate-Thrush, a Wellington based barrister, was president of InternetNZ from 1999 to 2001, and chairs its international affairs committee. He is also the president of the Asia-Pacific Top Level Domain Association.

ICANN was created in 1998 to co-ordinate policy relating to domain names and IP addresses. InternetNZ, the .nz country code manager, is a member of ICANN's country code supporting organization which elected Dengate-Thrush in a ballot open to all country code managers who have joined the supporting organization.

Peter Dengate-Thrush has been involved with ICANN from the beginning, having been a key participant in meetings which established ICANN, and since its establishment as a voice for ICANN to operate transparently and democratically. He also fought for many years for the principle that country code managers, such as InternetNZ, are responsible to their local Internet community in terms of policies, and that ICANN should only have a co-ordinating role. This principle has now been accepted.

The election result has to be ratified by the country code supporting organization council, as a formality, and then Dengate-Thrush will take up his position on the Board of 15.

"I am grateful for the vote of confidence that country code managers have shown in me, by electing me to the ICANN Board. I am looking forward to the challenge of being a member of the Board and helping ensure that ICANN provides excellent service to country code managers and other stakeholders." said Peter Dengate-Thrush.

"At a time when the United Nations is debating whether governments should be more involved in the 'governance' of the Internet, I am pleased to be able to have the opportunity to serve as a director of ICANN, which brings the private sector and governments together in a forum which is not controlled by Governments alone."

"InternetNZ is delighted that Peter has been elected as a director of ICANN. He has been an incredibly successful advocate for country code managers like InternetNZ, to ensure that local Internet users retain control over their local domain name registry. With ICANN having also decided to hold its March 2006 meeting in Wellington, this means that once again New Zealanders are punching above their weight in terms of influencing important international organizations." said InternetNZ president Keith Davidson.

ENDS