Global input and ideas will be on the rise at the 42 nd Public Meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers thanks to ICANN’s on-going Fellowship program. Now in its fifth year of successful capacity building and participation in the ICANN community, the Program’s mission is to identify members of the Internet community who either have not previously been able to participate in ICANN processes and constituent organizations, or those who require further exposure to the Internet community and its work but cannot travel and attend a meeting without financial support. Outreach is focused on the less developed regions of the world, in order to help create a broader base of knowledgeable constituents who will become the new voice of experience in their regions and beyond. As a reminder about the process, applications for each meeting are assessed by an independent selection committee, and priority is given to applicants who: meet minimum program requirements; are current residents of developing and least developed nations in the five ICANN regions; and who are interested in participating in ICANN and its supporting organizations, advisory committees or stakeholder groups. An effort is made to include more participants from the region that the current meeting is being held in, as long as minimum requirements have been satisfied. Additionally, all confirmed fellowship participants must comply with the terms and conditions of the Fellowship program, as outlined at http://www.icann.org/en/fellowships/terms-and-conditions.htm . As stated within these terms and conditions, ICANN is a California non-profit public benefit corporation incorporated in the United States and must therefore comply with all the laws and regulations of California and the United States. Fellows are responsible for obtaining all travel visas once accepted into the program. ICANN will only purchase tickets for Fellows after all necessary documentation has been obtained and Fellows demonstrate that they have obtained all necessary travel visas. Once all of the requirements for travel are met, the Fellowship program arranges airfare and hotel, as well as provides a stipend, following successful completion of the Fellowship program, to assist with some meeting costs incurred. Recipients will be expected to actively participate in and contribute to ICANN processes during and after the meeting. As always, registration for ICANN’s meetings is free for anyone wanting to attend. The meeting in Dakar, Senegal will be held from 23-28 October 2011. For this 14th round of the Fellowship Program, 19 fellows have been selected from 18 countries, chosen amongst the 78 applications received. Seven of the fellows are alumni from at least one of the past 13 programmes; 10 are first-time attendees to any ICANN meeting, 2 individuals have attended past meetings, but are first time fellows. There is representation from all sectors including civil, government, academia, and from business or user groups. Also included in these sectors are representatives of country code supporting groups. You will find this current list of participants at: http://www.icann.org/en/fellowships/ The 43 nd ICANN Public Meeting will be held in San Jose, Costa Rica (Latin America region) from 11-16 March 2012. The online application process for that meeting opens on 30 September 2011; look to the ICANN homepage for that announcement. About ICANN: To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer – a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn’t have one global Internet. ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers. ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet. This ICANN announcement was sourced from: www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-18aug11-en.htm

Neustar have advised ICANN they will be increasing the wholesale price of .BIZ domains, the price they charge registrar’s, by $0.55 or approximately 7.5 per cent as of 1 February 2012. This means the price will increase from the current$7.30 to $7.85 per year and is in line with the registry agreement Neustar have with ICANN. Of course, registrants can avoid the fee increase by registering their .BIZ domain names before 1 February through America Registry here .

Opening for an ALAC Representative from the North American Region Application Period Ends 25 July 2011 Following the resignation of the ALAC representative from the North American region, appointed by ICANN’s 2010 Nominating Committee (NomCom), the 2011 NomCom invites Statements of Interest for this important ICANN leadership position. Interested individuals from the North American region are invited to submit a Statement of Interest to become an At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) representative for the remainder of the current term, ending at the ICANN Annual General Meeting in 2012. The Statement of Interest form is online nomcom.icann.org/apply/ North American citizens who submitted SOIs in 2011, or carried forward previous SOIs into the 2011 process, will be invited to update their statements and have them considered by the NomCom. ICANN’s geographic regions are explained in this www.icann.org/en/meetings/montreal/geo-regions-topic.htm document. The At Large Advisory Committee (ALAC) is the ICANN body responsible for representing the voice of the end user in policy and operational discussions. For more information on the work of the ALAC see www.atlarge.icann.org/ . To fill this interim vacancy the NomCom is seeking an accomplished person of integrity, objectivity and intelligence who has: a commitment to ICANN’s mission and an understanding of the potential impact of ICANN decisions on the global Internet community an understanding of the DNS and the impact of ICANN policy on end users demonstrated capacity for thoughtful group decision-making and sound judgment an interest in bottom-up consensus policy building in a real-life environment an ability to chair or otherwise provide leadership and support for a multi-stakeholder group working to reach consensus a willingness to serve as a volunteer, without compensation other than the reimbursement of certain expenses the ability to work and communicate in English The following knowledge, qualities and experiences are specifically sought: experience and skills that bear on gathering, understanding, and communicating the interests of individual users and in group decision-making consumer protection and or consumer advocacy experience particularly in communications/telecommunication sector specific experience and/or expertise in internet-related policy development leadership experience in local or regional internet-related or DNS policy experience in gTLD or ccTLD activities ability to bring to the ALAC a National or Sub-Regional Internet user view or perspective not currently represented in the North American RALO or existing ALS demographic strong local networks that will positively enhance the current ALAC and Regionally focused strategic and project planning as they relate to the wider ICANN Strategic plan and ALAC Improvement Implementation More information about the position can be found in the 2011 NomCom “leadership positions” document nomcom.icann.org/positions-2011.htm Statements of Interest for the position described above can be submitted through an on-line application form at nomcom.icann.org/apply/ or by contacting nomcom2011@icann.org . More information regarding the Nominating Committee can be found at nomcom.icann.org/ . Applications will be considered in confidence and should be received by 25 July 2011 for full consideration. Selections will be announced as soon as possible thereafter and the successful candidate will take up the position immediately. The successful candidate will be invited to participate in ICANN #42 Meeting to be held in Dakar, Senegal, 23-28 October 2011. Background: The Nominating Committee is designed to function independently from the ICANN Board, Supporting Organizations, and Advisory Committees. Nominating Committee members act only on behalf of the interests of the global Internet community and within the scope of the ICANN mission and responsibilities assigned to it by the ICANN Bylaws. Nominating Committee members contribute understanding of the broad interests of the Internet community as a whole, and knowledge and experience of specific Internet constituencies who have appointed them. The challenge for the Nominating Committee is to integrate these perspectives and derive consensus in its selections. Although appointed by Supporting Organizations and other ICANN entities, individual Nominating Committee members are not accountable to their appointing constituencies. Members are accountable for adherence to the ICANN Bylaws and for compliance with the rules and procedures established by the Nominating Committee. Successful candidates are not remunerated, although direct expenses incurred in the course of duty will be reimbursed. Fluency in English is a requirement for all positions. These positions may involve significant international travel, including personal presence at periodic ICANN meetings, as well as regular telephone and Internet communications. This ICANN announcement was sourced from: www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-20jul11-en.htm

Web Hosting Company Provides Hosting to GTP Solutions Ltd Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) April 25, 2011 ORCS Web Inc., a managed hosting provider specializing in Microsoft Windows solutions, has announced that GTP Solutions Ltd, a leading provider of account cards and prepaid cards, has completed the migration of their server hosting solution to OrcsWeb. Contis Group Ltd, the parent company of GTP, determined that moving the hosting from an in-house solution to a managed hosting provider would be the best option in planning for and meeting their long range business requirements

ICANN is today posting a proposed draft renewal agreement for the operation of the .NET registry. The current .NET Registry Agreement is due to expire on 30 June 2011. ICANN’s gTLD registry agreements provide for presumptive renewal so long as certain requirements are met

In the annals of baseball terminology, the phrase ‘sweet spot’ refers to an area on the bat roughly three inches in diameter. If ball meets bat at that precise location and at the right moment – POW! The result is a perfect transfer of energy: from your legs through your hands, into the bat and then ball

The US government is opposed to proposals for the International Telecommunications Union to have a veto over ICANN board decisions, said Larry Strickling at the welcome ceremony for the ICANN Silicon Valley-San Francisco meeting on Monday. “The United States is most assuredly opposed to establishing a governance structure for the Internet that would be managed and controlled by nation states,” said Strickling, the Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and Administrator, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce, in one of several suggestions in his address at the ceremony