Earlier today ICANN announced that they had appointed Baher Esmat as the new Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) office in Istanbul. He'll be replacing Nick Tomasso who was in the role since 2017. Tomasso took on the role in addition to being in charge of ICANN's meetings team. The appointment of Baher Esmat is quite logical. He's been with ICANN for … [Read more...] about ICANN Appoints New Chief to Istanbul Office
icann
Olivier Crépin-Leblond Awarded by ICANN
The ICANN meeting taking place this week is "virtual" so several of the more formal ceremonies which would normally be part of the event are not taking place, or at least not in their normal format. While if the meeting was being held face to face there would have been a short ceremony to announce the awarding of the "Community Excellence Award" that couldn't happen this time … [Read more...] about Olivier Crépin-Leblond Awarded by ICANN
No ICANN Meeting in Person This Year
ICANN normally holds in person meetings three times a year, with the locations rotating between the global regions, as defined by ICANN. In 2020 the organisation was meant to be meeting in Cancun, Kuala Lumpur and Hamburg. However due to COVID-19 the meeting in Cancun was cancelled a few weeks before it was meant to take place and a cutdown version of the meeting took place … [Read more...] about No ICANN Meeting in Person This Year
ICANN and the Risk of Lobbying
The sale of .org was made public back in November of last year. ISOC probably thought that selling off PIR and the .org domain registry would be relatively simple and I sincerely doubt they expect the backlash that the announcement triggered. There have been thousands of articles written about the proposed sale. If you made the mistake of setting up an alert for mentions of … [Read more...] about ICANN and the Risk of Lobbying
ICANN’s Government Group Wants to Slow Whois Work
Since ICANN woke up to the very large conflicts between its policies and contracts and privacy law there have been some groups that have been pushing for ICANN to find a swift resolution. One of the more vocal among them was the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), which is made up of representative of governments from around the world. Now, however, it's clear that … [Read more...] about ICANN’s Government Group Wants to Slow Whois Work
ICANN 68 Goes Virtual
Under normal circumstances ICANN holds three public face to face meetings per year. This year, as we all know, is not a normal year and the circumstances are anything but normal. So I sincerely doubt anyone will be surprised that the next ICANN meeting will not be held "in person" but solely online. ICANN's Board met yesterday and made the decision that many had been … [Read more...] about ICANN 68 Goes Virtual
Staff Changes in ICANN Executive Team
ICANN announced earlier today that there has been a change in their Executive team. Cyrus Namazi who headed up the Global Domains Division (GDD) has left the organisation. Theresa Swinehart, Senior Vice President, Multistakeholder Strategy & Strategic Initiatives, will be in charge of GDD for the interim. That sounds like they'll either be promoting someone … [Read more...] about Staff Changes in ICANN Executive Team
ICANN Cancels Paris Events
ICANN formally announced last night that both the GDD Summit and DNS Symposium scheduled to be held in Paris, France in May have been cancelled. The DNS OARC workshop which was slated to take place in the same venue the weekend after the ICANN events has also been cancelled. The GDD Summit is usually more business and operational focussed than the main ICANN meetings, so … [Read more...] about ICANN Cancels Paris Events
ICANN Hires New Head of Eastern Europe & Central Asia
While the COVID 19 virus has pretty much taken over the news in recent weeks, other things are still happening, albeit at a slower pace. ICANN announced Monday that they had hired Mikhail Anisimov to head up their activities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. "Mikhail Anisimov is a well-known domain industry professional in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and a … [Read more...] about ICANN Hires New Head of Eastern Europe & Central Asia
ICANN Cancels Cancún Meeting Switches to Online Event
ICANN's Board of Directors met yesterday evening and decided to cancel the upcoming meeting in Cancún, Mexico. The meeting will be held instead online, though this has never been done before. "This is a decision that the ICANN Board has been considering since the outbreak was first announced and it is one that we haven't taken lightly," said Maarten Botterman, ICANN Board … [Read more...] about ICANN Cancels Cancún Meeting Switches to Online Event