ICANN to tackle Internet policy

November 2004

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) meeting in Cape Town next week will expose South Africans to the Internet's international flavour, with many issues expected to have a direct impact on the country.

This is the third gathering of the ICANN constituency this year. It is the first to be held in Africa south of the equator and the third to be held on the continent. The most recent meeting was in July in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

UniForum SA, the administrator for the .co.za domain name, will host the meeting, while the communications department will stage a gala event for delegates. Those scheduled to attend include ICANN chairman and “Father of the Internet” Vinton Cerf, and its president and CEO, Paul Twomey.

The meeting will publicly recognise ICANN's three-year strategic plan, the re-delegation of the .za domain name and the public recognition of the Regional Internet Registry for Africa – AfriNIC.

ICANN's board has already approved the establishment of AfriNIC and the re-delegation of the .za Domain Name Authority.