ICANN participation

Catalan Chapter of the Internet Society and
Asociaci�n Costarricense de Derecho Inform�tico

Catalan Chapter & ACDI 

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Two more organizations were certified on 23 April as "At-Large
Structures" by ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee: the Catalan Chapter of the
Internet Society, based in Spain; and Asociaci�n Costarricense de Derecho
Inform�tico, based in Costa Rica.

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The Catalan Chapter of the Internet Society currently has 124
private individual members, located primarily in Catalonian speaking areas
(Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Valencia) under the Spanish State territory, the
South of France, and the sovereign state of Andorra. The group's mission is �to
increase awareness of the Internet and constructive and responsible ways to use
it. As part of the international Internet community we do our part to assure the
open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all
people throughout the Catalan speaking areas and throughout the world. Promote
Internet usage, free exchange of information and freedom of speech; ensure
Internet for schools and protect privacy.� More information is available at http://www.alac.icann.org/europe/applications/isoc-cat-19jan04.htm and
www.isoc-cat.org.

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Asociaci�n Costarricense de Derecho Inform�tico is a new
professional society with 19 founding members and 30 incoming members who are
all attorneys specializing in new technologies and Internet law in Costa
Rica.  ACDI's goals include to:
investigate and promote the investigation of the legal problems derived from
Internet; investigate and promote the investigation around the application of
technologies in legal matters; and advise and offer consultative opinions to the
government and other public institutions in the decisions that involve new
technologies and Internet Law.  More information is available at http://www.alac.icann.org/latin/applications/acdi-02dec03.htm and
http://www.hess-cr.com/~acdi/ .

At-Large Involvement

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The purpose of this certification is to recognize that a group
meets the necessary criteria to involve individual Internet users (called
�At-Large�) at the local or issue level in ICANN activities, and that the groups
will support their individual members' informed participation in ICANN efforts
that affect end-users.

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They join 10 organizations based in the Africa, Asia, Europe, and
Latin America regions that already have At-Large Structure certification:

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Societa' Internet (Europe)

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Arab Knowledge Management Society (AKMS)
(Asia/Australia/Pacific)

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Alfa-Redi (Latin America/Caribbean Islands)

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F�rderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft e.V (FITUG)
(Europe)

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Internet Society Luxembourg A.S.B.L. (Europe)

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Internet Society Bulgaria (Europe)

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Moroccan Internet
Society (Africa)

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Anais AC (Africa)

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Sudan Internet Society (Africa)

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Internet Society - Finland (Europe)

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Additionally, ICANN's At-Large Advisory Committee is conducting
due diligence on five more recent At-Large Structure applications from:

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Democratic Republic of the Congo Internet Society (Africa)

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Internet Society Vasudhay Kutumbhkum (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

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Internet Society Taiwan Chapter (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

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At Large @ China (Asia/Australia/Pacific)

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National Information Infrastructure Enterprise Promotion
Association 
(Asia/Australia/Pacific)

At-Large Structure Certification

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Any group (either existing organizations or newly formed for this
purpose) that enables informed participation by individual Internet users in
issues addressed by ICANN can apply for At-Large Structure certification.
Interested groups complete and submit to the ALAC a short application form, and
groups that meet the minimum requirements are certified.

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At-Large Structures are expected to have a role in the development
of ICANN policies. Their members receive information on, and are asked to share
their views on, ICANN's work and Internet developments, and they have
opportunities to participate in ICANN policy-making groups at the regional and
international levels.

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A variety of civil society organizations have expressed interest
in participating in ICANN as At-Large Structures, including community networking
groups, professional societies, consumer advocacy groups, and academic
organizations. A complete list of At-Large Structure applicants and their status
is posted at http://www.alac.icann.org/applications/.

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ICANN launched this method for At-Large involvement last year to
give the world's Internet users a stronger voice in how the Internet develops.
The growing involvement in ICANN of geographically and professionally diverse
user groups is intended to help ensure that ICANN's consensus-development
efforts best reflect the interests of the global Internet community.  The ALAC, for example, is soliciting input
and offering recommendations on ICANN's work on such matters as
privacy of personal Whois data and the introduction of new domain names, and
At-Large delegates help select members of ICANN's Board and other leadership
positions.

At-Large Advisory Committee

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The At-Large Advisory Committee was created last year to provide
advice on activities of ICANN that relate to the interests of individual
Internet users, and also to help the At-Large community throughout the world
organize for structured involvement and informed participation in ICANN. 
ALAC members include: Africa -- Pierre Dandjinou, Clement Dzidonu, Sunday
Folayan; Asia -- Hong Xue, Izumi Aizu, Toshifumi Matsumoto; Latin America --
Sebastian Ricciardi, Erick Iriarte, Tadao Takahashi; Europe -- Vittorio Bertola,
Thomas Roessler, Roberto Gaetano; and North America -- Esther Dyson, and Wendy
Seltzer.  Biographies of these individuals, and information on the ALAC,
can be found at alac.icann.org. ALAC
members can be reached at committee@alac.icann.org.

ICANN

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ICANN is a non-profit organization responsible for coordinating
the global Internet's systems of unique identifiers, including the systems of
domain names and numeric addresses that are used to reach all computers on the
Internet. ICANN's mission is to ensure the stable and secure operation of these
unique identifier systems, which are vital to the Internet's operation. In
addition, ICANN coordinates policy development related to these technical
functions. For more information, see http://www.icann.org.