ICANN|ARCHIVES

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

The Policy Issue Briefs below are basic introductions to important areas of Internet policy development that are being addressed by the ICANN community's bottom-up, consensus based, policymaking structure. They are designed to accommodate newcomers to ICANN, as well as ICANN issue veterans who may desire basic information on an unfamiliar issue.

Whether a newcomer or veteran, we encourage you to go beyond these introductions and learn more about the work of the ICANN community. To facilitate this, links to information on current Policy development activities are provided in the left side-bar of this webpage, and we have included in each Issue Brief URLs to additional information. We also invite you to receive regular updates on ICANN policy development activities via e-mail by subscribing to the monthly ICANN Policy Update. To subscribe, simply visit the ICANN Subscription page, enter your e-mail address, and then click on the ICANN Policy Update.

International participation and collaboration are essential to the success and effectiveness of ICANN's policy development activities today, but success in the future will not be possible without the commitment of volunteers like you from around the world. Whether you represent the Internet interests of a nation, a group of individual Internet users, a company, or an organization that would like to become more involved in the issues, there is a place for you at ICANN where you can help shape the future of the Internet.

Thank you for your interest and participation in ICANN policy development.

Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) - June 2008 [PDF, 448 KB]

New gTLDs - June 2008 [PDF, 168 KB]

WHOIS - January 2012 [PDF, 232 KB]