The President of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Dr. Paul Twomey, has recently established an ICANN Working Group during the preparatory discussion on the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), to be held this month in Geneva.
The main purpose behind establishing such a working group is to advocate ICANN and the private sector leadership on the Internet since several developing countries call for entrusting intergovernmental organization such as a UN body or the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) with responsibilities of governing the Internet instead of ICANN or the private sector.
On the other hand, several developed countries prefer that the private sector represented by ICANN maintain the lead on the Internet.
Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGO) as a member in ICANN Business Constituency (BC), and Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC) along with various international organizations, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), some registrars and business companies backup the second proposal.
Mr. Charles Shaban, the Executive Director of the Regional Office at Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property (AGIP) was elected as a member to the ad hoc group on WSIS. It is worth mentioning that the elected group consists of 20 members from around the world