IP: GROUPS BEGIN PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNET BOARD Edupage, 30 June 2000

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>GROUPS BEGIN PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN FOR INTERNET BOARD
>A handful of public interest groups kicked off a "Become a
>Cyber Citizen" initiative this week. The campaign aims to
>educate and recruit potential voters for the fall election to
>nominate five Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
>(ICANN) board members.  The first election is open to anyone age
>16 or older who has an Internet address and registers by July 31.
>The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Common Cause, and
>the American Library Association are the groups backing
>the initiative.  All three groups have had a somewhat
>rocky relationship with ICANN.  "Internet users need to exercise
>their right to vote to ensure that ICANN's decisions are in the
>best interests of the greater Internet," said CDT Executive
>Director Jerry Berman.  ICANN President Mike Roberts said he is
>glad the three groups are helping the organization reach out
>to voters.  On a related note, ICANN's July 13 meeting in Japan
>will likely address proposals to add new top-level domains.
>(New York Times, 29 June 2000)