Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn't have one global Internet.

ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit partnership of people from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers.

ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet.

Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

ICANN receives input from governments through the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). The GAC’s key role is to provide advice to ICANN on issues of public policy. In particular, the GAC considers ICANN's activities and policies as they relate to the concerns of governments, particularly in matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and national laws or international agreements. The GAC’s meetings are usually held three or four times a year in conjunction with ICANN meetings. Currently, the GAC is regularly attended by approximately 50 national governments, distinct economies, and multinational governmental organisations such as the ITU, UNESCO and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

Membership of the GAC is open to all national governments, distinct economies as recognised in international fora, and multinational governmental organisations and treaty organisations. For more information about the GAC see http://www.gac.icann.org.

Important for governments to be represented on the GAC

The Internet is a global phenomenon and opens huge opportunities for all countries’ economies and citizens. However the world is not uniform. Each country and distinct economy has different laws, different attitudes, and different policies and the GAC seeks incorporate the diversity of these views in its advice to ICANN. Participation in the GAC allows countries and distinct economies to influence policies concerning the management of the DNS and related functions, which are important to the overall operation of the Internet. Because the GAC brings together a diverse collection of knowledge and expertise, GAC members have also realised significant benefits from participating in the Committee.

What has the GAC done recently? The GAC has considered and provided advice on a variety of issues, including:

• What issues and public policy considerations ICANN should take into account when selecting new generic top level domains;
• Guidance on matters related to the development of multilingual domain names (domain names in scripts other than the Latin alphabet such as Chinese, Cyrillic, and Arabic for example) including intellectual property protection, consumer protection, and cultural issues;
• Principles for guidelines aimed at co-ordinating future domain name testbed environments, consistent with the need to foster innovation and creative experimentation; and
• Principles for the sound management and administration of ccTLDs, including the development of the GAC document Principles for the Delegation and Management of Country Code Top Level Domains , which gives guidance on the roles of ICANN, governments, and registries in the operation of ccTLDs

The GAC is actively seeking new members in order to increase global awareness and participation in important Internet management issues and to ensure that the GAC’s advice to ICANN reflects the diversity of the international community. In particular, the GAC is keen to increase participation from countries and distinct economies where the Internet is still developing.

Participation in the GAC

The GAC currently has 109 members, about 40 of which are active participants. It is open to participation by representatives of national governments each of which may appoint a representative and an adviser to the Committee. Membership is also open to distinct economies as recognised in international fora, and multinational governmental organisations and treaty organisations on the invitation of the GAC Chair.
The Internet is playing an increasingly important role in nations' economies and it is important that Governments are involved in the decisions that decide how the Internet is managed and operated. The Domain Name System is the infrastructure that underpins how the Internet works and has many public policy implications.

To ensure all relevant voices are heard, it is important to increase participation of ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee so that ICANN - and the Internet - becomes truly internationalised.

The GAC encourages all prospective members to inquire about participation. Please contact the GAC Secretariat for further information about the role and activities of the GAC:

Dr. Govind    
GAC Secretariat
1016, Electronics Niketan
6 CGO Complex, Lodi Road
New Delhi 110 003
India
Tel: +91 11 24301 116
Email: gacsec@gac.icann.org

Web Pages for Further Information

Information regarding ICANN, including meeting materials, policy documents, supporting organisation details, information regarding upcoming meetings, and other information is located at http://www.icann.org.

Information regarding the ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), including past communiqués and other documents, is located at http://www.gac.icann.org.