Governments and Regulators Gather to Discuss the Future of The Internet

16 September 2009 - Government and regulatory bodies from Europe, Middle East and parts of Central Asia will meet to discuss issues surrounding the governance and operation of the Internet at a roundtable meeting in Amsterdam on 21st September.

Hosted by the RIPE NCC, it is expected that delegates from 18 countries will attend the one-day event, which aims to provide guidance on how representatives from government and industry can participate in the deployment of critical Internet infrastructure and the development of policies relating to key Internet governance issues including:

• Developments in measuring and encouraging the deployment of IPv6
• Update on the work of the RIPE NCC's law enforcement agencies task force
• Update on the activities of the RIPE Cooperation Working Group
• The Internet governance landscape, post Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between ICANN and the US Government.

Speakers at the event will include a range of government, industry and regulatory representatives. Axel Pawlik, RIPE NCC Managing Director comments, "As key players in ensuring effective and responsible development of the Internet, we are committed to creating opportunities for governments and regulatory bodies to discuss key issues such as Internet governance and IPv6 adoption, in light of IPv4 scarcity and, ultimately, its running out some time in 2011."

The event takes place on Monday, 21st September at the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel.

About the RIPE NCC

Founded in 1992, the RIPE NCC is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation that supports the infrastructure of the Internet. The most prominent activity of the RIPE NCC is to act as a Regional Internet Registry (RIR) providing global Internet resources and related services to a current membership base of around 6100 members in 75 countries.

These members consist mainly of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunication organisations and large corporations located in Europe, the Middle East and parts of Central Asia. As one of the world's five RIRs, the RIPE NCC performs a range of critical functions including:

• The reliable and stable allocation of Internet number resources (IPv4, IPv6 and AS Number resources)
• The responsible storage and maintenance of this registration data
• The provision of an open, publicly accessible database where this data can be accessed.

The RIPE NCC also provides a range of technical and coordination services for the Internet community. These services include the operation of K-root (one of the 13 root name server clusters), the Deployment of Internet Security Infrastructure (DISI) and DNS Monitoring (DNSMON).

As a result of its established position in the Internet industry, the RIPE NCC has played an important role in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), European Union (EU) workshops and government briefings on key issues in the current Internet landscape.
More information about the RIPE NCC is available at: www.ripe.net.

More Information

For media enquiries please contact:
Lucie Smith/ Kersti Klami at Racepoint Group UK
Tel: 0208 752 3200 / Email: ripencc@racepointgroup.com