A former director of the US National Cybersecurity Center has been appointed as chief executive officer and president of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Rod Beckstrom’s appontment came as the organization finished its 35th international meeting in South Australia.
The chairman of ICANN, Peter Dengate Thrush, described him as having the strong personal and technical background the organization needs. He said: “It’s an extreme understatement to say we are enthused.” That means, we think, they like him. “He’s been a successful CEO of a global enterprise, done NGO work and volunteer work and is a bestselling author.”
Beckstrom said: “The importance of the Internet as a free flowing source of information is being underscored right now by the events in Iran. It shows the power of human expression through a free and open net.”
A bunch of luminaries endorsed him including Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Vint Cerf and Verisign’s Mark McLaughlin.
