Commercial Stakeholder Group

The Commercial Stakeholders Group (CSG) represents the views of commercial Internet users and all relevant sectors of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry, including but not limited to large and small business entities, business organizations, ISPs, intellectual property owners, and IP organizations.

The main mission of the CSG is to see to it that the policies framed by ICANN contribute toward making the Internet a safe place for the Business-to-Business and Business-to-Customers transactions and communications.

Roles and Responsibilities

The main responsibility of the CSG is to monitor the wide policies and procedural issues of ICANN, including the Policy Development Process and related Working Groups. The CSG also provides useful advice to its member Constituencies over issues of adopting or creating any new Constituency-based Charter. The CSG also plans and chairs CSG meetings, including the meetings that involve the other groups within the Non-Contracted Parties House (NCPH).

The Commercial Stakeholders Group and ICANN carry out in-meetings on a regular basis. In these meetings, the CSG provides advice and recommendations with respect to the consensus policies within ICANN that relate to enhancing the technical reliability and stable operation of the internet or the DNS.

Structure

The Commercial Stakeholder Group is the umbrella organizations within the GNSO for the Business Constituency, the Intellectual Property Interests Constituency, and the ISP Constituency.

Membership

CSG membership is open to all parties recognized under Article X of the ICANN Bylaws, which are:

• Internet Service and Connectivity Providers, represented by the Intellectual Property Constituency
• Commercial and Business Users, represented by the Business Constituency
• Intellectual Property Interests, represented by the ISP Constituency

Members do not have to pay any kind of fee for membership in the CSG.

GNSO Council

Six members of the CSG are selected to serve as part of the GNSO Council. Two members are drawn from each of the Stakeholder Group's three Constituencies.

The current appointees are:

Commercial and Business Users

• Zahid Jamil, from the Asia Pacific region, October 2009 - October 2011
• John Berard, from the North American region, December 2010 - end annual meeting 2012

Intellectual Property Interests

• Kristina Rosette, from the North American region, October 2009 - end annual meeting 2011
• David Taylor, from the European region

Internet Service and Connection Providers

• Wolf-Ulrich Knoben, from the European region, October 2009 - through the annual meeting in 2011
• Jaime Wagner, from the Latin American region, October 2009 - through the annual meeting in 2011

See also

• NCSG

Commercial Stakeholder Group. Represents the full range of large and small commercial entities of the Internet, including the Business Constituency, Intellectual Property Constituency and the Internet Service Providers and Connectivity Providers Constituency (ICANN Bylaws).

Internet Service Provider

Generic Names Supporting Organization. Develops and recommends to the Board substantive policies relating to generic top-level domains and other responsibilities set forth in the Bylaws (ICANN Bylaws).