International Forum on the White Paper
 | |
| Type: | Association |
| Industry: | International Forum |
| Founded: | 1998 |
| Website: | IFWP.org |
| Key People | |
| Prof. Tamar Frankel, Chairman | |
IFWP (International Forum on the White Paper) is a global initiated composed and sponsored by different group of associations that represents the interest of the internet stakeholders. Its primary objective is to coordinate international meetings relevant to the proposed transition of the management of the Domain Name System (DNS) from the US government to a private non-government organization.
The IFWP was formed after the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) released the White Paper in 1998 and asked for public comments regarding the governments proposal to improve the technical management of the internet by transferring the management to a new non-government corporation.[1]
Professor Tamar Frankel of the Boston University of Law chaired the first IFWP meeting held at Reston, Virginia. The meeting discussed the significant issues discussed in the White Paper such as the creation of a new private corporation to manage the DNS, new domain name registry and dispute resolution process and the issues on internet security and privacy. Three other meetings were initiated by IFWP in Geneva Switzerland, Singapore, and Buenos Aires, Argentina. There were almost one thousand internet stakeholders who participated in the meetings.[2]
IFWP Regional Forums
The IFWP was divided into four regional forums:
- IFWP Americas-serves North and South American internet community
- IFWP Europe-represents internet community in Europe, Africa & Middle East
- IFWP Asia & the Pacific- serves the internet community from Asian countries and the Pacific region
- IFWP La & C-represents Latin America, Caribbean and other Spanish speaking countries[3]
Steering Committee
The members of the Steering Committee are different non-government, legally constituted organizations supporting the initiatives of the IFWP. The Committee's primary responsibility is to facilitate the conferences of the forum. Member organizations include:
- Arizona Internet Access Association (AIAA)
- Association for Interactive Media (AIM)
- Association of Internet Professionals (AIP)
- Association of Online Professionals (AOP)
- Asia Pacific Internet Association (APIA)
- Camara Argentina de Bases de Datos y Servicios en Linea (CABASE)
- Canadian Association of Internet Providers (CAIP)
- Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT)
- Commercial Internet eXchange Association (CIX)
- Computer Software and Services Association (CSSA)
- Confederation for British Industry (CBI)
- European Internet Service Providers Association (EuroISP)
- Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)
- International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
- Internet Alliance (IA)
- Internet Law & Policy Forum (ILPF)
- Internet Service Providers Consortium (ISP/C)
- Internet Service Providers of the UK (ISPA-UK)
- Internet Society (ISOC)
- Society for College and University Planning (SCUP)
- US Council for International Business (USCIB)[4]