Country: Channel Islands
LinkedIn:    [Profile Nigel Roberts]
Twitter:    @nigelrbrts

Nigel Roberts is the Founder, Director, and CEO of the Island Networks group of companies,[1] which run the ccTLDs .gg (Guernsey) and .je (Jersey). He was one of the first elected members, representing the ccTLD Constituency, of ICANN's Domain Name Supporting Organisation, which subsequently separated into the GNSO and ccNSO. He has been involved with ICANN since its very beginnings, and was involved in the International Forum on the White Paper.[2]

He has set up a site to detail his legal battles over spam issues with Media Logistics, and more broadly support anti-spam efforts and information dissemination.[3] He won his case against Media Logistics.[4]

Mr. Roberts speaks 4 languages and has lived in 8 different countries. He was involved in creating the British Overseas Internet Society.[5]

Work edit

After graduation, he joined Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) which was, at the time, the second-largest computer company in the world. He worked on PDP-11 (RSX) and VAX/VMS computers on diverse projects, including pioneeering work on the ALL-IN-1 email and office automation package, and X.400 e-mail gateways.

Before founding CHANNELISLES.NET he worked for a number of companies and international organisations throughout Europe as an independent consultant/contractor, including a number of years as a consultant contractor with DEC as well as at BT, SWIFT, and the European Environment Agency.

He is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered IT Professional and one of the first UK engineers to be awarded the pan-European title of European Engineer (Eur.- Ing.)

Together with another ex-DEC employee, he founded Island Networks in 1996, setting up the Channel Islands Registry for the .gg and .je TLDs. Island Networks is based on the small island of Alderney, in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

Honors edit

In 2006 he was made a Fellow of the British Computer Society.

Education edit

Nigel received a B.Sc. Computer Science at Essex University. During his time there he played a minor role as one of a group of students who created the world's first multi-user computer game. In 2006, he obtained a Diploma in English Law from OU/College of Law and went on to be awarded a Qualifying Law Degree (LL.B) with First-Class honours in June, 2008.

Fun Facts edit

His hobbies include flying, radio presenting, and chastising spammers. Nigel has been involved with the Internet for so long that his first email address (as an ARPAnet 'tourist' at MIT) contained no dots. Mr. Roberts ran in the 1997 general election for the UK House of Commons.[6]

References edit