Address Supporting Organization

Type:	Supporting Organization
Founded:	1999
Website:	ASO.ICANN.org
Key People
Louie Lee, Chair Alan Barrett, Vice-Chair Naresh Ajwani, Vice-Chair Dmitry Kohmanyuk, Member Fiona Asonga, Member Jean Robert Hountomey, Member Tomohiro Fujisaki, Member Dr. Kenny S. Huang, Member Jason Schiller, Member Ron da Silva, Member Sebastian Bellagamba, Member Hartmut Glaser, Member Francisco Obispo, Member Hans Petter Holen, Member Wilfried Woeber, Member

ASO is the acronym for Address Supporting Organization, which is one of the supporting organizations that was formed, according to ICANN's bylaws, through community consensus. The main objective of the ASO is to review and develop Internet Protocol recommendations, address policy, and advise the ICANN Board.

Overview

It was created in 1999 and the members of ASO represent the Address Council. Each RIR appoints 2 members through their regional policy forums, and another member comes from each RIR's executive board.

ASO History

In July, 1999, when the three Regional Internet Registries which existed then, APNIC, ARIN, and RIPE NCC submitted their proposal for the creation of the ASO on the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding; which allows for the creation of a body such as the ASO as an extension of the NRO.

ICANN approved the proposal at its meeting in Chile, and the ASO was subsequently created in October, 1999, when the representatives of APNIC, ARIN, RIPE NCC and ICANN signed the MoU. LACNIC was later recognized as the 4th RIR and it signed the agreement on October 30th, 2002. The Memorandum of Understanding was modified in October, 2004, and signed by ICANN and the NRO, which signed on behalf of all the RIRs. When ICANN decided to recognize AfriNIC as the fifth global RIR the representatives of AfriNIC signed the MoU, and it was incorporated as the 5th NRO member.

ASO Address Council

The main responsibilities of ASO Address Council are:

1. Fulfilling its role in the global policy development process based on the requirements included in this process;
2. Maintaining communication with ICANN and providing recommendations related to various policies and RIR recognition;
3. Ensuring full support, guidance and advice for ICANN's Board related to the allocation policy for number resource;
4. The development of procedures for business management and support their responsibilities especially in the case of Address Council Chair.

ICANN Board members

The ASO AC elects two members to the ICANN Board. Ray Plzak was re-elected in 2012. He was up for reelection but also faced competition from Eric Brunner-Williams, Martin Levy, and William Manning. The ASO will vote in May, 2012.

Kuo-Wei Wu was elected in 2011 and his terms expires in 2013. The election process is close to completion.