Swedish telecom chief to steer web body ICANN to independence

[flowers]

http://news.yahoo.com/swedish-telecom-chief-steer-body-icann-independence-162730237.html

San Francisco (AFP) - Sweden's Goran Marby was Monday named head of the body that manages Internet addresses, pledging to uphold checks and balances as it steps out from under US government oversight.

Marby, director-general of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, will take charge in May of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as the nonprofit transitions to become an independent non-governmental body.

In an exclusive interview with AFP, Marby described ICANN as evolving and vowed to keep it on course under what is known as "multistakeholder" governance, bringing in business and academia as well as government users of the Internet.

"The stakeholder model has proven its strength," said Marby, who will succeed Fadi Chehade as president and chief executive at ICANN.

"It is important for me to continue that evolution. That is the way of going forward right now."

While the transition will not change how the Internet works, it will help reassure users, businesses and governments about its integrity, according to supporters who see it as a symbolic move towards asserting the web's independence.