[Chapter-delegates] Press release: ISOC To Address European Parliamentarians On Importance Of Open Internet Development

[Gerard Ross]

Hello

For your information, here is a press release we shall be issuing  
shortly.

Kind regards
- Gerard

--
Gerard Ross
Senior Communications Manager
Internet Society
Email: ross at isoc.org




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Press release: for immediate release
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ISOC TO ADDRESS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENTARIANS ON IMPORTANCE OF OPEN  
INTERNET DEVELOPMENT

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, 12 NOVEMBER 2008 - The Internet Society's President  
and CEO, Lynn St.Amour will this week join prominent European  
parliamentarians as well as key European decision makers and business  
leaders to discuss future directions for the Internet.

Ms St.Amour is a keynote speaker at the meeting "Towards the Digital  
World in 2025: Ideas and perspectives for Europe", organised by the  
European Internet Foundation (EIF), to be held on Thursday 13  
November, in the European Parliament in Brussels.

The event is intended to bring together high-level perspectives on  
some of the key macro technology trends, policy implications, and  
future governance issues relating to the Internet.

Ms St.Amour will join Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for  
Information Society & Media; Eric Besson, French State Secretary,  
Prospectives & Evaluation of Public Policies & Internet; and Patrick  
Dixon, Founder and Chairman, Global Change, in a keynote session  
entitled "The Internet in 2025: What are the limits?", moderated by  
Erika Mann, MEP and EIF Chair.

"It's a great pleasure to address such high level leaders," said Ms.  
St.Amour. "It is especially encouraging to see the commitment of  
European parliamentarians to take a long term view of open Internet  
development and engagement with diverse stakeholders."

"Also, I have taken due note of the concerns of both Commissioner  
Reding and the Members of the European Parliament to keep consumers'  
choices at the center of Internet development in Europe," Ms St.Amour  
added.

For ISOC, this event builds on the progress it has already made in  
helping governments and regulators appreciate the importance of the  
open model of Internet development. As a global organisation, ISOC's  
efforts have taken place in many national, regional, and international  
events, in particular, the World Summit on the Information Society,  
the Internet Governance Forum, and the recent OECD Ministerial on the  
Future of the Internet Economy (for which ISOC coordinated the inputs  
of many technical community participants).

Frédéric Donck, ISOC's Director of Public Policy explains that the  
topic of the meeting is both fascinating and challenging.

"Many of the most important applications of the Internet today were  
not the product of futurists speculating, but instead arose as  
innovative responses to user needs," said Mr Donck.

"ISOC believes the most crucial contribution governments and policy  
makers can make for the Internet of the future is to protect and  
promote the open, inclusive model of development that has served it so  
well by allowing such innovation to thrive," said Mr Donck. "This  
understanding has implications for many key decisions to be taken soon  
in Europe, such as support for research, education, and innovation, as  
well the new regulatory telecommunications framework, which will be of  
the utmost importance for Internet development in Europe."

The EIF is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan organisation.  
It is led and governed by elected Members of the European Parliament,  
with a mission to help European political leadership be responsive to  
the political, economic, and social challenges of the worldwide  
digital revolution.

Full details of the event are available here:

http://eifonline.ox2.be/en/fiches/events/digitalworld.cfm?event=342


About the Internet Society
---------------------------
The Internet Society is a non-profit organisation founded in 1992 to  
provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and  
policy. With offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is  
dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the  
Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world.

Further details
----------------
Gerard Ross
Senior Communications Manager, Internet Society
E-mail: ross at isoc.org
Telephone: +41-228-071-444 x2261
4, rue des Falaises
CH-1205-Geneva
Switzerland