ICANN meeting In this, the second part of our exclusive diary from the ICANN meeting in Uruguay, top man at New.net Andy Duff goes on a tour of the troops and catches a lift ride with one of the enemy before the festivities kick off tomorrow.

• Steve Chadima [Head of marketing at New.net] sat beside a member of the Governmental Advisory Committee on the plane; conversation was not exactly free flowing until Milton Mueller (http://istweb.syr.edu/~mueller) passed, looked from one to the other and said: "Hmmm... that could be an interesting conversation" - which broke the ice. Useful and constructive conversation followed.
• We weren't at the ccTLD meeting today (pre-ICANN) but reliably informed that the tone is definitely one of setting up their own co-operative venture to serve their own needs, and establish the strong position that they deserve... we'll undoubtedly hear more on this tomorrow.
• IP constituency met yesterday and had "alternate roots" as one of their minuted items... interested to see what that discussion was all about. We wait with bated breath.
• Coffee with Danny Younger (chair of the DNSO GA). Danny's what ICANN *should* be all about. An intelligent articulate ordinary guy (works at Register.com as a customer services guy) trying to build bottoms-up processes to involve as many as possible in ICANN's work. Not liked by some on the Names Council and within the ICANN staff for that very reason.

  Also met with the guy who is sponsor of the .coop sponsored tld and his lawyers. Surprise, surprise, they are also astonished at the slowness of response and understanding of the issues involved with releasing a sponsored tld... this could turn out to be the surprise topic of the next four days.

• After a great beefy dinner, we finished with a few drinks on the 25th floor bar. The inner sanctum of the Names Council (the usual suspects) having a pre-ICANN meeting (tomorrow's business concluded today?). Friendly waves from us, forced nods from them - situation normal.
• By chance we found ourselves in the lift with one of the ICANN Board directors this morning on the way to the conference. We've been emailing many within ICANN (including Board members) over the last couple of weeks to introduce ourselves, set up meetings and generally initiate discussion and participation within the ICANN process. No names... but he looked at us and said with a wink and a nod: "Oh, it's you. We've been ordered not to speak to you." The lovely open ICANN. Stand by for chocks away and the staged show tomorrow.
  

Andy

Previous diaries

The insider's guide to the ICANN meeting (http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/21533.html)