Internet authority appoints Roberts as president

NEWS The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) - the organisation now in place to handle global Internet naming issues - has appointed guru Michael Roberts as its interim president. Roberts has been involved in a number of influential Net organisations including the research project exploring the next generation of Internet technology, Internet2, and Educomm - a group of high-tech colleges and universities in the US. He also founded the non-profit making Internet Society. Icann replaces the old Iana naming organisation and is the result of months of debate between the US and the rest of the world over who should control global domain naming. Roberts' role is to ensure that Icann remains open and accountable.