The ICANN Board decided on March 14, 2002, to create a "robust At-Large mechanism for meaningful, informed participation by Internet users." According to Denise Michel, executive director of the ICANN At-Large Study Committee, the Board "called upon the ICANN community to devote sustained energy to the creation of At Large structures built upon bottom-up, self-organized, local Internet community institutions and other organizations that meet the general criteria of openness, participation, and self-sustainability."

According to the Board's resolution, the initiative to create an at-large entity is part of a set of internal reforms intended to create "(a) workable mechanisms and procedures that enable meaningful opportunities for participation by the full range of Internet users, including individuals, academic institutions, large and small businesses, non-commercial entities (including consumer groups), and other non-governmental organizations, [and] (b) an appropriate role for those interests in ICANN's coordinating and management structures."

ICANN is a private sector, non-profit corporation under contract with the U.S. Commerce Department with technical management responsibilities for the Internet's domain name and address system. According to Michel, the goal of the at-large initiative "is to represent one set of interests, thus helping to ensure that ICANN's policies truly reflect the needs, interests and rights of all its stakeholders. This in turn will contribute to the stability of the domain name system and attract broader public support for ICANN over time."

InSITeS will serve on a temporary At-Large Organizing Committee that is being formed to guide, encourage and help with bottom-up preliminary At-Large organizing efforts. In that capacity, we will help focus on the following goals:

1. Conducting outreach, identifying individuals/groups worldwide interested in relevant Internet user issues and At-Large organizing;
2. Identifying objectives and interests relevant to Internet users and ICANN's mission and managing surveys and discussions; and
3. Establishing mechanisms for coordination and cooperation and policy development among At-Large structures and with ICANN stakeholders, including supporting the Board's directive on a role for At-Large in ICANN's coordinating and management structures.

It will become part of the InSITeS mission to engage in outreach to, and education of, individual Internet users about ICANN and ICANN issues, and to help involve individual Internet users, aggregate views, and identify relevant Internet user priorities.

Additional information about the At-Large initiative is available at www.at-large.org.