Internet Society
Abbreviation | ISOC |
---|---|
Formation | 1992 |
Legal status | Non-profit |
Purpose | Leadership |
Headquarters | Reston, Virginia[1] |
Region served | Worldwide |
Membership | 50,000 |
Affiliations | Public Interest Registry |
Website | http://www.internetsociety.org/ |
The Internet Society or ISOC is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. It states that its mission is "to assure the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world".[2]
The Internet Society has offices near Washington, DC, USA, and in Geneva, Switzerland. It has a membership base comprising more than 130 organizational and more than 55,000 individual members. Members also form "chapters" based on either common geographical location or special interests. There are currently more than 90 chapters around the world.[2]
History
The Internet Society was formed officially in 1992, with one of its purposes being to provide a corporate structure to support the Internet standards development process. Vint Cerf, Bob Kahn, Lyman Chapin released a document, Announcing ISOC, which explained the rationale for establishing the Internet Society. This document also defines the original charter of the organization as follows:
The Society will be a non-profit organization and will be operated for international educational, charitable, and scientific purposes, among which are:
- To facilitate and support the technical evolution of the Internet as a research and education infrastructure and to stimulate involvement of the academic, scientific, and engineering communities (among others) in the evolution of the Internet.
- To educate the academic and scientific communities and the public concerning the technology, use, and application of the Internet.
- To promote scientific and educational applications of Internet technology for the benefit of educational institutions at all grade levels, industry, and the public at large.
- To provide a forum for exploration of new Internet applications and to foster collaboration among organizations in their operation and use of the Internet.[3]
Many of the main forces of the Internet, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), remain very informal organizations from a legal perspective. There was a growing need for financial support and organization structure. The Internet Society was incorporated as a non-profit educational organization which could provide that support structure, as well as promoting other activities that are important for the development of the Internet.
The Internet Society is the parent corporation of the IETF; as such all IETF Request for Comments documents, including those RFCs which describe "Internet Standards", are copyrighted by the Internet Society (although freely available to anyone, including non-members, at no charge). However, the Internet Society itself grew out of the IETF, to support those functions that require a corporate form rather than simply the ad hoc approach of the IETF. In reality, the Internet Society was formed because the IETF Secretariat, which had been operated under NSF contract by staff at the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) would not be supported beyond 1991 by NSF. The then Internet Activities Board sought to create a non-profit institution that could provide financial support for the IETF Secretariat among other things. CNRI served as the first host for the Internet Society's operation.
In 2012, on ISOC's 20th anniversary, it established the Internet Hall of Fame, an annual award whose purpose is to "publicly recognize a distinguished and select group of visionaries, leaders and luminaries who have made significant contributions to the development and advancement of the global Internet".[4][5]
Internet Society today
The Internet Society conducts a great range of activities under three main categories, namely standards, public policy, and education.
Under the standards category, the Internet Society supports and promotes the work of the standards settings bodies for which it is the organizational home: the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG), and the Internet Research Task Force (IRTF). The Internet Society also seeks to promote understanding and appreciation of the Internet model of open, transparent processes and consensus-based decision making.[6]
Under the public policy category, the Internet Society works with governments, national and international organizations, civil society, the private sector, and other parties to promote policies about the Internet that conform to its core values. The following statement illustrates the foundation for the Internet Society's policy positions:
"We envision a future in which people in all parts of the world can use the Internet to improve their quality of life, because standards, technologies, business practices, and government policies sustain an open and universally accessible platform for innovation, creativity, and economic opportunity.[7]
The Internet Society has a prominent function in Internet governance discussions, including significant involvement in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and Internet Governance Forum (IGF).
Under the category of education, the Internet Society pursues its goals by coordinating and delivering hands-on technical training, seminars and conferences on topical Internet issues; supporting local and regional Internet organisations; issuing briefings and white papers on Internet technologies; and funding participation opportunities for Internet experts in developing countries.[8]
The Internet Society also encourages innovation and fresh thinking by providing grants and rewards to relevant initiatives and outreach efforts that address the humanitarian, educational and societal contexts of online connectivity.
The Internet Society is the parent company for the Public Interest Registry, which manages the .ORG top-level domain.
ISOC has joint offices in Reston, Virginia, United States and Geneva, Switzerland. It has also established "Regional Bureaus" for Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, North America and Europe.
The Internet Society helped organize World IPv6 Day, which gathered companies such as Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Akamai Technologies and Limelight Networks as well as ISPs to raise awareness of IPv6 issues such as fragmentation.[9]
Board of trustees
The Board of Trustees of the Internet Society is its governing body. The current list of trustees and their committee memberships is found at the organization's board page.
Chapters
In the following, local chapters are listed in alpha order by nation state. Non geographic chapters are listed within the alpha order.
- Capitulo Argentino de Internet Society - Argentina
- ISOC-AM - Armenia
- ISOC-AU - Australia
- Bahrain Internet Society Chapter - Bahrain
- ISOC BD - Bangladesh
- ISOC European Chapters Coordinating Council - Barcelona - Europe
- ISOC Belgium vzw - Belgium
- ISOC Wallonie - Belgium - Wallonia
- ISOC BJ - Benin
- ISOC BR - Brazil
- Internet Society - Bulgaria
- ISOC BI - Burundi
- ISOC Cambodia - Cambodia
- ISOC Cameroon - Cameroon
- ISOC Canada - Canada - National
- ISOC Quebec - Canada - Québec
- ISOC Toronto - Canada - Toronto
- ISOC Colombia - Colombia
- ISOC CG - Congo
- ISOC DRC - Democratic Republic of the Congo
- ISOC DK - Denmark
- ISOC EC - Ecuador
- ISOC EG - Egypt
- ISOC England - ISOC UK - England
- ISOC Finland - Finland
- ISOC FR - France
- ISOC-GAL - Galicia (Spain)
- ISOC GM - Gambia
- ISOC GE - Georgia
- ISOC DE - Germany
- ISOC Ghana - Ghana
- ISOC GR - Greece
- ISOC Hong Kong - Hong Kong
- Hungary Chapter of ISOC (MITE) - Hungary
- Delhi Chapter of the Internet Society - India - Delhi
- India Chennai Chapter of the Internet Society - India - Chennai
- India Kolkata Chapter of the Internet Society - India - Kolkata
- India Bangalore Chapter of the Internet Society - India - Bangalore
- Irish Chapter of ISOC - Ireland
- Israel Internet Association (ISOC IL) - Israel
- Società Internet - Italy
- ISOC JP - Japan
- ISOC KR - Korea (Republic of)
- ISOC Luxembourg - Luxembourg
- ISOC MY - Malaysia
- ISOC Mali - Mali
- ISOC MU - Mauritius
- Sociedad Internet de Mexico - Mexico
- ISOC-MU - Mauritius
- MISOC - Morocco
- ISOC Nepal - Nepal
- ISOC NL the Netherlands
- ISOC NE - Niger
- ISOC NG Nigeria
- Disability & Special Needs Chapter of ISOC - Non Geographic - Disability & Special Needs
- ISOC NO - Norway
- PICISOC - Pacific Islands
- ISOC PK - Pakistan
- ISOC PS - Palestine
- ISOC Peru - Peru
- ISOCCP - Philippines
- ISOC PL Poland
- ISOC PT Portugal
- ISOC PR - Puerto Rico
- ISOC Polska - Poland
- ISOC RO Romania
- Saudi Arabian Chapter of the Internet Society - Saudi Arabia
- Scottish Chapter of the Internet Society - Scotland - UK
- ISOC SN - Senegal
- ISOC Serbia - Serbia
- ISOC SL - Sierra Leone
- ISOC SI - Slovenia
- ISOC-ZA - South Africa
- ISOC-ES - Spain
- ISOC ANDA - Spain - Andalucia
- AS ISOC - Spain - Asturia
- Aragonese Chapter of the Internet Society - Spain - Aragon
- ISOC CAT - Spain, Andorra and France - Catalan Chapter
- ISOC GAL - Spain - Galicia
- Madrid Chapter of the Internet Society - Spain - Madrid
- Sudan Chapter of the Internet Society (SIS) - Sudan
- ISOC-SE - Sweden
- ISOC CH - Switzerland - Geneva
- ISOC TW - Taiwan
- ISOC TH - Thailand
- ISOC-TT - TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
- ISOC TN - Tunisia
- Istanbul-Turkey chapter - Turkey - Istanbul
- Ugandan Chapter of the Internet Society - Uganda
- ISOC UAE - United Arab Emirates
- Capitulo Uruguay de Internet Society - Uruguay
- Chicago Chapter of the Internet Society - USA - Chicago
- ISOC Hawaii - USA - Hawaii
- ISOC Los Angeles - USA - Los Angeles
- ISOC NJ - USA - New Jersey
- ISOC NY - USA - New York Metropolitan Area
- South Central Texas Chapter - USA - Texas
- Washington DC Chapter of Internet Society - USA - Washington
- ISOC VE - Venezuela
See also
References
- ^ Contact
- ^ a b Internet Society (ISOC) - Introduction to ISOC
- ^ Internet Society (ISOC) All About The Internet: History of the Internet
- ^ About page, Internet Hall of Fame website. Last accessed April 24, 2012
- ^ "Internet gets Hall of Fame, Al Gore honored". CBS News. April 24, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2012.}
- ^ Internet Society (ISOC) - ISOC's Standards Activities
- ^ Internet Society - Public Policy - ISOC's Public Policy Activities"
- ^ Internet Society (ISOC) - ISOC's Education Activities
- ^ World Internet Society IPv6 Day