FIBA - International Sport Federations act to secure new .sport internet domain

DENVER (PAC) - FIBA Secretary General, Patrick Baumann, Elected First PAC Chairman IRB Secretary General, Mike Miller, Elected Vice Chairman
Denver, USA (March 23, 2009): The .sport Policy Advisory Council (PAC) held its inaugural meeting on the opening day of the SportAccord Conference in Denver, USA.

The PAC has been established by the international sports family to provide assistance to dotSport LLC in domain name policy development, should dotSport LLC prevail with its application to administer the .sport top-level domain (TLD) for the global sport community.

The PAC's remit includes eligibility and other related policies that will govern the global sport community's exclusive space on the Internet.

The PAC is made up of a number of key figures from the global sport community including representatives of International Federations, experts from the Internet, media and telecommunications.

At the meeting Patrick Baumann, Secretary-General of International Basketball Federation, International Olympic Committee member and Head of GAISF New Media Committee was unanimously elected Chairman of the PAC. Mike Miller, Secretary General, International Rugby Board, was also unanimously elected as Vice Chairman.

Chairman Baumann commented: "With the Internet being such an important part of our lives and ICANN's stated goal of expanding the domain space, which means adding potentially hundreds of new top-level domains to the Internet domain name system in the coming years, the PAC will be the 'voice of sport' in the .sport policy development process. The PAC will play a key role in ensuring that the .sport Registry policies meet the community's expectations."

Mr. Miller added: "Sport stands at an important crossroads vis-à-vis engaging new generations of fans in a wired world. The PAC is working closely with dotSport LLC as it proceeds in its effort to gain the right to manage .sport because we support the notion of a new platform for innovation, exposure and e-commerce to serve the international Sport family and, equally important, millions upon millions of sport fans the world over."
The Policy Advisory Council members (in alphabetical order): Martin Axford (Head of Online Operations, English Premier League); Patrick Baumann (Secretary General, FIBA; Head of GAISF New Media Committee, IOC Member); Joel Bouzou (Secretary General, Modern Pentathlon); Richard Bunn (Chairman, RBI Network); Tom Dielen (Secretary General, International Archery Federation); Jan Fransoo (President, IKF; President, ARISF); Ron Froehlich (President, IWGA); Hagen Hultzsch (Former Management Board Member, Deutsche Telekom and former ICANN Board Member); Horst Lichtner (Secretary General, IIHF; Secretary General, AOIWF); Mike Miller (Secretary General IRB); Dennis Oswald (President, FISA, President, ASOIF); Eric Saintrond (Secretary General, FISU). Representing dotSport LLC, Ronald N. Andruff, President, CEO and Chairman.
Ends

Notes to editors:

About Patrick Baumann: Patrick Baumann, Secretary-General of FIBA, Head of GAISF New Media Committee and International Olympic Committee member was unanimously elected Chairman of the PAC. Mr. Baumann, a Swiss national, holds a law degree, a Masters in sport administration, and an MBA as well as a number of coaching/instructor/supervisor degrees in the sport of basketball. He became the Secretary-General of FIBA in January 2003 following his service as Deputy Secretary-General of the association from 1995 to 2002. Over the years, Mr. Baumann has become one of the most respected leaders in the international sports community. He was a member of the Evaluation Commission for the Olympic Games 2008 of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and has recently been appointed as member of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games 2012 in London.

About Mike Miller: Mike Miller, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General of the International Rugby Board (IRB) and the Managing Director of Rugby World Cup Limited was unanimously elected Vice Chairman of the PAC. Joining the IRB in March 2002, Mike has over two decades of experience in the media and sports business. He has worked in newspapers, radio, television and the electronic media, becoming the Head of Sport at Channel 4 UK and then the Controller of Television Sport at the BBC. At both organisations he was responsible for all sports editorial output and for all sports rights negotiations. He was also a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Sports Group Executive Bureau. Mike's experience outside sport includes three years as Channel 4 (U.K.) Commissioning Editor for the Internet.

About ICANN: Since the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) founding ten years ago as a not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization dedicated to coordinating the Internet's unique domain name system, one of its foundational principles has been to promote competition and choice in the domain name marketplace while ensuring Internet security and stability. ICANN has stated that applications to administer new top-level domains (TLDs*) such as .sport will be accepted in late Q4 2009.

About dotSport LLC: dotSport LLC is an applicant for the .sport Internet top-level domain. In support of international sports federations' relentless dedication to develop and improve their highest-caliber athletes, while ever-expanding the ranks of enthusiasts and fans, dotSport LLC, through two separate operating units, will deliver an Internet domain name registry and social network/digital media environment that together will empower all sports organizations to broaden awareness of their sport, while establishing a means to generate fresh revenue streams through the simple act of enrolling their fans. dotSport LLC's anticipated digital environment will enable international sport federations to preserve and prosper from apposite control over their collective rights. dotSport LLC is a New York-based, privately held Limited Liability Company.
* TLDs refer to domain name suffixes such as .com, .org, .net, .mobi and .uk.

For further information contact:
Ron Andruff
ra@dotSportLLC.com
+1 212 481 2820 x 11