InternetNZ has won its bid for New Zealand to host a meeting of Icann, the private sector organisation responsible for coordinating policy relating to Internet domain names and IP addresses.

The proposal was put forward earlier this year and relates to a meeting scheduled for March 2006.

"We are delighted that we will be having this opportunity to host an Icann meeting." says InternetNZ executive director Pete Macaulay.

"It will provide a great opportunity for New Zealanders to attend, without the cost of overseas travel. It also will bring to New Zealand [more than] 500 of the leading people involved with the internet including Icann chairman and ? TCP/IP co-creator Vint Cerf.?

Cerf also visited New Zealand last year.

The meeting will be held from March 27?31, 2006, and will primarily be at the Wellington Convention Centre and the Duxton Hotel.

It is not just one meeting, says president Keith Davidson, who led the bidding committee, but a collection of around 20 separate but related meetings for registries, registrars, country-code managers, intellectual property lawyers, internet users and government representatives.