OTTAWA, August 14, 1998 — As the Internet expands, it opens up new opportunities for electronic commerce, and becomes an important element of economic growth and job creation in Canada and the world. Each and every day, more and more Canadians are getting connected to the Internet.

Without a doubt, the Internet has changed the world. Now, the Internet itself is also in a mode of change. Over the past few months, the United States government has outlined its intention to transfer its role in the technical management of the Internet to a non-profit organization by September 30, 2000.

Since the Internet is truly a global medium, plans to modify its infrastructure will have effects on Canada and other nations. More specifically, changes to the Domain Name System (DNS) will have a major impact on the emerging global framework for electronic commerce, a rapidly growing area in which Canada is positioned to become a world leader.

In light of these considerations, Industry Canada has prepared a draft policy paper entitled Domain Name System Reform and Related Internet Governance Issues. The paper presents an overview of the recent developments with respect to Internet governance and Domain Name System and reviews the various issues from a Canadian perspective. Industry Canada has also established an Ad hoc Committee comprised of representatives from key stakeholder groups to discuss the issues and provide input to the Canadian government. The Committee will be consulting with industry representatives and user communities.

All interested parties are invited to provide their comments on the draft policy paper. All comments should be sent by September 8, 1998.

Comments may be sent by e-mail to the following address: dns.consultation@e-com.ic.gc.ca

Comments can also be sent by fax to the attention of “DNS Consultation”, at (613) 941-1164.

The paper is available on-line at http://e-com.ic.gc.ca

For more information, please contact:

Kim Haaland
Electronic Commerce Task Force
(613) 941-8209