Internet Governance Forum Leader Joins ISOC

Markus Kummer, the long-time Swiss diplomat who has headed the secretariat to the multistakeholder Internet Governance Forum, has become vice president for public policy at the Internet Society in Geneva.

The IGF was an outgrowth of the 2003-2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Despite being forbidden from being a venue for real negotiations since its creation in 2005, the IGF was a place for open discussions of a range of current topics related to policy on the internet. It is currently in line for another 5 year stint, but with a new, government-only focus. The WSIS was organised by the UN International Telecommunication Union.

Kummer, who starts on 1 February, had recently stepped down from the IGF before reaching retirement age in August 2011. The Internet Society (ISOC) has played a neutral role in internet matters, and Kummer will work on issues such as privacy, cybersecurity and network neutrality, ISOC said in a release.

Intellectual Property Watch interviewed Kummer shortly before the creation of the IGF (IPW, Inside Views, 22 September 2005).