Organization is considering its options due to possible travel restrictions.
ICANN today responded to rumors about postponing next February’s meeting in Morocco by saying it has not yet made a decision. However, it confirmed that it is considering a postponement related to the Ebola outbreak.
While Morocco itself is not at the center of the outbreak in Western Africa, host officials are concerned that future travel restrictions might limit the ability for people to attend the meeting from other African countries.
This is not the first time ICANN has had to make a tough decision about whether to go forward with a meeting. In 2010, there were calls to relocate a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya due to security concerns. ICANN went ahead with the meeting, but a number of would-be participants attended remotely or in a satellite location in the United States.
I’m not aware of anyone who attended that meeting who was affected by violence.
ICANN had previously relocated another meeting scheduled for Kenya due to unrest.
Acro says
ICANN is attempting to minimize the impact of its decision, when the article that broke the news says the decision has already been made.
http://www.le360.ma/fr/economie/ebola-un-autre-grand-evenement-annule-au-maroc-23745
Andrew Allemann says
It sounds like the movement is coming from the host country more than the government. Given this, I don’t see any reason for ICANN to “minimize the impact”, it’s not like it’s bad PR for them to have to cancel/postpone based on the request of the government.
Rubens Kuhl says
I think the decision has been made that if Morocann government doesn’t allow all ICANN attendees regardless of origin country, they will cancel. ICANN statement looked like an ultimatum for such government, a “or else” type of communication.
Bret Fausett says
The entire point of traveling around the world, rotating among the five geographic regions, is to encourage participation from residents in the host region. If you hold a meeting in Africa and no one from Africa can attend, you might as well do it at a more convenient location for the non-African attendees.
fred Nor says
Well said and rational. I have seen postings that the US is behind this or icaann is nervous, Yada yada. The Morrocan govt is imposing a travel restriction and ICANN is not exactly so powerful they can over rule a government (yet)