LONDON — Peter Dengate Thrush, who chaired ICANN from 2007 through its last meeting in Singapore, has been tapped by Top Level Domain Holdings as its executive chairman.
Dengate Thrush, who has been involved in Internet policy development and governance since 1995, led the ICANN board to approve the.XXX sponsored top-level domain as well as the new generic top-level domains.
London-based Top Level Domain is an Internet registry business that hopes to capitalize on the gTLDs, which allow for dot-brand names such as .Apple, .NYC or .Coke.
Dengate Thrush said the approval of gTLDs were a "major opportunity for the company and its investors, for applicants and for the Internet community."
Top Level CEO Antony Van Couvering said that "Peter is a superstar in our field. We are delighted to have him at the helm."
ICANN already has tapped a new chair to lead its board of director. Steve Crocker, noted for his work on the ARPANET, the Internet's predecessor, in the 1960s and 70s, as well as his involvement with the Internet Engineering Task Force since its inception, was selected for the position last month.