Matthew Shears Appointed as ISOC'S Director of Public Policy

Reston, VA - 2nd September 2005 - The Internet Society (ISOC) today announced the appointment of Matthew Shears as its Director of Public Policy. This key appointment, which is effective immediately, will further strengthen ISOC's role as an independent and effective advocate for the core values of an open and accessible Internet.

In this newly-created position, Matthew will drive ISOC's policy initiatives in support of the society's Strategic Operating Plan. These include broad outreach activities aimed at helping governments and policy makers design and maintain policies to ensure that the Internet remains an open and universally accessible platform for innovation, creativity, and economic opportunity.

Matthew has extensive experience in public policy, advocacy, communications, business development and strategy in both the public and private sectors. After working as a standards and market entry adviser at the US Mission to the EU in Brussels, he worked as AT&T's EMEA Regional Director for Public Affairs, drove public affairs in Europe for the Seattle-based satellite Internet start-up Teledesic, and then moved to Cisco, where he created the EMEA Government Affairs team.

Lynn St. Amour, ISOC's President and CEO, said, "The public policy issues facing the Internet are now more complex and more visible than ever before. Matthew's experience and insight will be invaluable as ISOC moves forward to develop new approaches to help policy makers meet these new challenges."

###

ABOUT ISOC

The Internet Society

is a not-for-profit membership organization founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington, DC, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and other Internet-related bodies who together play a critical role in ensuring that the Internet develops in a stable and open manner. For over 13 years ISOC has run international network training programs for developing countries and these have played a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and networks in virtually every country connecting to the Internet during this time.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS:

Peter Godwin Communications Manager, Internet Society E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@isoc.org

4, rue des Falaises
1205 Geneva Switzerland