InterNetX calls off participation at 37th public ICANN meeting in Nairobi

As considerable security concerns have been triggered by terrorist threats against the Kenyatta Conference Centre in Nairobi, the German Internet Service Provider InterNetX has decided not to attend the ICANN meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.

(REGENSBURG – NAIROBI, March 2010) – InterNetX GmbH, Silver Sponsor at the 37th public ICANN meeting, has withdrawn its participation at the conference. The reason: The venue for the event, the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, could be the target of a terrorist suicide bombing. According to the US State Department, there are indications that a terrorist cell in Somalia, linked to Al Qaeda, is planning attacks on the US Embassy in Nairobi as well as on Kenya’s largest conference center, where the ICANN meeting is taking place. In the run-up to the conference, the event organizer ICANN also warned of the possible dangers.

"We’re taking these warnings seriously”, says Thomas Mörz, CEO of InterNetX GmbH. “Although the organizers are working in close cooperation with security forces and doing everything in their power to ensure the safety of participants, we absolutely do not want to place our employees in any danger and have decided to set aside our participation at this ICANN conference."

Other notable companies in the domain and Internet branch are also taking the step of keeping away from this ICANN meeting at which, first and foremost, the introduction of new gTLDs is being discussed.