Top 14 in ‘14: i2Coalition Celebrates Its 2014 Accomplishments

This year has been an exciting one for the i2Coalition! In the past 12 months, we’ve accomplished a great deal both on a domestic and global scale. Internationally, we showed our ongoing support for a multistakeholder process and cemented our role as the unified voice of the Internet infrastructure industry. In the U.S., we continue our educational efforts on Capitol Hill and we are making a difference in our fight for Internet freedom!

As 2014 comes to a close, it’s important to reflect on the year and all that we’ve achieved. Thank you to all of our members and supporters for your help throughout 2014 in accomplishing our goals. To celebrate 2014, I’ve included a list of the top 14 accomplishments of the i2Coalition (in no particular order).

1. Working Groups.  This past year, we launched our Internet Governance Working Group, which is the third Working Group we have created since our 2012 launch. In addition to Internet Governance, our Public Policy and Industry Best Practices groups have done tremendous work to help us achieve our goals and to address special and ongoing projects.
2. Members. We’ve grown from 42 to 70 members since our launch in September 2012. A big thank you to our members for your continued support! The i2Coalition could not be successful without your help!
3. Internet Education Day on Capitol Hill. Earlier this year, we successfully coordinated our second education day and organized another “Internet 101” class to Congressional staffers… despite the weather!
4. Industry Allies. We continue our collaboration with diverse groups such as EuroISPA, ECO, M3AAWG, and NCMEC to work on projects that help make the Internet a better, safer place.
5. Earned Media. In addition to placing regional opinion editorials from member companies, we received national press coverage on PBS, and in major publications such as, Time, The New York Times, Bloomberg News, The Washington Post, Politico, The Hill; we also see regular coverage in industry news sources such as TechCrunch and the WHIR.
6. Our Team. We work with a solid group of professionals and have expanded our team to three full-time staff members to focus on Operations, Membership, and Community Management. The i2Coalition Board of Directors has grown to 11 members. The Board does a great job at steering the direction of our organization and setting goals. In addition to myself, Board members include: Co-founder and Public Policy Working Group Chairman David Snead, David Bryson of Endurance International Group, Richard Feller of Hedgehog Hosting, Justin Freeman of Rackspace Hosting, Brenk Johnson of SoftLayer, Dennis Johnson of iNet, Andy Mentges of Jumpline, Inc., Aaron Phillips of cPanel, Russ Reeder of Media Temple, Inc., and Mary Anne Wellman of Equinix.
7. ECPA Reform. We assumed a leadership role in the Digital Due Process Coalition (DDP) and delivered key Congressional sponsorships in a collective fight to reform the Electronics Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).
8. International Community. The i2Coalition joined both the ISPCP and BC ICANN constituencies, where we actively participate on behalf of our non-contracted members. In addition, we actively engaged in both the IGF and IGF USA. We also joined ICC-BASIS, where we provide a voice to the Internet infrastructure community within the greater business community on Internet governance issues.
9. Conferences. We placed member company representatives in key speaking roles at conferences around the globe including: CES, SXSWi, TechWeek, WorldHostingDays, DomainX, Data Center World, IGF USA, State of the Net, NNEDV Annual Technology Summit, HostingCon, HostingCon EU, cPanel, and Parallels.
10. New Initiatives. We launched our “CEO Roundtable” program at HostingCon 2014 to connect C-level executives and thought leaders in our industry. In addition, we announced the creation of the Board of Advisors to help guide strategic and operational growth.
11. Cybersecurity. The i2Coalition provided strategic counsel and comments on the proposed NIST cybersecurity framework and continue to monitor and participate in important discussions on surveillance reform.
12. Patent Reform. We led an aggressive advocacy campaign in five key cities to reform the patent system and to curb the patent troll litigation issues that devastate our industry.
13. Net Neutrality. Earlier this year, the i2Coalition submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission fighting for Open Access, which promotes innovation and competition but also protects privacy.
14. Multistakeholder Process. Supporting a multistakeholder process in Internet governance continues to be a top priority for the i2Coalition. Earlier this year, we supported the new leadership at the ITU and provided public comments on numerous ICANN related issues to advance our voice within the multistakeholder model.

I’m proud of all that the i2Coalition has accomplished this year and look forward to an even more prosperous 2015 as we continue to expand our organization and message across the industry and throughout the globe. If you have thoughts on what goals the i2Coalition should embrace for 2015, please email me directly at [email protected].

Do you share our passion and vision for a free and open Internet? Join us today!