ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom will be one of the participants of a meeting with the governments happening in Brussels end of February to try and launch the new gTLD program as soon as possible.

ICANN has confirmed the dates for a highly anticipated meeting between its Board and the government representatives of its Governmental Advisory Committee. The meeting will happen in Brussels on Feb 28 and March 1.

Although the meeting will be open to observers and scribed, only Board and GAC members will be allowed to speak.

As Chair of one of ICANN's supporting organisations, the GNSO, I regret the decision not to solicit feedback from our group and from others. There would have been time in the run-up to this meeting for the GNSO to consult with its constituencies and stakeholder groups and, at the very least, prepare a statement.

The meeting is crucial as it aims to identify the remaining differences of opinion between the Board and the GAC on the best way to come to resolution on the new gTLD program.

If, at the end of the meeting, such differences remain, ICANN's bylaws may impose a further round of consultation with the GAC. This would undoubtedly prevent the program from being launched at the next ICANN international meeting, in San Francisco (March 13 to 18).

Read the Brussels meeting announcement here.

President Bill Clinton will guest star at ICANN's 40th international meeting, in San Francisco in March.

ICANN was started by the Clinton administration in 1998. With the California-based organisation returning home for its next meeting, Clinton's presence brings more prestige to what is already expected to be a heavily attended event.

Dubbed the "Silicon Valley" meeting, ICANN 40 is expected to break all attendance records as it draws local Internet professionals and companies on top of the fifteen hundred plus delegates that normally attend an ICANN meeting.

Clinton is expected to keynote at the opening ceremony. But getting the former US president isn't free. "We’ve seen some wildly inflated figures of what President Clinton would be paid to speak," says ICANN staffer Scott Pinzon on the organisation's blog. "His speaking fees are a matter of public record, and you can rest assured that the half-million and million-dollar figures some have reported are way out of line."

However much Clinton is being paid to show up, it won't come out of ICANN coffers. "The fees will be covered by a targeted sponsorship donated specifically for this purpose," adds Pinzon.

ICANN's sponsorship packs have been revamped for the San Francisco meeting, with new levels added such as the Diamond pack, priced at USD 500,000, or the Platinum Elite at USD 250,000! As Verisign is currently the only sponsor listed by ICANN, and the company is shown at Diamond level, it may be providing the "targeted sponsorship" that Pinzon alludes to.

In any case, the SF meetings looks like being a record-breaker for ICANN both in terms of attendance, and sponsorship revenue. Now if only the new gTLD program could be green-lit there, that would make it the perfect event for ICANN.