Hi, I'd like to note that Wikimedia has quite some experience in this regard as we have a conference - Wikimania - which is hosted annually by a different group in a different country. We know the problem of Visa very well, having had Wikimania in Europe, US, Israel, Taiwan. I'd like to note that we have people eg. from Iran who made it successfully to both Israel and US - because of cautious in-advance planning. It's not that these people show up on surprise and that we wouldn't imagine that there could be problems with Visas for them. When selecting the Wikimania host country we also evaluate the Visa situation. When making a decision like US, EU or Israel we know that we will have problems and start dealing with them a year ahead (host countries are being selected ~ 1.5 years in advance). I am sure that ICANN - with its professional staff - can do this even better than the volunteers of Wikimedia do. Another note: FIFA is able to press hosting countries to give their representatives free Visas. I am sure that the ICANN can at least try the same, having political influence through its shareholders amd offering a prestigeous event for the hosting country. Regards, Manuel -- Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Lausanne, +41 (21) 34066-22 - www.wikimedia.ch