Icann goes into election with 150,000 new members

Over 150,000 internet users have signed up to become members of Icann - the organisation in charge of global domain names - as part of the group's largest membership drive.

Over 35,000 users have registered in Europe - 20,475 from Germany, 3,040 from France and just 2,150 from the UK. The largest number of registered voters is from Japan with 38,931 members, followed by China with 33,670 and the US with just under 20,000.

At the beginning of July the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) had just 25,000 worldwide members, gaining 125,000 users in one month alone.

During the last five months Icann has been encouraging users to register to vote in its November elections, when five new board members will be chosen.

Icann chairman Esther Dyson said this is just the beginning. "We're delighted at the level of participation, though somewhat dismayed at the competitive atmosphere that sometimes emerged and the over-hyped expectations of Icann's role," she said in a statement.

According to Icann, the registration process was delayed after an overwhelming number of requests on its site at http://www.icann.org . The organisation said it regretted the problems, but was unable to extend the membership deadline.

After registering at the site users are sent a postal request to fill in and return. The recruitment campaign kicked off in March of this year.