ICANN today confirmed the rumours that the Autumn ICANN meeting will be in Los Angeles, from 29 October to 2 November. Indeed, it was already clear during the Lisbon meeting that no suitable proposal from the Asia Pacific region could fit the needs.

It seems to become increasingly difficult for ICANN to find generous local hosts, wishing to pour half a billion Euros into a meeting with questionable returns for the local Internet industry. Altough the contributions of the usual sponsors like Verisign, PIR and Aflias are an icing on the cake, the bare fact is that the local host needs deep pockets.

Hence, it was bound to happen that ICANN would find no-one willing to host one of its meetings. I am concerned that it may happen more often in the future, unless ICANN would be willing to share the costs with local hosts.

Unfortunately, the visa policy of the US means that many people will not be able to attend the LA meeting, just like they will miss the San Juan one.

For those lucky enough to either have a visa waiver or get a visa, they will face the huge queues at the LAX airport (four hours from check-in to boarding, last November). As they put it, “Complaining or joking about security measures is a criminal offence”. The TSA welcomes you to the Unites States, as long as you shut up. Other organizations suffer the same issue. The recent survey the IETF launched amongst its participants made it clear many of them do not want to hold meetings in the US for the time being.