May 26, 2010

.Com Gala - San Francisco

On May 26, 2010, comedian Dana Carvey and VeriSign hosted a celebration of the impact 25 years of Internet innovation has had on our society.

San Francisco Gala Event host - Dana Carvey

Dana Carvey, San Francisco Host

The 25 Years of .com Gala was a chance for pioneers of the Internet to come together to celebrate the ".com 25". Scott McNealy, Co-Founder, Sun Microsystems and one of the honorees, introduced a video honoring the .com25. Selected by a distinguished panel of some of Silicon Valley's most important observers, the .com 25 honored the remarkable innovators, entrepreneurs and companies whose inspiring contributions were fundamental in shaping the Internet and, thereby, forever changing the way we think and act as individuals and as a society.

Also honored at the event were the Internet’s domain pioneers. Without these registrars, the Internet might be unsearchable, but they bring order to the chaos. Presented by Mark McLaughlin, President and CEO, VeriSign, 10 registrars took the stage to receive the pioneer award.

Mark McLaughlin, VeriSign CEO

Not just looking back, but forward as well, VeriSign unveiled details of four $75,000 research grants designed to assist those with the promise to shape the next 25 years of .com through improvements to Internet security, infrastructure, applications or internationalization. Announced by Peter Dengate-Thrush, ICANN Chairman, these grants will be awarded later in the year to qualified participants, including academics, researchers and non-profit organizations.

Peter Dengate Thrush, Announcing the grants