Meet the Executives, Entrepreneurs, and cutting-edge innovators who have positively influenced today’s domain industry business agenda.The names presented here weren’t selected on the basis of fame, net worth, or the accomplishments of yesteryears. Instead my goal was to identify people whose ideas, products, pioneering accomplishments and industry insights have or are changing the world of domaining. A remarkable who’s who of the domain industry.

Vinton Cerf

Former ICANN Chairman/ VP and chief Internet evangelist for Google

Why He Matters: Widely known as the "Father of the Internet," Cerf is the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocols and the architecture of the Internet.Vint Cerf serves as chairman of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Cerf served as founding president of the Internet Society from 1992-1995 and in 1999 served a term as chairman of the Board. In addition, Cerf is honorary chairman of the IPv6 Forum, dedicated to raising awareness and speeding introduction of the new Internet protocol. Cerf served as a member of the U.S. Presidential Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) from 1997 to 2001 and serves on several national, state and industry committees focused on cyber-security. Cerf recently made headlines when he was quoted as saying “Attempts by governments to create a controlling agency for the Internet are likely to fail.”

Rick Schwartz

CEO, President and Cofounder of T.R.A.F.F.I.C.

Why He Matters: Rick Schwartz purchased his first domain name in December 1995 when he paid $100 for LipService.com. Eight years later to the month he sold one, Men.com, for $1.32 million in a deal that was reported worldwide. As one of the early domain pioneers dating back to 1995, he was a pioneer in the history of domain names, and is generally regarded as an expert in the field of web site traffic, flow and valuation.He is also known for being one of the first people to recognize the value of "type in" web site traffic, which is also known as "direct navigation" traffic, referring to domain names that are typed in directly to a web browser's URL text box. Rick’s highly successful T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference is a premier industry event. More information about Rick Schwartz can be found at his blog.

Ron Jackson

Editor and Publisher of DNJournal

Why He Matters: The first domain Ron Jackson registered was MusicParadise.com in 1997. He came into the domain business strictly as a buyer/seller/investor, however having been a journalist, Ron soon recognized that despite this being a business where tens of millions of dollars were changing hands annually, it had no trade magazine. Ron decided to be the voice for the domain industry and put DNJournal.com online New Year’s Day 2003. Today, DNjournal.com is considered the “wall street journal” of the domaining world and Ron Jackson is one of the most highly respected journalists in the industry.

Monte Cahn

Founder and CEO of DomainSystems

Why He Matters: Monte Cahn is Founder and CEO of DomainSystems, Inc., which is the parent company of the domain traffic monetization solution TrafficClub.com, and 9 ICANN Accredited Registrars including industry leading registrar - Moniker.com. He started investing in intellectual property and domain names in 1996 and helped start the first online domain brokerage business on the Internet in 1996.Success includes participating in the industry's first domain name sale for over $1 million dollars with the sale of Wallstreet.com and the industries first $2 million dollar plus domain sale with the sale of Autos.com in 1999. Many feel that these two industry record sales were responsible for dot com buying and selling frenzy that started in late 1999. Monte is also responsible for co-developing the industry's first recognized domain appraisal system to date. Monte Cahn is the host of the new free Internet radio shows 'Domain Masters' on WebmasterRadio.fm and yNotRadio.com that broadcasts each week.

Kevin Ham

The Man Who Owns The Internet

Why He Matters: Trained as a family doctor, Kevin Ham put off medicine after discovering the riches of the domain industry. Since 2000 he has quietly cobbled together a portfolio of some 300,000 domains that, combined with several other ventures, generate an estimated $70 million a year in revenue. His sites receive 30 million unique visitors a month. Kevin is also responsible for working a deal with the government of Cameroon, which owns the .cm country code domain, to forward all non registered domains to his website agoga.com; which take advantage of users who mistakenly type .cm instead of .com.