[EURO-Discuss] ALAC

[Patrick Vande Walle]

Adam,

Thanks for asking. I am speaking for myself only here.

This is a FAQ in ICANN circles. We had and still have several ICANN
board members (and now staff), who are also either chapter officers
and/or trustees. As far as I am aware, this did not pose any problem in
this context up to now. I do not see why there could be an issue in the
case of the ALAC.

To me, the ICANN policy on conflicts of interest for the members of the
board could be extended to also cover the ALAC representatives. In the
unlikely event that an ALAC or RALO position would fundamentally
conflict with a one of ISOC, I would just leave the room at the time of
voting, I guess. But there are no general answers.

The case of PIR is simple. It is an independent organization. It funds
ISOC yes, but the funds are mostly used for IETF work and staff, but
nothing goes to the chapters. We do not even get our .org domain name
for free. :-) .  PIR is but one of the gTLD registries. It needs to be
treated with the same objectivity as any other competitor by ICANN and
ALAC.

It is a fact of life that many of us wear different hats. As long as
people are transparent on their affiliations, I am fine with that
because it allows me to take their answers with a grain of salt. I am
much more concerned about undercover lobbyists. In the end, it just a
question of personal values and how easily one can find sleep at night.

But this is mostly theorical. ISOC has always used a very broad
definition of what chapters and officers are allowed to say.  In more
than 7 years, I never had a single instruction about what I was allowed
to say or not, and I am not aware this has ever happened. Be reassured
that, if I ever got that some of pressure put on me, it would be made
public within minutes, along with my resignation.

And BTW, you could also extend the question to Desiree, who will be part
of the Euralo board, while at the same time being a member of the ISOC
board and an employee of a major gTLD technical operator and registry.

Patrick

Adam Peake wrote:
> Do you foresee any situation where your chapter's (i.e. ALS's) 
> obligations to ISOC would require you to put ISOC's interests ahead 
> of the EU RALO and or ALAC?
>
> For example, one could imagine situations where an ISOC position was 
> contrary to that of the EU RALO and/or ALAC, or more extreme, perhaps 
> some discussion regarding ISOC's contractual relationships with ICANN 
> as the steward and beneficiary of .ORG?  Where would your obligations 
> lie?
>   

-- 
Patrick Vande Walle
Check my blog at http://patrick.vande-walle.eu
Jabber me at patrick at vande-walle.eu

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