[NA-Discuss] RESENDING: letter to board on chair of nomcom/conflict of interest
Alan Greenberg
alan.greenberg at mcgill.ca
Mon Mar 12 19:17:37 UTC 2012
Beau, this one did get through.
In relation to this issue, everyone might want to look at
http://domainincite.com/beckstrom-slams-his-own-board-over-conflicts/.
Despite the title, it is also in relation to the NomCom.
Alan
At 12/03/2012 01:58 PM, Beau Brendler wrote:
>Hello...
>
>Several people have told me that the messages I sent out to
>NA-DISCUSS yesterday were blank. I don't know why that is, and it
>doesn't appear to have affected the messages I sent to the RAA list.
>So I hope this one gets through.
>
>Thanks
>
>Beau
>
>-------------------
>Greetings, NA.
>
>As discussed in previous NA meetings, here is a draft of a
>communique I believe the region should send to the ICANN board
>regards conflict of interest concerns about Rob Hall serving as
>nomcom chair-elect (and, of course, chair). Please make suggestions
>as soon as you are able, I would like to discuss this at the Monday
>NA meeting and make it public while a number of us are here in Costa
>Rica. Maybe we can get a little press out of it.
>-------------------
>DRAFT
>
>Dear Members of the ICANN Board:
>
>The North American Regional At-Large Organization writes to you with
>concern on the matter of Rob Hall's forthcoming appointment to
>chair-elect of ICANN's nominating committee.(1) It is the opinion of
>the North American region this appointment is not in the best public
>interest, and runs counter to the spirit of ICANN's Affirmation of
>Commitments, specifically point 3 and section 9.3. (2)
>
>Mr. Hall is founder and CEO of Momentous, one of the Internet's
>largest registrars, with $30 million in annual revenues. (3) When
>Hall begins his term, he will join other industry executives such as
>Bruce Tonkin, vice president of the ICANN board, chair of the board
>governance committee and senior executive of Melbourne IT, a
>registrar, and Ram Mohan, board governance committee member and
>senior executive at Afilias, a registry that grew from a competition
>initiative among registrars, in the ICANN stratosphere of most
>powerful positions. (4, 5, 6)
>
>Chairmanship of the nominating committee is one of the least
>accountable yet most influential positions in the ICANN leadership
>structure. We believe public credibility will be further strained by
>the appointment of yet another industry executive -- especially one
>who has spent millions of dollars creating a "front group" and
>purporting to sue Verisign in the public interest in 2005 (5) -- to
>a position of unchecked power. ICANN can ill afford another
>conflict-of-interest embarrassment so soon after the departure of
>ICANN board chair Peter Dengate-Thrush, who lobbied hard for
>launching gTLDs in a public-interest role, then left for an
>executive post at new gTLD consultant and registrar Minds + Machines
>faster than a revolving door can make a full turn.
>
>The NA-RALO has raised concerns about Mr. Hall's conflict of
>interest in public arenas before, to be told he has made assurances
>he won't seek to unduly influence the process. (To our knowledge,
>such assurances have not been made public.) Frankly, they offer
>little comfort, given Mr. Hall's record of activism in the community
>when it promotes the interest of his company. On more than one
>occasion Mr. Hall has even browbeaten members of the at-large
>community who didn't agree with his opinions (one such incident was
>recorded on video here at glennmcknight.net).
>
>We urge the ICANN board to acknowledge the current
>conflict-of-interest situation and respectfully ask Mr. Hall to
>resign his position from the chairmanship of the nominating committee.
>
>Beau Brendler, chairman, NA-RALO
>
>1. http://icannwiki.com/index.php/Rob_Hall
>2.
>http://www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/aoc/affirmation-of-commitments-30sep09-en.htm
>3. op. cit. Hall profile.
>4. http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/tonkin.htm
>5. http://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/mohan.htm
>6. http://info.info/index.php?q=information/history-of-info
>7. http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2009/06/05/07-16151.pdf
>------
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