[NA-Discuss] RESENDING: letter to board on chair of nomcom/conflict of interest

[Alan Greenberg]

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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