[governance] FW: [kictanet] ICANN says it will tackle conflict-of-interest concerns

Wed Mar 14 13:31:04 EDT 2012

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> Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:44:52 +0000
> From: alice at apc.org
> Subject: [kictanet] ICANN says it will tackle conflict-of-interest concerns
> CC: kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com
> 
> ICANN says it will tackle conflict-of-interest concerns
> The agency has been criticized for perceived conflicts of interest within
> its board and staff
> 
> By Rebecca Wanjiku | Computerworld Kenya | 13 March 12
> http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/internet/3343962/icann-says-it-will-tackle-conflict-of-interest-concerns/
> 
> The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has
> appointed an outside team to review its code of conduct following
> complaints of conflict of interest within the board and staff.
> 
> 
> Rod Beckstrom, ICANN president and CEO, announced Monday that Jermyn
> Brooks, Aron Cramer and Mervyn King will review and provide advice about
> the ethics and conflict-of-interest policies at ICANN. "I believe it is
> time to further tighten up the rules that have allowed perceived conflicts
> to exist within our board," Beckstrom said in his opening address at
> ICANN's latest public meeting, taking place in San José, Costa Rica.
> 
> "This is necessary not just to be responsive to the growing chorus of
> criticism about ICANN's ethics environment, but to ensure that absolute
> dedication to the public good supersedes all other priorities," he said.
> Beckstrom's remarks followed criticism of ICANN's conflict-of-interest
> policy by the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information
> Administration (NTIA) Over the weekend, the NTIA cancelled a request for
> proposals (RFP) to operate the functions of the Internet Assigned Names
> Authority (IANA), saying it had not received satisfactory bids. It said it
> was adding new requirements for the RFP, including a "structural
> separation of policymaking from implementation," a "robust companywide
> conflict of interest policy," and "consultation and reporting requirements
> to increase transparency and accountability to the international
> community." IANA is currently a department of ICANN. Its functions include
> managing the DNS Root Zone and assigning generic top-level domains
> (gTLDs). The NTIA plans to reissue its RFP at a future date. In the
> meantime, ICANN will continue to manage its operations until September.
> The Internet community has been raising concerns about conflicts of
> interest at ICANN ever since the previous board chairman, Peter Dengate
> Thrush, left ICANN to chair Top Level Domain Holdings, a company expected
> to benefit from the planned introduction of new gTLDs. "Every director is
> required to file a statement of conflict of interest, which will be
> reviewed to ensure all potential conflicts are visible," ICANN board
> chairman Steve Crocker said Monday. The application process for the new
> gTLDs has heightened the call for transparency and accountability within
> ICANN, mainly because the people who serve the community are also business
> people who expect to do business with ICANN. "ICANN must place commercial
> and financial interests in their appropriate context," Beckstrom said.
> "How can it do this if all top leadership is from the very domain name
> industry it is supposed to coordinate independently?" Beckstrom said the
> new gTLD program has received 254 registrations online, with every
> registrant entitled to request 50 different gTLDs. The application
> deadline is April 12 and ICANN will reveal the applicants May 1. ICANN is
> expected to have a new CEO by July, when Beckstrom steps down. He cited
> potential conflicts of interest as one of the potential challenges for any
> new ICANN leader. "A more subtle but related risk is the tangle of
> conflicting agendas within the board that would make it more difficult for
> any CEO to meet the requirements of this deeply rewarding and sometimes
> frustrating job," he said. In the coming week, ICANN is expected to
> continue discussions on the new gTLD application process as it relates to
> brand protection and address issues of cybersecurity, IPv6 deployment and
> security and resilience of the Domain Name System.
> 
> 
> 
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