January 2006 - council - lists.icann.org

Conflicts of Interest
by Bruce Tonkin 21 Jan '06

21 Jan '06

Hello All, The GNSO Council does not have a conflict of interest policy. The ICANN bylaws do have section on conflict of interest: >From Section 6, Article VI (Board of Directors) "The Board, through a committee designated for that purpose, shall require a statement from each Director not less frequently than once a year setting forth all business and other affiliations which relate in any way to the business and other affiliations of ICANN. Each Director shall be responsible for disclosing to ICANN any matter that could reasonably be considered to make such Director an "interested director" within the meaning of Section 5233 of the California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law ("CNPBCL"). In addition, each Director shall disclose to ICANN any relationship or other factor that could reasonably be considered to cause the Director to be considered to be an "interested person" within the meaning of Section 5227 of the CNPBCL. The Board shall adopt policies specifically addressing Director, Officer, and Supporting Organization conflicts of interest. No Director shall vote on any matter in which he or she has a material and direct financial interest that would be affected by the outcome of the vote." The board has a conflicts of interest committee, see: http://www.icann.org/committees/coi/ The Board's conflict of interest policy (dated March 1999) is available at: http://www.icann.org/committees/coi/coi-policy-04mar99.htm There is not yet a conflict of interest policy for the Council members of Supporting Organisations. Now there is some debate about whether a member of the Council has an equivalent requirement with regard to voting rules as a Board director, as the Council merely makes recommendations - and such recommendations need to be approved by the Board. However I do think that in the interests of openness and transparency that the GNSO Council should follow at least these two concepts in the Board's conflict of interest policy: (1) At least annually provide a standing statement setting forth all business and other affiliations which relate in any way to the business and other affiliations of the ICANN legal entity. (2) With respect to any particular matter then pending before the Council, each Council member should disclose any relationship or other factor that could reasonably be considered to cause the member to be considered to be an "Interested Person," as defined above. Interested person would be basically anyone that has been involved with a legal entity that has a transaction, contract or other arrangement with the ICANN legal entity within the past 12 months. See the Board's policy for further information. Examples could include: - consulting work done for ICANN - consulting work done for a gtld or cctld registry, or current applicant to become a gtld or cctld registry - consulting work done for a registrar - employment with a registry or registrar I recommend that the GNSO Council maintain a page on the GNSO website that carries the annual statement from each Council member. When a new Council member is appointed, I would ask the GNSO Secretariat to request a statement. I would also ask the GNSO Secretariat to contact Council members with regard to updating their statements once a year. I see this being a voluntary initiative as there doesn't seem to be any explicit bylaw requirements. Regards, Bruce Tonkin

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RE: [council] Conflicts of Interest
by Ute Decker 20 Jan '06

20 Jan '06

Hi Bruce, Adding my support for this proposal - we certainly should have a conflict of interest policy and process. I agree this should be on the agenda for one of the next meetings. Ute Decker Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7954 Fax: +44 (0)20 7878 6832 Email: ute.decker(a)ifpi.org Website: www.ifpi.org -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Tonkin [mailto:Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au] Sent: 20 January 2006 05:27 To: council(a)gnso.icann.org Subject: [council] Conflicts of Interest Hello All, The GNSO Council does not have a conflict of interest policy. The ICANN bylaws do have section on conflict of interest: >From Section 6, Article VI (Board of Directors) "The Board, through a committee designated for that purpose, shall require a statement from each Director not less frequently than once a year setting forth all business and other affiliations which relate in any way to the business and other affiliations of ICANN. Each Director shall be responsible for disclosing to ICANN any matter that could reasonably be considered to make such Director an "interested director" within the meaning of Section 5233 of the California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law ("CNPBCL"). In addition, each Director shall disclose to ICANN any relationship or other factor that could reasonably be considered to cause the Director to be considered to be an "interested person" within the meaning of Section 5227 of the CNPBCL. The Board shall adopt policies specifically addressing Director, Officer, and Supporting Organization conflicts of interest. No Director shall vote on any matter in which he or she has a material and direct financial interest that would be affected by the outcome of the vote." The board has a conflicts of interest committee, see: http://www.icann.org/committees/coi/ The Board's conflict of interest policy (dated March 1999) is available at: http://www.icann.org/committees/coi/coi-policy-04mar99.htm There is not yet a conflict of interest policy for the Council members of Supporting Organisations. Now there is some debate about whether a member of the Council has an equivalent requirement with regard to voting rules as a Board director, as the Council merely makes recommendations - and such recommendations need to be approved by the Board. However I do think that in the interests of openness and transparency that the GNSO Council should follow at least these two concepts in the Board's conflict of interest policy: (1) At least annually provide a standing statement setting forth all business and other affiliations which relate in any way to the business and other affiliations of the ICANN legal entity. (2) With respect to any particular matter then pending before the Council, each Council member should disclose any relationship or other factor that could reasonably be considered to cause the member to be considered to be an "Interested Person," as defined above. Interested person would be basically anyone that has been involved with a legal entity that has a transaction, contract or other arrangement with the ICANN legal entity within the past 12 months. See the Board's policy for further information. Examples could include: - consulting work done for ICANN - consulting work done for a gtld or cctld registry, or current applicant to become a gtld or cctld registry - consulting work done for a registrar - employment with a registry or registrar I recommend that the GNSO Council maintain a page on the GNSO website that carries the annual statement from each Council member. When a new Council member is appointed, I would ask the GNSO Secretariat to request a statement. I would also ask the GNSO Secretariat to contact Council members with regard to updating their statements once a year. I see this being a voluntary initiative as there doesn't seem to be any explicit bylaw requirements. Regards, Bruce Tonkin

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ICANN meetings in Wellington New Zealand
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG 20 Jan '06

20 Jan '06

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org] Dear All, Please note that an announcement about the ICANN meetings in Wellington, New Zealand has been posted at: http://www.icann.org/meetings/wellington/ There will be "new gTLD committee" meetings on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 March, 2006, for all councillors. There will be a block booking at an hotel for all council members, which will take into account the Saturady and Sunday pre-meeting days and I will inform you when further details are available. Thank you, Kind regards, Glen -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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Council request for Issues Report, follow-up
by olof nordling 20 Jan '06

20 Jan '06

Dear Council Members, Following the decision by the GNSO Council on Tuesday 17 January to request an Issues Report and the ensuing question put forward regarding potential drafting options, this is to confirm that the report will be drafted by staff and not through outsourcing. Very best regards Olof --------------- Olof Nordling Manager, Policy Development Coordination ICANN 6 Rond Point Schuman, Bt.5 B-1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel.: +32.2.234 7872 Mobile: +32.475.420805 Fax: +32.2.234 7848 E-mail: olof.nordling(a)icann.org www.icann.org

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Bruce Tonkin - General Conflict of interest statement
by Bruce Tonkin 20 Jan '06

20 Jan '06

Hello All, Here is my statement for the record. I am employed full-time by Melbourne IT Limited. Melbourne IT has a registrar accreditation agreement with ICANN. Melbourne IT also has a contractual relationship with most gtld registries (for a current list see http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html), and many cctld registries as a registrar. Melbourne IT holds ten percent of the shares in Neulevel, the operator of the .biz registry. Regards, Bruce Tonkin

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ICANN posts - for information - the GNSO report to the ICANN Board
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG 19 Jan '06

19 Jan '06

[To: liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org; council[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: gnso-dow123[at]gnso.icann.org] http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement1-18jan06.htm ICANN posts GNSO report to the Board on a policy recommendation on potential conflicts between Whois obligations and national laws http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/council-rpt-18jan06.htm 03 January 2006 ICANN is posting - for information - the GNSO report to the ICANN Board (PDF) on the GNSO's 'Recommendation for a Procedure for Handling Conflicts between a Registrar/Registry's Legal Obligations under Privacy Laws and their Contractual Obligations to ICANN'. The policy recommendation was developed by the Whois Task Force of the GNSO and approved by a supermajority vote by the GNSO Council. The Whois Task Force also developed a set of advice to ICANN staff to guide the development of the procedure. If the policy recommendation is approved by the Board, the Board will direct ICANN staff to develop, with the GNSO Council, a procedure which would handle any future conflicts in this area. Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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WHOIS tf Preliminary Report open for Public Comment 19 Jan. - 08 Feb. 2006
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG 19 Jan '06

19 Jan '06

[To: liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org; council[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: gnso-dow123[at]gnso.icann.org] The WHOIS Preliminary task force report on the purpose of Whois and of the Whois contacts http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/prelim-tf-rpt-18jan06.htm is published at: http://www.icann.org/ http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-18jan06.htm http://www.gnso.icann.org/ http://gnso.icann.org/comments-request/ Public comments are invited from 19 January to 08 February 2006. Please submit comments to: <whois-comments(a)icann.org> <http://forum.icann.org/lists/whois-comments/> The archives of the comments are available at: <http://forum.icann.org/lists/whois-comments/> Thank you in advance for your time spent considering this issue and commenting. Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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GNSO Council motion 17 January 2006
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG 18 Jan '06

18 Jan '06

[To: council[at]gnso.icann.org] Dear All, Ahead of complete minutes of the GNSO Council teleconference held on 17/18 January, 2006, please find below the text of the motion passed by the meeting of the GNSO Council. Voting numbers are not included - simply the text of the motion. Item 6: Next steps on policy issues related to proposed .com agreement Proposed motion: That the Council solicit an Issues Report related to the dot COM proposed agreement in relation to the various views that have been expressed by the constituencies. Kind regards, Glen -- Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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GNSO Review: Update
by Liz Williams 18 Jan '06

18 Jan '06

Colleagues Further to last night's call, I have outlined below the progress with respect to the GNSO Review. 1. RFP has elicited three comprehensive and thoughtful proposals from well regarded bidders (and one half one which, for the purposes of choosing the evaluator, has been discounted). 2. Follow up conversations taking place with each of the bidders to confirm understanding of proposals. Should be completed this week. 3. Aiming to appoint independent evaluator by mid next week with view to keeping project schedule on track. 4. Have received some information from constituencies in response to Constituency Questions. Have sent reminders to those constituencies that haven't met deadline for responses. Information already supplied is very helpful. 5. Any further questions, let me know. Kind regards. Liz Liz Williams Senior Policy Counselor ICANN - Brussels Tel: +32 2 234 7874 Mob: +32 497 07 4243

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GNSO Council meeting MP3 recording 17 Jan. 06
by GNSO.SECRETARIAT＠GNSO.ICANN.ORG 18 Jan '06

18 Jan '06

[To: ga[at]gnso.icann.org; announce[at]gnso.icann.org] [To: liaison6c[at]gnso.icann.org; council[at]gnso.icann.org] Please find the MP3 recording of the GNSO Council teleconference, held on January 17, 2006 at: http://gnso-audio.icann.org/GNSO-Council-20060117.mp3 http://gnso.icann.org/calendar/index.html#jan Happy listening! Glen de Saint Géry GNSO Secretariat - ICANN gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org http://gnso.icann.org

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