[bc-gnso] ICANN and Ethics

[Phil Corwin]

Thanks Mikey, much appreciated.

It's taken several weeks and multiple drafts to get it to the point where I was comfortable publishing it. (Of course, I'm sure I'll think of something else I wish I had said or clarified now that it's posted - but at a certain point it's done.)

Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal
Virtualaw LLC
1155 F Street, NW
Suite 1050
Washington, DC 20004
202-559-8597/Direct
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"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey

From: Mike O'Connor [mailto:mike at haven2.com]
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 4:31 PM
To: Phil Corwin
Cc: bc-gnso at icann.org
Subject: Re: [bc-gnso] ICANN and Ethics

wow.  a tour de force.

thanks for taking the time to develop that piece, Phil.  great job.

mikey


On Sep 19, 2011, at 1:51 PM, Phil Corwin wrote:


FYI, I have just published a rather lengthy opinion piece title "ICANN and Ethics" at CircleID.com<http://CircleID.com> -- http://www.circleid.com/posts/icann_and_ethics/

I began working on this shortly after last month's Washington Post "revolving door" story, and it has been through multiple edits. The article notes that the views expressed therein are solely my own and not those of any client, including ICA.

The piece is very careful not to allege that anyone associated with ICANN has acted in an unethical manner. However, it does take the position that the business community generally benefits from its multi-stakeholder model rather than a governmental regulator under UN auspices; that ethical questions about ICANN threaten its independence and perhaps even survival in a period of multiple major challenges; that its present ethics policy is narrow and outdated; and that the Board should proactively undertake an initiative to update and improve its ethics policies. In passing, I also note that many parties beyond "contracted parties" now have an interest in ICANN policy decisions that can raise ethical questions.

When I wrote the piece I was aware that NTIA was looking at baking ethics provisions into the IANA contract renewal. Since then the EC papers have become available, which also propose stringent (and somewhat misguided) ethics rules.

I welcome BC member feedback on the article and the overall issue. Thanks in advance.

Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal
Virtualaw LLC
1155 F Street, NW
Suite 1050
Washington, DC 20004
202-559-8597/Direct
202-559-8750/Fax
202-255-6172/cell

"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey


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