[Area 1] Sub Group 1 - Preliminary Draft

[Bruce Tonkin]

Hello Roelof,


>>  As long as the best interests of ICANN the corporation and the „public interest” are aligned (or are so in the opinion of the board) all is probably well. If they are not, if the are not in the opinion of the board, or if the board misinterprets the public interests and/or the corporations interests, problems arise.

Just reflecting on your statement above.   I have been on the ICANN Board now as a director for approximately 7 years.   In that time the most difficult decisions for Board directors have been on matters in the public interest.   The decisions related to the "corporation", such as appointing auditors, CEOs etc have usually been unanimous.

The interesting thing about making a decision in the public interest is that it is usually subjective and often subject to the cultural backgrounds and experiences of the individual Board directors.  

 For example after the decision of the Independent Review panel on .xxx, the easiest thing for the Board to do would have been to just endorse the decision.   However individual Board directors still spent considerable time considering the issue from a public interest perspective.    The final decision was not unanimous, yet each of the individual Board directors felt they were making a decision in the public interest.   Several directors spent considerable time preparing their own personal statements on that matter that were delivered in the public forum.

Ultimately one of the strengths of the Board is that it is quite big - (16 voting members) and also quite diverse (people from 5 geographic regions with a range of cultural backgrounds and a range of life experience).   The exact cultural composition of the Board varies from year to year, but on matters of public interest there has always been a great diversity of viewpoints.

For me it has always been a privilege to spend time with such a group of people that are devoted to the public interest.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin