[council] Update on Declaration of conflict of interest

[Bruce Tonkin]

Hello All,

Just a further update on my conflict of interest statement below.

I ceased to chair or be a member of the Verisign SiteFinder Technical
Review Panel last week.  As far as I know, the work of the panel was
completed last week.  

Regards,
Bruce

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bruce Tonkin 
> Sent: Thursday, 2 October 2003 1:58 PM
> To: council at gnso.icann.org
> Subject: [council] Update on Declaration of conflict of interest
> 
> 
> 
> Hello All,
> 
> I need to update my conflict of interest statement below.
> 
> In my role as Chief Technology Officer of Melbourne IT, I 
> have requested that Verisign voluntarily suspend the 
> Sitefinder service and participate
> in the various review processes now underway.   
> 
> Melbourne IT voted in favour of a motion in the registrars 
> constituency 
> (see:
> http://www.icann.org/correspondence/broitman-to-twomey-01oct03.htm)
> concerning the Sitefinder service, supports the request from 
> ICANN for Verisign to voluntarily suspend the service 
> (http://www.icann.org/announcements/advisory-19sep03.htm), 
> supports the recommendations of ICANN's Security and 
> Stability Committee 
> (http://www.icann.org/correspondence/secsac-to-board-22sep03.h
> tm), and supports the GNSO resolution passed at the last 
> Council meeting (consistent with Registrar interests) 
> (http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/council/msg00136.html).
> 
> As a result of my request of Verisign to consider carefully 
> the issues raised by the ICANN community, Verisign asked me 
> to chair a group of internal Verisign technical staff and 
> external people to collate and address each of the issues 
> that have been raised by the community.  I am doing this as I 
> believe that it is important to work with all parties on
> this issue.   I don't hold myself out to be a technical expert on the
> subject of wildcards, but I hope I can help with processes to 
> address technical issues as they are raised. I am receiving 
> no compensation (nor would I accept any compensation), nor is 
> Melbourne IT receiving any compensation for this role.  
> The details of this group can be found here: 
> http://www.verisign.com/nds/naming/sitefinder/trp.html
> Verisign will take its own actions in response to any advice 
> it receives.
> 
> It is still both Melbourne IT's and my personal opinion that 
> Verisign should show good faith and voluntarily suspend the 
> service while the issues are analysed.
> 
> At a personal level, if I am ever publicly critical of how 
> things have been done by an individual or organisation, I 
> also accept an obligation to attempt to work in good faith 
> with the entity to correct the problem.
> 
> I have heard from members of the community that I may have 
> compromised the GNSO in my actions, and that is not my 
> intent.  I apologise to the GNSO Council if that is the result.
> 
> To avoid any conflicts of interest with the GNSO I will not 
> chair any discussion on the Sitefinder service, but I will 
> support any recommendation of the GNSO on this matter.
> 
> If it is the wish of the GNSO Council, I am also happy to 
> resign as chair if the GNSO believes that the conflict of 
> interest is too severe.
> 
> 
> My current term as GNSO chair expires at the end of the ICANN 
> annual meeting in Carthage Tunisia, at which time the 
> constituencies will need to appoint their new members, and 
> the new council will need to formally elect a chair of the GNSO.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> Bruce Tonkin
> Registrars Representative on the GNSO Council
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Bruce Tonkin
> > Sent: Thursday, 25 September 2003 9:58 AM
> > To: council at gnso.icann.org
> > Subject: [council] Declaration of conflict of interest 
> > regarding agenda item 4
> > 
> > 
> > Hello All,
> > 
> > Agenda item 4 of the GNSO Council meeting relates to a
> > discussion of Verisign's introduction of wildcard entries 
> > into the .com and .net zones.
> > 
> > I would like to declare the following potential conflicts of
> > interest. I am an employee of Melbourne IT.
> > 
> > Melbourne IT is a customer of Verisign, and Melbourne IT has
> > directly communicated with Verisign over this issue.
> > 
> > Melbourne IT is a supplier to Microsoft of domain name
> > services. Microsoft currently benefits from a feature in 
> > their browsers that can direct users to a MSN search page 
> > when a domain name is not found in the DNS.  In some cases 
> > users may be offered the chance to register domain names.  
> > Melbourne IT has not been approached by Microsoft to advocate 
> > any position on this matter, and I have seen no public 
> > response from Microsoft on this matter.
> > 
> > Melbourne IT is a supplier to Yahoo of domain name services.
> > It has been reported that Yahoo has an interest in that it is 
> > in the process of acquiring Overture (which manages 
> > paid/sponsored search listings), and owns Inktomi (which 
> > provides search listing for the Verisign service). I don't 
> > know how this may affect Melbourne IT with respect to domain 
> > name services.  Melbourne IT has not been approached by Yahoo 
> > to advocate any position on this matter, and I have seen no 
> > public response from Yahoo on this matter.
> > 
> > While I believe that my views are independent of any of the
> > potential conflicts of interests above and that I act in the 
> > best interests of ICANN whilst acting in my capacity as chair 
> > of the GNSO, I want to ensure that I am not seen to bias any 
> > discussion on this topic as chair of the GNSO.
> > 
> > As has been my practice in the past on issues where I have a
> > potential conflict of interest, I have asked Philip Sheppard 
> > as the immediate past chair of the Names Council, to chair 
> > the discussion on agenda item 4. I have also invited the 
> > ICANN General Counsel (John Jeffrey), the Chair of the 
> > Security and Stability Advisory Committee (Steve Crocker), 
> > and a representative from Verisign (Chuck Gomes) to be 
> > available to answer any questions of a factual nature.
> > 
> > Regards,
> > Bruce Tonkin
> > 
> > 
> > 
>