[registrars] Vint Cerf joins Google

[Michael D. Palage]

Mark:

Serving on the ICANN Board, while also working as a consultant for
registrars and registries, I know something about potential conflicts
and how to handle them :-) First let me stress that these are my own
personal comments. Obviously Vint will be updating his conflict of
interest statement, and Hagen Hultsch as the Chair of the Board
Conflicts Committee will be reviewing it in conjunction with the
Conflicts Committee of which I also serve.

My personal viewpoint, based upon what I currently know, is that it is
possible that Vint may have to abstain in the future from some votes
that come before the board.  However, even if that should be the case, I
do not believe it would detract from the institutional knowledge,
visionary guidance, and leadership that Vint provides to the Board and
the ICANN community. Under the current conflicts policy, as well as the
proposed modified conflicts policy discussed in Luxemburg, there are
adequate mechanisms in place to handle these situations. It is important
to realize that ICANN by its very nature is designed to have
participants with a vested interest in ICANN, i.e. registrars, gTLD
registries, ccTLDs registries, RIRs, etc. The important focus is the
need for a series of checks and balances to ensure that an individual is
not misusing his position within the ICANN structure (Board, staff,
consultant, Supporting Organization, Council, etc) for financial gain.

Although I have seen several comments about Google being a registrar, I
am not aware if Google is operational. What jumped out at me first was
Google's role in the traffic aggregation market, i.e. SiteFinder,
deleted domain names, etc. Based upon what I know of the industry they
are one of the organizations that spend a lot of money in this area.
Please correct me if I am wrong. 

So I guess what I am trying to say is that it is premature to speculate
about any potential conflicts until Vint updates his conflict statement.
Based upon my own situation, I can tell you that serving on the ICANN
Board is much more difficult when you have ties to the registration
authority community in that it requires walking a very fine line.
However, I believe that my contributions to the Board and the broader
Internet community are beneficial.

I know that some registrars have a position that no employee of a
registry and/or registrar should serve on the ICANN Board. I personally
do not share this overly restrictive view because it would currently
prohibit such people as Bruce Tonkin, Tim Ruiz, Ross Rader, Paul
Stahura, Tom Keller, Jon Nevett or other leaders within the registrar
community from ever serving on the ICANN Board.  I think these
individuals have a lot of knowledge and could make the ICANN Board a
more effective body. 

Just my two cents.

Best regards,

Michael



  

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-registrars at gnso.icann.org
[mailto:owner-registrars at gnso.icann.org] On Behalf Of Mark Jeftovic
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 1:32 PM
To: registrars at gnso.icann.org
Subject: Re: [registrars] Vint Cerf joins Google



So is there any conflict of interest in the Chairman of the ICANN Board 
working for an accreditted registrar?

-mark

Diaz, Paul wrote:
> FYI
> 
> Internet Pioneer Vinton Cerf Joins Google (AP, 090805) 
> http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050908/google_cerf.html?.v=2
> 
> Google Inc. has hired Internet pioneer Vinton Cerf to float more ideas

> and develop new products, adding another weapon to the online search 
> engine leader's rapidly growing arsenal of intellect.  Cerf said MCI's

> pending $8.5 billion sale to Verizon Communications Inc. didn't push 
> him out the door.  Instead, he said working at Google is "really my 
> dream job."  When he starts work at Google on Oct. 3, Cerf's official 
> title will be "chief Internet evangelist."  Cerf will remain chairman 
> of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the 
> oversight agency for Internet domain names.
> 

-- 
Mark Jeftovic <mark at easydns.com>
easyDNS Technologies Inc.
ph: +1-(416)-535-8672 ext 225
fx: +1-(866)-273-2892