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<div><strong>N.C.S.G. Candidate Statement of Edward Morris</strong></div>
<div><strong>Candidate for the position of N.C.S.G. Representative to the
GNSO Council</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>• Name, declared region of residence, gender and
employment:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Edward Morris</div>
<div>Europe</div>
<div>Male</div>
<div>Employment – Independent contractor specializing in event
management, specifically concert management. Intermittent. Clients within
the past two years: JLM, SMG Europe, Live Nation.</div>
<div>Education – postgraduate student, University of Maryland
(pursuing a Master of Science degree in Cybersecurity Policy)</div>
<div> </div>
<div>• <strong>Any conflicts of interest:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>None</div>
<div> </div>
<div>• <strong>Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the
particular position:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I don’t want the dream to die.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It’s really that simple. I was a student at the University of
Southern California when Jon and Joyce were ICANN. I didn’t understand
all that was going on back then, but I sensed potential and I felt the
atmosphere: one of openness, one of acceptance. In Kaprielian Hall, it was
all good.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>We now live in an era of an ICANN of high level committees, five star
hotels, expert working groups, offices seemingly placed only in countries
with highly developed censorship structures, elaborate ceremonies, grand
galas: the dream is dying. Bottom up is being replaced with top down; real
multi-stakeholderism is being replaced by a facade. It is not good.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Two years ago at the ICANN meeting in Toronto one of our most respected
Counselors took the microphone and stated succinctly “The Council does
not work”. I’ve been watching, learning. She was right. It
certainly doesn’t work well. The Council’s relatively poor
functioning is used as an excuse by staff and board to usurp the bottom up
model. They make decisions themselves and create specialist committees to
guide them because they claim the Council can’t do anything in a
timely and professional manner. This is so wrong in so many ways.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>In our community the person who recognizes a problem is charged with
solving it. I regret that I can’t fix the problems of the Council by
myself. I do hope, though, that my rather unique skill set, detailed below,
would give me a reasonable chance of being able to do so in concert with
others. If we are to have any chance of saving, restoring and preserving the
bottom up multi-stakeholder model, a model that values expertise rather than
self proclaimed experts, we simply must fix the Council. It’s our best
chance of being able to restrain staff and board from assuming powers they
shouldn’t have. This should be important to us all. Why?</div>
<div> </div>
<div>We as a community do not want the dream to die.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>• Qualifications for the position:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I present with a fairly unique combination of employment history,
educational credentials and knowledge of ICANN and its processes that I
believe would allow me to provide quality representation to the N.C.S.G.
community.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Employment</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’ve had a rather diverse career path that has provided me with a
variety of experiences that would serve me well as a GNSO Counselor. Broadly
speaking, my employment can be subdivided into the 1) governmental, 2)
political, 3) entertainment and 4) human rights categories.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>A native of South Boston, I’ve worked in government as an
administrative assistant to both Senator Edward M. Kennedy and State Senator
Allan R. McKinnon, on both Capitol Hill and Beacon Hill. I’ve spent
time trying to help create a functioning Quality of Work Life program in the
City of New York Department of Sanitation and in 1991 was honored to spend
seventeen months working in France for the state as an industry liaison for
Le Festival International du Film de Cannes.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>My true love is not government, though, it’s politics. I worked
on my first campaign at the age of nine, licking envelopes for the next
President of the United States: George McGovern. Well, he won my home state
of Massachusetts. The other forty-nine states made a mistake. Twelve
years later, all grown up, I worked for Senator McGovern in Iowa and New
Hampshire and as the Southern California coordinator for his second
Presidential run. One of my greatest treasures is a transcript of a speech
Senator McGovern gave in Washington, D.C. during which he called me
“the kind of person you depend on to organize a state” if you
want to be President of the United States of America (<em>Presidential
Studies Quarterly</em>, vol. 14, no. 3, p.343). If you knew what a decent
man Senator McGovern was you’d understand why those words mean so much
to me today. I only wish I could have done a better job for him.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’ve worked on over one hundred political campaigns, both paid
and unpaid, doing everything from working canvasses to running states. My
more prominent positions include being coordinator of seven states for Jerry
Brown during his 1992 U.S. presidential run and as county coordinator in six
regions, including key counties in both Iowa and New York, during John
Kerry’s 2004 presidential primary effort. I’ve worked
professionally for Penn and Schoen, Research Analysis Inc., Dorr and Sheff
and for David Sawyer. I’ve worked in a paid capacity on campaigns in
the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Poland.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>My last paid campaign position was that as a field director for the
Arizona Democratic Party working on the campaign of Representative Gabrielle
Giffords. I love Gabby. She is the most intelligent, courageous,
compassionate and dignified public official I have ever met. I hope, pray
and look forward to the day when she will be able to overcome the effects of
the attempt on her life and once again run for public office. When she does,
I hope to be there to help her.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>My first job out of college was as a roadie on Bruce
Springsteen’s <em>Born in the USA</em> tour. I’ve worked on and
off for concert promoters, venues and artists ever since, doing everything
from managing the pit, to assembling the stage, managing the stage to
selling merchandise. I’ve worked for two minor league sports
organizations: the Tucson Toros baseball team and the Worcester Ice Cats
hockey team. For brief periods I was actually Tuffy the Toro and Scratch the
Cat. As a student I worked part time for Santa Claus, composing and sending
letters to children throughout the world from Santa’s world
headquarters in Rovaniemi. And, yes, working as an elf for Santa is
definitely the best job in the world!</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Professionally, I was employed for three years as an associate in the
legal department at United International Pictures (U.I.P.) at Hammersmith,
London, often fighting against draconian censorship and profit repatriation
laws then in place in both the Iberian peninsula and the Republic of Korea.
We sometimes forget how recently many countries and cultures have come to
truly accept the concept of free speech. And how many still have not.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>During the 1990’s I spent a lot of time in the region formally
known as Yugoslavia. I initially worked for Kirkon Ulkomaanapu
(FinnChurchAid) but changed employers as needed during this period. I worked
in the field setting up and helping run refugee camps. I saw mass graves, I
saw incredible acts of kindness, I was bombed, I was shot at. It was a
horrible period of my life, it was the most gratifying period of my life.
I’d never do it again, I wish I hadn’t done it, I’m a
better person today because I did do it. It’s made me appreciate the
bounty we all share and how fragile it is. War sucks. I’d like to
think a world interconnected by the internet is less likely to engage in
war. Yet every year I go to Tallinn to attend NATO’s annual conference
on Cyber Conflict, CyCon, and I leave depressed. Militarization of the
internet is a deep concern of mine. It must be stopped and reversed.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>From 1998 through 2003 I was an active participant and researcher in
the Electronic Commerce Legal Platform (ECLIP) project. Initially funded by
the European Commission under the ESPIRIT program, ECLIP’s research
was the basis for a number of E.U. directives that today serve as
Europe’s cyber legal acquis. When discussion at the Council turns to
consideration of issues that impact upon European law, be it in areas of
privacy or e-commerce, I can speak authoritatively because not only was I
there when the relevant directives were written, I was part of the
discussions that inspired the concept of the directives themselves.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’ve also had a bit of experience in business. For a half decade
I was a board member and corporate secretary of T and J Imports (Companies
House: company number 05145954), a London start up specializing in the
import of food and other goods from Thailand. Frankly, I found it a lot
easier to be reflexively critical of all business before I had been
entrusted with the responsibility of running one! It was a good experience,
one that I hope will help me better understand the views of our commercial
partners and to find some common ground with them.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Similarly I hope that the four years I was a member of the
International Trademark Association (INTA) has given me the ability to
better understand members, many of whom I’ve known for several years,
of the Intellectual Property Constituency and perhaps gives me a chance of
diffusing the tension that sometimes exists between our groups. It is
important that we work together, where possible, for a stronger and more
cohesive GNSO.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I believe my multifaceted background has, rather unintentionally,
prepared me quite well for the position as GNSO Counselor. The job requires
a bit of drafting and a bit of bureaucratese, is political in nature, it
helps to be a bit theatrical at times and, most of all, it requires a deep
commitment to the common good. I’d like to think my varied employment
background gives reason to believe I have a bit of ability, understanding
and commitment in these areas.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Education</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>I have the virtue / vice of being overeducated. Fortunately much of my
formal education has been in areas of importance to our stakeholder
group.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’m currently completing a Master of Science degree, part time,
in Cybersecurity Policy at the University of Maryland. I’ve previously
earned a LLM in intellectual property law from the University of London
(Queen Mary), a Master of Comparative Law degree from the University of
Lapland and a year long qualification in social science, the IGS diploma,
from Stockholm University. My base degree, a Bachelors of Arts diploma in
political science and history, was earned, summa cum laude, from the
institution that birthed ICANN, the University of Southern California.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’ve also greatly benefited from lesser courses of study, with
durations ranging from an intensive single week to six months, in fields
directly related to topics that often come before the GNSO Council.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I am a graduate of the Internet Law Program, class of 2004, at Harvard
Law School. This past spring I completed a beta course, online, in copyright
law at the same institution. I am a proud graduate, class of 2011, of
Wolfgang’s European Summer School of Internet Governance. I’ve
completed a postgraduate certificate in Cyberspace marketing at the Swedish
School of Economics and Business Administration in Helsinki and possess a
postgraduate Diploma in e-commerce law from the University of the Balearic
Islands.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>My human rights education was largely developed at the wonderful
Institute of Human Rights at Åbo Akademi in Turku, Finland, where I
earned postgraduate Diplomas in both International Human Rights Law and
International Humanitarian Law. I am a graduate of the International
Criminal Court Summer School at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI
Galway. I have also done work yielding postgraduate qualifications in
International Trade Law from two institutions: the University of Turku and
the American University of Paris. I’m fluent in both French and
Swedish, as well as in English.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Three fellowships of note: 1) Fellow of the Center for the Study of the
Presidency, one year as Fellow and two years as a Counselor to the
Fellowship program, 2) Nordic Council Fellowship, used in residence at
King’s College, University of Cambridge, researching Nordic economic
union and 3) Fellow of the Nordic Institute of International Affairs. Three
years of on site exposure to internal White House operations, combined with
research in international legal integration, would serve me well as a
N.C.S.G. representative on the Council.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Although certainly not an academic, in recent years I have occasionally
played the part. I’ve presented and had published papers largely on
the juxtaposition between intellectual property and internet governance at
conferences hosted by universities in Turku (Finland), Salzburg (Austria),
Brno (Czech Republic), Vienna (Austria) and Akureyri (Iceland). In November
I’ll be presenting at a conference at Magdalen College, University of
Oxford, on the ‘Ethics of war in space: outer and cyber’.
I’ve also been employed as an occasional guest lecturer at the
University of Lapland (Finland), NUI Galway (Ireland), and Kim Il Sung
University (DPRK).</div>
<div> </div>
<div>My most recent publication was a book chapter I co-wrote with Ms. Sarah
Clayton titled “Social Media Marks”, published in Wekstrom, K.
(2013) <em>Governing Innovation and Expression</em> (Turku: Hansaprint, pp.
131-181). In exploring the quasi-judicial procedures established by
leading social media companies to govern their communities, particularly in
relation to user identity, Sarah and I wrote that despite favorable internal
regulations “too often, companies have acted in their own best
interests in preference to considering obligations towards their
users”. Sadly, the same holds true of ICANN. I’d like to do my
part to try to help change that.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I believe studies in internet law, intellectual property law, the law
of human rights and comparative law gives me subject knowledge that will
greatly help me on the Council should I be selected to serve. I believe that
I am the only candidate for this position to have both studied and practiced
law. While I wouldn’t want six lawyers representing us on Council, I
do believe, given the nature of the job, it would be wise to have at least
one or two.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>ICANN</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’m a relative newcomer to ICANN, having attended my first
meeting in Prague in 2011. I say relative because after the battles
I’ve been involved in during the past few years I already feel like a
grizzled veteran. The issues are so motivating and so important, though, I
feel like I’ve only just begun to fight for those principles we all
share.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Shortly after joining the N.C.S.G., I was elected to the N.C.U.C.
Executive Committee. It was an important learning experience. It was
there I started to realize the world of ICANN was a bit different than the
world I was used to.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Along with a few of my colleagues, I fought tooth and nail for
structures those of us coming from outside the IG field took for granted:
regular meetings, posted agendas, transparent finances. We wanted to create
an organizational structure where all could feel comfortable, where social
friendship, although nice, was not a prerequisite for involvement in and
contribution to our Constituency. I’m happy to see that this years
Executive Committee is functioning in a more regularized manner. This
greater transparency should help in the long term both to give the
organization greater stability and to help recruit new members.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Although I certainly developed many skills and became more
knowledgeable about ICANN as a member of the N.C.U.C. E.C., it is my work on
accountability and transparency that has defined my time as an active
participant of the N.C.S.G .community. I very much intend and would like to
carry on with this advocacy should you select me to represent you on the
Council.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>We should all be proud of the work our SG did last year on the
Trademark +50 issue. The focus we were able to bring to the issues of
accountability and transparency elevated the salience of these issues within
ICANN and has fundamentally changed the ongoing discourse. It was a great
group effort. My most substantial contribution within the group came as I
worked with others to try to make ICANN’s current accountability and
transparency systems function as they should.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I made the initial suggestion that the N.C.S.G. attempt a
Reconsideration Request (N.C.S.G. list, 26 March 2013). I then proceeded to
write the first drafts of our initial Request for Reconsideration (RR 13-3)
(<a
href="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/request-ncsg-19apr13-en.pdf">
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/request-ncsg-19apr13-en.pdf</a>
), our Documentary Information Disclosure Policy (DIDP) Request (DIDP
2013-0724-1) ( <a
href="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/ncsg-request-24jul13-en.pdf">
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/ncsg-request-24jul13-en.pdf</a>
), and our second Request for Reconsideration (RR 13-11) (<a
href="https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/request-ncsg-08sep13-en.pdf">
https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/request-ncsg-08sep13-en.pdf</a>
).</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It was a great education for me, although not necessarily a positive
one. Our stakeholder group efforts culminated in two Cooperative Engagement
Process (CEP) calls during which my N.C.S.G. colleague’s brilliant
rhetorical ability had ICANN’s chief legal counsel completely
flummoxed, dropping his coffee and muttering into muted phones. He was
understandably nervous – we had a winning case and he knew it. It
didn’t matter. We won the argument but we were never going to get
ICANN to act as a responsible, transparent and accountable organization. At
least not then, not without the ability to afford an Independent Review that
could force ICANN corporate to act properly.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>A year ago I was quoted in a blog as saying “We should have
expected the type of response we received from ICANN. It is what the
organization does and what it has become” (<a
href="http://www.internetgovernance.org/2013/09/14/meltdown-iii-how-top-down-implementation-replaced-bottom-up-policymaking/">
http://www.internetgovernance.org/2013/09/14/meltdown-iii-how-top-down-implementation-replaced-bottom-up-policymaking/</a>
) . That was sadly true, and still is; yet what our work on accountability
and transparency accomplished was and is of great importance. Indeed, our
group efforts awoke a nascent desire within the entire ICANN community for
an organization that truly is transparent and accountable. The numbers
don’t lie:</div>
<div> </div>
<div>In 2011 and 2012, two years combined, there were two Requests for
Reconsideration filed with ICANN. In the sixteen months since we filed our
initial Reconsideration Request there have been fifty-seven Requests filed.
I have no doubt that our widely publicized battle against the staff and
Board’s blatant attack on the bottom up policy making process is
largely responsible for this increase in Requests.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Our fight may not have resulted in victory in the short term on the
TM+50 issue, but it has started a community wide movement that we can all
hope will someday result in a truly transparent and accountable ICANN.
I’d like to continue to fight this battle both, with your support, on
the Council and, as well, anywhere else the possibility for progress may be
found. The legitimacy of ICANN and the multi-stakeholder model depends upon
our success in this endeavor.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>• Statement of availability for the time the position
requires:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div>By accepting the nomination for this position I am committing to making
this job the highest priority, save family, in my life, for the duration of
the term. Money has never been a prime motivator for me; it still
isn’t. Please note that I’m not involved in any other internet
governance institution. I consider that an asset. ICANN is my entire
focus. I’m making this commitment after speaking to my fiancé
and other family members. They know how important this is to me and are
supportive of what I’d like to try to do.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>• The nominee’s statement may also include any other
information the candidate believes in relevant:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>The position:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>For some, the role of an N.C.S.G. Counselor involves simply attending
meetings, online and off, voting yes or no, and being active and involved in
Council affairs. That’s certainly part of the job, a big part, but I
reject the notion that’s all there is to it. To wit:</div>
<div> </div>
<div>- N.C.S.G. Policy Committee (PC): All elected Counselors are
automatically members of the N.C.S.G. PC. It is my view that our PC is, or
at least should be, the heart of our stakeholder group. Doing policy is the
reason we exist. While both Executive Committees are important, the Policy
Committee is absolutely essential if we are to fulfill our mission within
ICANN.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I note recent attempts to upgrade the visibility of the PC. These
efforts are most welcome and those involved deserve our thanks and
appreciation. The job, though, is incomplete. More still needs to be done.
</div>
<div> </div>
<div>As a N.C.S.G. member without portfolio I’ve personally found it
very difficult at times to participate in helping to draft comments, give
input or otherwise participate in the policy process. Often processes will
begin in the open and then disappear behind the opaque doors of the P.C. At
other times I don’t learn about them at all until the comments were
completed or nearly so. That is not acceptable. At all times there is a rush
to deadline, a rush that could be avoided by simple advanced planning. We
need to better harness readily available technology to create timely
drafting processes that involve all of our members in as transparent a
manner as possible.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>We also need to expand the remit of the PC. In the increasingly
volatile world of internet governance, much of what defines and limits what
we as a Stakeholder Group can do is being debated and settled in venues
outside of ICANN. We need to be involved in these discussions. Towards that
end, I suggest that the PC needs to be engaged in the following
activities:</div>
<div> </div>
<div>1. Government testimony – As ICANN transitions away from NTIA
oversight it’s important we have a presence in the ongoing discussions
on Capitol Hill. I’ve already begun the process, and will continue
regardless of the results of this election, of trying to position some of
our senior leaders to be asked to give Congressional testimony on the
transition. No other group has the expertise on internet governance that we
do, and the perspectives of our more senior members I think would be quite
valuable for the Congressional Committees and Subcommittees to hear.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Further, as things progress, our P.C. should be submitting testimony
for consideration by the various Congressional organs. Some of the
contracted parties and our friends in the commercial community already do
this, either themselves or through their lobbyists. To effectively represent
our Members, most of who do not have the resources our commercial colleagues
possess, we need to fully participate in the process.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>2. Amicus Curiae briefs – Litigation concerning domain names is
on the rise. More lawsuits have been filed against ICANN this year than have
been filed against the corporation in the entire previous history of ICANN.
Lawsuits involving parties other than ICANN, but involving the domain line,
are regularly filed. The No-IP case is one recent matter that comes to mind.
We need to take an active interest in this sort of litigation if we’re
to preserve our ability and the ability of ICANN’s bottom up
multi-stakeholder community to properly govern within our space.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>One of the problems in many of these cases is that the judges involved
often lack familiarity with computing and internet governance basics. We can
help – amicus briefs are also sometimes called “Friends of the
Court” briefs. In our role as an interested third party we really can
be a good friend of the court by helping to educate it. I should note that
amicus briefs are often used to good use in the United States by the parent
and affiliated organizations of some of our member NGO’s, the
Electronic Frontier Foundation comes to mind, and is quite common in
proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights and other
inter-European judicial bodies.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I should point out that we don’t have the resources to do many of
these. In fact, years may go by when we don’t do a single one. We
should, however, have processes in place to participate in legal actions in
this way when it makes sense for us to do so. If we’re proactive we
may not even have to do the hard work ourselves – there are several
cyber law clinics in both Europe and the United States, and I hope
elsewhere, whom we may be able to interest in helping us out.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Good ideas are mere hallucinations without execution. It might seem a
bit ambitious to embark upon these two new projects when at times our PC is
understandably stressed trying to meet its current commitments and
challenges. Yet I believe both initiatives are absolutely necessary if we
are to truly meet our obligations to the billions of noncommercial users
throughout the world whom we are charged to represent.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>As such, if I’m selected for this position and my colleagues on
the P.C. agree these are good ideas, I’ll commit here and now to my
willingness to take the lead on both initiatives and do everything I can
working with others, inside and outside the N.C.S.G., to make them a
reality.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>- Monthly N.C.S.G. policy telephone calls – I believe
participation in these calls is an integral part of the Counselor position.
I note that attendance the past year by Counselors seems to have lagged at
about 50%. Although I can’t guarantee perfect attendance, no one can,
I will do my best to schedule my life so that I will be regularly available
for these calls and certainly expect my attendance to exceed the 50%
benchmark.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Values and Priorities:</strong></div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>-- </strong>My belief is that most of us who volunteer in this
community do so out of a sense of public service. I also know that in
politics perception often is more important than reality. I’m
concerned about the reputation of ICANN Meetings as being nothing more than
“Club Med for Geeks”. This reputation may attract some people to
our group, but I can state with certainty that it drives a number of serious
minded professionals away from joining us.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I do not believe that this reputation is wholly deserved. I have
attended three ICANN Meetings; I have been funded for one. During that
Meeting, in Beijing, I rarely left the hotel. I was in my room writing, in
lobbies conferring or in meetings participating. Most of our representatives
act in the exact same way.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>That said, I find the opulence and ceremony at ICANN meetings to be
completely unnecessary. We’re there to do the people’s work, and
the people’s work does not require luxury hotels, open bars and gift
packs. I can’t change the culture, but here’s what I can do as
an individual:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Grand Gala’s and corporate receptions</strong> – I
won’t be attending many of these. When I do, if selected for this
position, it will be for a specific reason related to performing the job of
Councilor. Fireworks, palaces, free alcohol and food are not essential to
ICANN’s core function of managing names and addresses. I don’t
believe registrants’ fees should be used for such extravagances and I
personally would not be comfortable as a Councilor partaking of the largess
of corporate interests. Under no circumstance will I ever accept free food,
drink or gifts paid for, in full or in part, by a for profit corporation. I
know others see things differently, and I fully respect their views, as I
hope they do mine.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Stipends</strong> - ICANN provides stipends to supported
Meeting attendees. To me, it’s a fairly substantial sum and often,
although not always, is far above what I personally need to meet expenses.
Fortunately I’m still healthy enough to be able to take public
transit, I have relatively cheap tastes in food, and rarely drink. I do not
want to profit in any way from my volunteer position in ICANN. As
such, I will do my best to keep track of my actual expenses related to ICANN
Meeting attendance. Any amount given to me by ICANN as a stipend in excess
of my actual expenses will either be: 1) given as a gift in the name of the
N.C.S.G. to a children’s charity in the Meeting’s host country
or 2) given to either / both of our Constituency treasuries or to that of
the N.C.S.G.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>--</strong> One of the remarkable things about our Stakeholder
Group is the remarkable cohesion we have on most policy issues. In the 2+
years I have been a member of the N.C.S.G. I’ve never disagreed with a
consensus policy position. On the rare occasion where we’ve been
split, such as on open / closed generics, I usually find myself internally
split between both views. I assume our cohesion as a group will continue,
and we’ll present a unified front on policy on the Council.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>That said, I do have two areas of specific interest that are outside
the specific gambit of Council work, both of which may be considered
“pie in the sky” objectives, but in fairness I felt that I
should make everyone aware of these interests before asking for your
vote:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>1.</strong> <strong>Corporate structure</strong> – I
believe that the fundamental root of ICANN’s problems with
accountability and responsiveness lay in its corporate structure.
ICANN’s current organizational framework insulates Board members from
any meaningful obligation to consult or consider or respond to any interests
beyond those of fellow Board members or that of ICANN staff.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>This is compounded by the erroneous belief of some Board members that
their fiduciary obligation to ICANN under §5231 of the California
Corporations Code necessarily limits their ranges of action only to those
that benefit ICANN corporate in the short term. Although this arguably may
have been true in the past it is not now. In 2012 California created a new
class of corporation known as Benefit Corporations that allow for-profit
corporate directors of this corporate class to consider certain public goods
in addition to profit maximization in carrying out their fiduciary duties.
During the process creating this new corporate type the legislative staff
opined that PBC directors, such as those of ICANN, already had the
discretion to act in the greater public interest if they so wished and thus
new legislation was not needed to extend the explicit public interest
fiduciary option to non-profits. Some ICANN directors appear currently to be
operating under a misguided understanding of their own fiduciary obligation
to the corporation.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I will, of course, participate to the greatest degree possible in
ICANN’s accountability processes. I have volunteered to be a member of
the Cross Community Working Group on Accountability and encourage all with
interest to do so. Sadly, I have no great belief that this staff and Board
dominated effort will lead to anything more than marginal change, if
that.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>True change would likely only be accomplished by a corporate
reorganization that makes the Board responsive to the community much as the
board of a publicly traded corporation is responsive to its shareholders.
This could be accomplished very simply by creating a membership category in
ICANN per §5310 - §5313 of the California Corporations Code. This
is not a new idea; indeed Karl Auerbach made it a central component of his
successful campaign for ICANN Board Membership in 2000. It was a good idea
then, it is a good idea now, and perhaps is the only one that could bring
truly accountable bottom up governance back to ICANN.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>2. Arbitration</strong> – It is an absolute travesty that
there has not been any meaningful review of the UDRP since its inception.
Many members of the N.C.S.G. and its predecessor have worked hard without
success to try to make it happen. It may be an impossible dream but it is
one I would like to work on with great passion if the opportunity ever
presented itself.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>In the interim, it’s appropriate and perhaps a bit more realistic
to focus on getting ICANN to step up its support of individuals whose
registrations are being challenged. I note ICANN has been very active in
outreach designed to help firms to protect their trademarks online.
I’d like to see ICANN equally active in outreach designed to educate
individuals and small firms on how to protect their domain names from
improper or capricious registration challenges. This is an achievable goal
and one I’d like to try to work with others to achieve.</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thank you for reading this Statement. I know it’s a bit long; it
also is the best opportunity I’m given to let those of you I’ve
never met to get to know me and for me to be able to tell you what I’d
like to do on your behalf if you select me for this position.
Elections set the tone for that which can be accomplished. Yours is an
important vote; in terms of impact, your vote for N.C.S.G. Council, because
of its relative strength, probably impacts public policy more than any vote
you may ever make for a national political office.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>It is with deep humility that I ask you for one of your four votes for
Council. I can’t promise results, no one can, but I can promise that
if given the opportunity I’ll prioritize this position in my own life
and will work as hard and as long as I can to try to help achieve the policy
goals we all believe in. This stuff is important.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I’d like to conclude with a bit of creativity, a bit of
philosophy. I’d like to introduce a N.C.S.G. first: <strong>a campaign
song</strong>, courtesy of Mr. Bruce Springsteen:</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Well this internet</div>
<div>Carries saints and sinners</div>
<div>This internet</div>
<div>Carries losers and winners</div>
<div>This internet</div>
<div>Carries whores and gamblers</div>
<div>This internet</div>
<div>Carries lost souls</div>
<div>This internet</div>
<div>Dreams will not be thwarted</div>
<div>This internet</div>
<div>Faith will be rewarded</div>
<div>This internet</div>
<div>Hear the steel wheels singing</div>
<div>This internet</div>
<div>Bells of freedom ringing</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The song quoted actually uses the word ‘train’ instead of
‘internet’ but the principle is the same: a vehicle for all, a
vehicle for freedom, our train, our internet, one train, one internet, one
world, for all, by all.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Allow me to present “Land of Hopes and Dreams”, a campaign
song, a philosophy, a destination, our destination. Bruce Springsteen
and the E Street Band, from the back of my pit, last summer in Kilkenny, in
my native Republic of Ireland:</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWXiB06zVE">
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWXiB06zVE</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Enjoy and, I hope, be inspired, as I was and am. I realize it is a bit
of ‘outside the box’ thinking to put a song in a candidate
statement, but if we’re going to start achieving a few more victories
on Council and beyond I’d suggest that ‘outside the box’
is the type of thinking we collectively need to do a bit more of.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Peace everyone.</div>
</div>
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