[NCSG-EC] Complaint regarding your membership as a representative of EFF Australia

[Stephanie Perrin]

I have received a complaint regarding your conduct, as well as an email from EFF Australia supporting the allegations in the complaint.

The complainant believes that you have misrepresented yourself, misappropriated NCSG travel resources, and cast votes in our elections when you were ineligible to do so. The complaint has been referred to the NCSG Executive Committee for investigation and sanctions if appropriate.  I am citing below the statement of facts verbatim, as contaned in the complaint:


  * Statement of Facts *

As recently as last week, on the public record Mr Cake introduced himself as a representative of Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) at ICANN 66.

Mr Cake is listed as the representative of EFA on both the public NCSG members list and on the NPOC membership list. He includes this affiliation in his biography on the NPOC website. It has been on the basis of this affiliation that Mr Cake has been eligible to cast votes in NCSG elections as an organizational member and to utilize NPOC travel funding.

I understand that EFA is classed by the NCSG as a large organization and therefore he has received 4 votes to cast in elections, rather than 1 as an individual member would receive.

I have made contact with the Chair of EFA, Lyndsey Jackson, who has advised me that Mr Cake does not have authorization to represent EFA within NPOC, NCUC, NCSG, or ICANN more broadly, and has not since 2017. I have been told that he would be well aware of their protocols for representing EFA in external fora. I have provided Ms Jackson with the contact details for Maryam Bakoshi so that EFA may formally communicate this message to the EC.

As Mr Cake does not have the permission of EFA to represent them within NPOC, and has not since 2017, I believe that the votes he has cast in recent elections should not have been admitted (though they do not change the ultimate outcome of the election). His use of NPOC resources to travel to ICANN meetings, as an organizational member, when not authorized to represent said organization, strikes me as unacceptable and a misappropriation of NCSG resources.

I believe Mr Cake’s conduct here violates section 1.2.d of the NCSG charter, which says all NCSG members must act “with honesty, sincerity, and integrity”, and threatens to bring the reputation of the NCSG into disrepute.

[end of quotation]

May I say that at a personal level, I am very sorry to be dealing with this unfortunate matter, but it is the duty of the Executive Committee of the NCSG, and the Chairs of the constituencies as appropriate, to investigate and take action if there is truth to these allegations.  We would appreciate hearing your response and proposed remedies, if any, at your earliest convenience.

Kind regards,
Stephanie Perrin
NCSG Chair