Candidate Statement 2008 -- Rita Rodin

Candidate Name: Rita A. Rodin

Citizenship: United States of America

Employer: Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP

Criteria for Selection of Directors

1. Accomplished persons of integrity, objectivity, and intelligence, with reputations for sound judgment and open minds, and a demonstrated capacity for thoughtful group decision-making;

I am a partner in the Intellectual Property and Technology Group in the New York office of the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. I received a Bachelor of Science (magna cum laude) from Boston
College in 1990, and Juris Doctor from St. John's University in 1993. I served as a federal law clerk to the Honorable Thomas C. Platt, Chief Judge of the Eastern District of New York, from 1993-1994.

I joined Skadden in 1994, as our internet practice was beginning. Our practice permits me to represent both multi-national and start-up companies, in a diverse range of industries and countries. I have worked with clients such as Merck KGaA, Richemont SA, Skype Technologies, IBM, Deloitte and Touche and Banco Itau.

My practice today is diverse and international, and I focus on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances and outsourcing arrangements. I regularly lecture and write on various intellectual property and technology topics, including outsourcing, trademark and domain name developments and open source software.

My clients rely on me to identify, understand and negotiate complex positions and arrangements. I believe to be successful in that role, I must listen to and respect all points of view, and work to facilitate compromise and agreement. I further believe that skills of this nature can and should be employed within the ICANN community to foster trust, consensus and progress on some of the difficult issues facing ICANN today.

2. Persons with an understanding of ICANN's mission and the potential impact of ICANN decisions on the global Internet community, and committed to the success of ICANN.

I have been fortunate to serve on the ICANN Board since June of 2006, and to work with ICANN and members of the ICANN community since 1998. In my various roles, I have developed an understanding of the issues and
touch points of many of ICANNs stakeholders, and also understand now from a Directors point of view, the challenges that the organization has faced and continues to face.

I decided to run for the Board seat again because I believe that we are entering a critical phase of ICANNs growth and development, and am committed to assist in any way that I can to the continued improvement
of the organization.

3. Persons who will produce the broadest cultural and geographic diversity on the Board consistent with meeting the other criteria set forth in this Section;

I am from the United States, so generally will approach my Director duties from a US perspective, but I have worked and traveled quite extensively throughout the world and still have close family living in other countries. I believe that this enables me to understand and appreciate different cultures and points of view.

I also believe that it is important to maintain a gender balanced Director slate, as there are relatively few women currently serving on the Board.

Finally, I think that being the tallest Board member (even when not in heels) also contributes to diversity.

4. Persons who, in the aggregate, have personal familiarity with the operation of gTLD registries and registrars; with ccTLD registries; with IP address registries; with Internet technical standards and protocols; with policy-development procedures, legal traditions, and the public interest; and with the broad range of business, individual, academic, and non-commercial users of the Internet;

As I mentioned above, I worked with ICANN and different constituencies since the organization's inception in 1998. Following are some details.

UDRP

In 1998, my firm was asked to represent register.com and AOL in connection with drafting an effective and streamlined policy to deal with disputes between trademark and domain name owners. We worked with the World Intellectual Property Organization, registrars, Network Solutions (then, the sole .com/net/org registry) and ICANN to create a draft of the UDRP. After I presented the draft at the ICANN meeting in Santiago, Chile, I was asked to participate in a small drafting committee consisting of members of the non-commercial and intellectual
property interests, in addition to members of WIPO and ICANN. This committee finalized the policy that is still in use today.

.INFO/.NAME./.TEL

I worked with the group of registrars that formed Afilias, Ltd., operators of the .info registry, through the (i) formation of Afilias, (ii) ICANN bid process, (iii) ICANN contract negotiations, and (iv) start-up of its operations.

I also represented the Global Name Registry in connection with its ICANN contract negotiations and start-up operations.

I currently represent Telnic, Ltd., the entity that was recently awarded the .tel sTLD.

POLICY DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

In 2002, I was appointed by ICANN to chair an international task force that drafted the Policy Development Process that is currently used by ICANN to develop and implement future ICANN policies.

As discussed above, I am a transactional lawyer with a diverse and global practice. As such, my job consists of identifying issues and proposing resolutions for clients with different points of view and cultural backgrounds. In addition, my work requires that I interface with an organization at all levels - - from advising Boards and senior
management to addressing issues facing those responsible for the execution of day-to-day operations.

In this role, I cannot only advocate the position of my client, because without a mutually acceptable solution, no agreement will be reached. Rather, I must listen to, and understand, all sides of an issue in order to facilitate reaching agreement.

I view these skills as very important for a member of ICANN's Board. Given the diverse nature of the global internet community, I think that it is critical for the Board to listen to, and appreciate, all voices and opinions. I believe that the Board must assist constituencies in seeking and reaching consensus, to enable all involved to benefit from the resolution of issues.

I also view my experience with multiple constituencies within the ICANN community as providing me with unique insight into the often competing concerns and issues of many of the community stakeholders. I would seek to use this experience to accommodate the interests of as many ICANN stakeholders as possible.

5. Persons who are willing to serve as volunteers, without compensation other than the reimbursement of certain expenses; and

I am willing to serve in the absence of compensation other than the reimbursement of certain expenses.

6. Persons who are able to work and communicate in written and spoken English.

English is my native language.

Section 4. ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

1. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no official of a national government or a multinational entity established by treaty or other agreement between national governments may serve as a Director. As used herein, the term "official" means a person (i) who holds an elective governmental office or (ii) who is employed by such government or multinational entity and whose primary function with such government or entity is to develop or influence governmental or public policies.

I am not such an official.

2. No person who serves in any capacity (including as a liaison) on any Supporting Organization Council shall simultaneously serve as a Director or liaison to the Board. If such a person accepts a nomination to be considered for selection by the Supporting Organization Council to be a Director, the person shall not, following such nomination, participate in any discussion of, or vote by, the Supporting Organization Council relating to the selection of Directors by the Council, until the Council has selected the full complement of Directors it is responsible for selecting. In the event that a person serving in any capacity on a Supporting Organization Council accepts a nomination to be considered for selection as a Director, the constituency group or other group or entity that selected the person may select a replacement for purposes of the Council's selection process.

I have not served on any Supporting Organization Council.

3. Persons serving in any capacity on the Nominating Committee shall be ineligible for selection to positions on the Board as provided by Article VII, Section 8.

I have not served on the Nominating Committee.