Re: [council] Conflicts of Interest

[ICANNSoph <sophiabekele@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bruce,

I also want to share my experience in working in the development and
implementation of conflict-of-interest (COI) issues within my career in
Audit and recently, within the framework of Sarbane-Oxley legislation in
various orgs, which should be useful for us.  I would like to volunteer
along with Maureen in contributing on the proposed task force for the design
of COI.

Basically, COI exist when professional judgement concerning one interest
tend to be unduly influenced by another interest, be it within individuals
or institutions.  Despite anyone's profit or gain, the appearance of COI (as
we say in Audit) is as destructive of confidence as actual gain or profit.
In our case, while not a regulatory mandate, it would be an institutional
statement of ethical standards based upon the act of total objectivity with
regards to ICCAN's interest.

Regards,
Sophia




On 21/01/06, Maureen Cubberley <m.cubberley@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> During my CIRA Chair days, we developed a conflict of interest policy,
> with the assistance of one of the country's leading legal firms. Ross, would
> CIRA be willing to share its policy with the Council?
>
> Maureen
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* Marilyn Cade <marilynscade@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> *To:* 'Cubberley, Maureen (CHT)' <MCubberley@xxxxxxxxx> ; ross@xxxxxxxxxx; 
> 'Bruce
> Tonkin' <Bruce.Tonkin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> *Cc:* council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>  *Sent:* Friday, January 20, 2006 3:38 PM
> *Subject:* RE: [council] Conflicts of Interest
>
>
> I'm also interested in supporting the development of an effective Interest
> Statement, and a discussion of what creates a conflict that requires a
> recusement, versus a disclosure. Also, we should examine how we implement
> such a program.
>
> Grant has shared with the BC the way that InternetNZ addresses, and
> perhaps
> there are other useful models also about to quickly get a sense of.
>
> Marilyn
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On
> Behalf Of Cubberley, Maureen (CHT)
> Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 11:04 AM
> To: ross@xxxxxxxxxx; Bruce Tonkin
> Cc: council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: RE: [council] Conflicts of Interest
>
> Bruce and Ross,
>
> Thanks Bruce for bringing this proposal forward.  I too think this is an
> excellent idea, and Ross, I agree with your further analysis. In
> particular, I agree that the GNSO council should move ahead with a
> conflict of interest policy, and an appropriate process to accompany it.
>
> As you know, this is an issue that I brought up at the meeting in
> Vancouver, at which time I cited the Board conflict of interest policy
> and asked for clarification as to whether or not it applied to the
> Council.
> Now that we have our clarification, we should move ahead.
>
> I like your" light weight" approach and also the concept of a design
> committee.
>
> I support the idea of adding this to the next agenda, so Bruce, if that
> is acceptable and if the Council as a whole agrees to proceed, I would
> be pleased to volunteer to work with fellow Councillors on the proposed
> "design committee" or with whatever development approach is decided
> upon.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Maureen
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Ross Rader
> Sent: Friday, January 20, 2006 8:57 AM
> To: Bruce Tonkin
> Cc: council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: [council] Conflicts of Interest
>
> Bruce Tonkin wrote:
>
> > I see this being a voluntary initiative as there doesn't seem to be
> any
> > explicit bylaw requirements.
>
> Bruce -
>
> I think this is an excellent proposal. As you know, the registrar
> constituency has had similar practices embodied in its bylaws for a
> number of years.
>
> However, simply because the bylaws is silent on a specific set of
> behaviors, doesn't mean that we can't officially adopt these behaviors
> through other means.
>
> I also believe that it is time for the Council of the GNSO to adopt some
>
> explicit conflict of interest management processes - but I believe they
> should be mandatory. At first, we should proceed cautiously with these.
> A light-weight approach would seem to be most prudent. Over time, we
> could improve and expand upon the approach in ways that make it more
> useful for our purposes.
>
> My preference would not be to create a "design committee" to come up
> with a comprehensive proposal at this time. As a first step, I think
> your proposal makes eminent sense, and I would like to discuss whether
> or not the rest of the council would be willing to undertake a vote to
> make these requirements mandatory. Is this something that we could add
> to the agenda of our next meeting?
>
> Thanks in advance for your consideration.
>
> -ross
>
>


--
Sophia Bekele
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