Re: [ga] ICANN loses $4.6 mil

["Jeffrey A. Williams" <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

George and all,

  Exactly correct in your evaluation!  Spot on!  Problem is that
ICANN's CFO obviously has no fiduciary training, and could not
possibly be competent in his current position.  Another example of
the peter principal I would guess.  Don't expect any "I'm sorry"
in ICANN's next propaganda video either...  Watching ICANN
videos is akin to watching old reruns of Regan in "Bedtime for
Bonzo", mixed with audio of "Hanoi Hanna" circa 1968.  example
of dialog: "ok all you ICANNers out there, Uncle Ho knows whats
best for you"...

George Kirikos wrote:

> Hi again,
>
> Just in case folks haven't noticed, there's been an active discussion on this 
> topic on CircleID
>
> http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090203_icann_blows_46_million_stock_market/
>
> (see the comments), including one from the CFO of ICANN, Kevin Wilson. 
> (here's a copy of my most recent comment there)
>
> I did a search with Google, and could not find any public comment period or 
> public consultation associated with the Investment Policy. Thus, it would 
> appear the blame falls squarely upon the folks who crafted it and approved it.
>
> Going back to the actual Board resolution
>
> http://www.icann.org/en/minutes/resolutions-02nov07.htm#_Toc55609372
>
> I also do not see any reference to the public having participated in the 
> decision.
>
> Reading the actual text of the Investment Policy,
>
> http://www.icann.org/en/financials/icann-investment-policy-nov2007.htm
>
> it even states plainly that "The Reserve Fund is only used for 
> **emergencies**" and "The Reserve Fund is the pool of investments held by 
> ICANN that is restricted for use for â??rainy dayâ?? **emergencies** only." 
> (emphasis added) There are **13** references to "emergency" or "emergencies" 
> in the document. This confirms the inappropriateness of a 5-year time 
> horizon, which should have been obvious to anyone without advanced financial 
> training.
>
> The document also directly mentions the "Areas of Responsibility" naming the 
> parties responsible for this faulty policy. ICANN needs to make people 
> accountable for this loss, including firings, resignations or reprimands as 
> needed. They can either do this now, or wait until the NTIA next seeks public 
> comments on ICANN, where this incident will be one of the highlights. The 
> choice is clear, say you dealt with it when it came up, or have a lot of 
> explaining to do later. Since the Board approved this, some of the Board 
> members might find it appropriate to tender their resignations, if they were 
> there in November 2007. Or, they can find more directly responsible 
> individuals to reprimand.
>
> Our funds are now still at risk. It's time to cut the losses, and pick 
> choices A or B above (i.e. return the funds through lower fees, or place them 
> in appropriate safe securities like government guaranteed bank deposits, 
> referring to a prior comment at CircleID). Even if the funds were to go up in 
> value, investing them in the first place in risky assets was entirely 
> inappropriate.
>
> If ICANN has the free time to spend making spin-doctor videos about new gTLDs 
> (had the appearance of a deer in the headlights, to me),
>
> http://blog.icann.org/2009/02/video-update-to-the-applicant-guidebook-process/
>
> they certainly have the time to make an official statement on the ICANN 
> website, after calling an emergency Board meeting. In their next video, they 
> might want to use the words "we're sorry" in the first sentence.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> George Kirikos
> http://www.leap.com/

Regards,

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