[ga] Palage: ICANN Board Candidate Statement

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

as posted on the registrar's list:  
http://gnso.icann.org/mailing-lists/archives/registrars/msg02747.html
 
Hello All:

I have prepared this candidate statement for dissemination to the council
and their respective constituencies. Under the terms set forth by the GNSO
Council in connection with the election process for ICANN Board seat #14,
any potential candidate must seek the nomination of two GNSO Council
members. Although I have been approached by  several Council representatives
inquiring about my intentions/desires to seek re-election, I have requested
that these individuals withhold any nominations of my candidacy until I had
circulated this statement.

Let me begin by stating that it is my intention to seek a second term on the
ICANN Board. This is a decision that did not come lightly, but one which
involved a lot of consultation with friends and colleagues, but most
importantly my family. I hope that I will be afforded the privilege to serve
a second term on the ICANN Board as a duly elected representative of the
GNSO. What I would like to do in this statement is (I) describe my
qualifications as required by ICANN's bylaws; (II) explain how I have
represented the interests of all Internet stakeholders during my initial
two-year term; and (III) set forth a list of priorities which I would like
to achieve during a potential second term.

If there are any constituencies that would like to set up a conference call
to discuss this statement, I would be willing to do so either individually
or in connection with any other candidates which may be nominated. As always
should anyone have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to
contact me.

Best regards,

Michael D. Palage


I. QUALIFICATIONS

Directors shall be:

A. 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 have a very diverse educational and professional background which is
founded upon the principles of integrity, objectivity and intelligence. I
hold a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering from Drexel
University, and a Juris Doctorate from the Temple University School of Law.
I am currently admitted to practice law in the states of Florida and
Pennsylvania. Prior to serving on the ICANN Board I Co-Chaired ICANN's
Working Group B and served as the Chair of the ICANN Registrar Constituency.
Both of these positions required me to balance diverse business and philosophical
interests in decision-making processes.

B. 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 involved in ICANN since nearly its inception. I attended my
first ICANN event in January of 1999 in Washington while the various
stakeholders debated the structure of the then Domain Name Supporting
Organization (DNSO). Later that Spring my company InfoNetworks was selected
as one of the first 32 ICANN accredited registrars. In March of that year in
Berlin, Germany, I was elected as the secretariat/chair of the newly formed
Registrar Constituency. In this capacity I was intimately involved in the
drafting and implementation of the UDRP. Over the years I have also been
involved in various policy development efforts as well as Evolution and Reform
Process. In 2003, I was elected to serve a 2 year term on the ICANN Board of
Directors.  Through these many years I have remained committed to the
principles of openness and transparency upon which ICANN was founded.

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

One of the criticisms of ICANN at the time of its formation was its
domination by North American directors. However, currently I am one of only
three (3) North American directors out of the fifteen (15) ICANN directors.
In fact the Latin Americas and Asia / Pacific  regions each have more
directors than North America. Therefore, my potential election to the ICANN
Board would be consistent with the cultural and geographic diversity that
the by-laws require.


D. 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;

I am one of the only ICANN Board Members that has an  intimate knowledge of
policy and technical gTLD registry and registrar issues in connection with
my consultation with these entities over the years. I have spent these past
couple of years on the ICANN Board educating the Board Directors  and the
ICANN staff on the technical and operational issues associated with
operating registries and registrars.  In addition, I am also, by training,
an intellectual property attorney that has experience in running my own
consulting business.  I have represented both commercial and noncommercial
entities in my practice.  Each of these experiences gives me the requisite
experience to balance the interests of many of the ICANN stakeholders.  I
also have an understanding of ccTLD operations in connection with my service
as a policy advisory member of the .US Policy Council.

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

As my record indicates, since ICANN's inception, I have committed a large
amount of time to domain name policy issues without compensation, including
these past two years on the ICANN Board.  I have no issue with spending the
next several years serving on the ICANN Board without compensation other
than the reimbursement of certain
expenses.


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

English is my primary written and spoken language



II Accomplishment During My First Term

Although Article VI, Section 7 of the ICANN by-laws prohibit any director
from putting the individual best interests of any supporting organization or
constituency above the best interest of ICANN, I believe that I have been in
the unique position of ensuring that the diverse viewpoints of the various
GNSO constituencies have been heard at the Board level. Among the
accomplishments  during my first term are:

A. Education/Awareness. I believe that I have an in-depth understanding of
the domain name marketplace, as well as the legal nuisances of ICANN's
by-laws and various contractual agreements, and have shared such
perspectives with the Board.. Although the ICANN Board is composed of some
of the Internet's greatest pioneers/leaders in the protocol, standards and
IP addressing community, my experience has enabled me to educate the Board
on the dynamics of the domain name marketplace, particularly with regard to
the gTLD segment which accounts for over 80% of ICANN's base revenue.

B. Monitoring of GNSO Council Teleconferences. I regularly attend monthly
GNSO Council teleconferences as an observer so that I can be apprised first
hand of the issues emerging from the GNSO. When I am unable to attend the
calls in real-time, I promptly listen to the real-audio archives when they
are made available.

C. Accessibility. I am in regular contact (physical, telephone, and/or
email) with various GNSO Council representatives, as well as the various
constituents for most all of the GNSO constituencies. During the regional
face-to-face ICANN meetings I strive to attend all constituency and cross
constituency-meetings, even if only briefly because of scheduling conflicts.
I believe that it is my obligation as a Board Director to ensure that these
lines of communication always remain open.  One of the worst things that
could happen without these mechanisms is having a Board that is out of touch
with its stakeholders.  My participation and accessibility to the stakeholders greatly bridges the often perceived gap between the GNSO and the ICANN Board.

D. Attendance. I have not missed one scheduled ICANN Board or Committee
Meeting during my two-year term.


III Priorities For My Second Term

One of the issues that I have been an advocate of is metrics by which ICANN,
staff, and the participants within the ICANN process can be held accountable
to the ICANN and Internet communities. A Board Director should be no
different, and that is why I have provided the list of priorities that I would like to achieve during a
potential second term on the ICANN Board. Although the challenges facing
ICANN over the next couple of years may necessitate some changes, I believe
it is important to enumerate these priorities so that in three years there
may be some metrics by which to measure my performance should I be afforded
the opportunity to serve a second term.

A. Strategic Plan. Prior to the beginning of my first term in 2003, ICANN
had just completed a comprehensive Evolution and Reform Process. Much
attention was paid to ICANN's limited mission and core values, and the
resulting budgetary requirements needed to accomplish these tasks. During my
first budgetary cycle process, ICANN's budget essentially doubled from 8
million to 16 million. In the current second budgetary cycle, ICANN is
looking at a budget clearly in excess of 20 million dollars annually when
you consider the potential revenues from the 75 cent fee incorporated into
the .NET RFP, new TLDs, as well as the continued growth of the domain name
space.

At first blush, it is hard to argue that ICANN's mission and core values
have not changed. However, over the past several years there has been
several factors that have directly attributed to these budgetary increases,
most notably litigation expenses and the WSIS process. What I have learned
during my first term on the Board, which has included service on the Finance
Committee, is that no single director alone has the ability alter the ICANN
budget. Instead, any fundamental change to the ICANN budget can only be
achieved by stakeholders input through the bottoms-up consensus process upon
which ICANN is founded. That is why I believe the center-piece of any second
term must be mechanisms that allow for meaningful stakeholder participation
in the Strategic Plan Process, including developing mechanisms for
accountability.

By allowing for direct stakeholder participation in connection with the
ICANN Strategic Plan, stakeholders will be able to have a voice in ICANN's
mission and core values and the resulting budgetary resources to accomplish
these goals. The design and  implementation of these safeguards are a
priority as ICANN is currently undergoing stakeholder consultation in
connection with its first Strategic Plan. I believe that the framework for
these mechanisms can be found in the resulting documentation produced from
the recent Amsterdam consultation process. I look forward to continuing the
work that these individuals during the remainder of my current term, and
hopefully in my second term.

B. Increased resources to enable meaningful stakeholder participation and
policy development. Under Article X, Section 2 of the ICANN by-laws the GNSO
Council is "responsible for managing the policy development process of the
GNSO." However, to date I do not believe that ICANN has dedicated the
necessary resources for the GNSO Council or the GNSO constituencies.  This
has resulted in a
disproportionate burden on the council members and their individual
constituency participants. Additional resources include not only staff, but
tools that will facilitate consensus building initiatives including for
example teleconference capabilities and online voting.

C. Whois. Whois has been a priority policy issue dating back to the
formation of ICANN itself. By most accounts the current system is not
working, and may more importantly be placing some registration authorities
(registrars & registries) in violation of their national/local laws. A
solution must be sought that is consistent with the ICANN mission of
security and stability, and balances the respective rights of individuals,
registration authorities, business/IP interests, as well as law enforcement.

D. WIPO II. ICANN must ensure than ICANN's bottoms-up consensus principles
are adhered to with regard to any proposed changes in gTLD policy.

E. ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement. ICANN is currently in the
process of reviewing the ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement. Close
attention must be paid to this important process that was one of the first
initiatives that ICANN undertook back in the spring of 1999. In considering
any proposed changes, ICANN should carefully consider changes in the
marketplace and consider changes in the context of ICANN?s core values,
which include:

- Where feasible and appropriate, depending on market mechanisms to promote
and sustain a competitive environment.

- Introducing and promoting competition in the registration of domain names
where practicable and beneficial in the public interest.

F. Internationalization of ICANN. ICANN needs to be more inclusive by
ensuring that more people are able to participate in the ICANN process.
Therefore, ICANN should endeavor to translate key documents such as the
Strategic Plan into other languages.  Consistent with this
internationalization outreach, ICANN needs to play closer attention to how
its policies interact with national laws.

G. Partnership. ICANN must promote relationships with the public and private
sectors as well as civil society to help in promoting and preserving the
principles upon which Internet has flourished.


*** END CANDIDATE STATEMENT ***





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