[ga] RE: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

[Danny Younger <dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx>]

Vint,

Just the other day, Jay Westerdal, recently nominated
within the registrars constituency for service on the
NonCom, sent through this remark to the
settlement-comments forum:  "PS: If a senate committee
ever probes ICANN, please check and see how many ICANN
staff members have VRSN stock."

It is clear to me that a public perception exists that
ICANN may be guilty of laxity with respect to Staff
probity.

It's therefore fair for us to be asking the Board
whether they believe that their CEO has been running a
tight ship, and/or whether they can confirm that prior
to a major negotiation the CEO has in fact received
updated Disclosure Forms from all members of the ICANN
negotiating team -- this all falls under the general
rubric of the fiduciary requirements of Board
oversight.

No wants wants to travel down a road of infinite
regression, but in the wake of Enron and the recent
U.N. corruption scandals, we all would feel a little
bit more comfortable if we knew that the Board was
both sensitive and responsive to these concerns.  


Danny






--- Vint Cerf <vint@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Danny,
> 
> what kind of abuse are you imagining? Some form of
> kickback? Personal gain?
> Personal future gain? Something else?
> 
> There are annual audits; there are conflict of
> interest statements and a
> committee to review them; there are a variety of
> remedial mechanisms to deal
> with detected inconsistencies with policy and
> procedure. Contracts are
> published for public scrutiny. At some point there
> is an infinite regression
> that prevents anything from ever getting done.
> 
> Vint
> 
> 
> 
> Vinton G Cerf
> Chief Internet Evangelist
> Google/Regus
> Suite 384
> 13800 Coppermine Road
> Herndon, VA 20171
>  
> +1 703 234-1823
> +1 703-234-5822 (f)
>  
> vint@xxxxxxxxxx
> www.google.com
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Danny Younger [mailto:dannyyounger@xxxxxxxxx] 
> Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 3:34 PM
> To: ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Cc: vint@xxxxxxxxxx; michael@xxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
> 
> Dear Vint and Michael,
> 
> The question is as old as time itself, "Who will
> watch the watchman?"
> 
> Reading through the many remarks posted to
> settlement-comments, one can't
> help but notice the frequency of the word
> "corruption"...  
> 
> To be candid, it is rather hard for the public to
> imagine how any
> ICANN-retained lawyer worth his salt could have
> advised his client to allow
> VeriSign to simply walk away from a $200,000,000
> contractual R&D obligation,
> so words such as "malfeasance" or "corruption" would
> immediately come to
> mind (especially when mechanisms designed to enhance
> both VeriSign and ICANN
> revenues were included in this bizarre proposed
> settlement).
> 
> In my view, ICANN has a steward's obligation to
> ensure probity in all of its
> dealings -- as an organization, it must be
> thoroughly beyond reproach.  
> 
> Yet speaking as a member of the public, I have my
> doubts as to whether ICANN
> does in fact have an appropriate anti-corruption
> strategy in place.  Let's
> face it, we are dealing with contracts that
> implicate hundreds of millions
> of dollars in revenue... so, the issue that I am
> raising is this:  can the
> ICANN Board reasonably reassure the community that
> its provisions against
> the possibility of corruption are adequate?
> 
> Has the Board set up channels that permit corruption
> to be reported
> internally?  Has the Board developed investigative
> structures able to detect
> corruption?
> 
> I would prefer to think that there is no corruption
> among the Staff, and
> that Staff, with respect to this proposed
> settlement, has merely displayed
> the stupidity that results from undue insularity --
> but in today's climate,
> we need to be on our guard against even the
> slightest hint of corruption. 
> 
> Corruption is never a "victimless" crime; the victim
> is usually the general
> public interest.  Please keep that thought in your
> mind as you evaluate the
> terms of the proposed settlement.
> 
> Best regards,
> Danny
> 
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