Changes

===Issue on ICANN Ethics and Conflict of Interest===

===Issue on ICANN Ethics and Conflict of Interest===

Senator Ron Wyden wrote a letter to NTIA Assistant Secretary Strickling on September 14, 2011 regarding the issue of “revolving door” between the domain name industry and ICANN.  Reports and commentaries were written about Dengate Thrush immediate acceptance as Chairman of Minds+Machines less than a month after his term expired as Chairman of the ICANN Board on June 24, 2011. Several individuals from the internet community were uncomfortable with Dengate Thrush move since he voted for the approval of the implementation of the new gTLD program days after his term expired and he was the first ICANN chairperson to accept a high paying job from a company dedicated in providing complete gTLD application and registry services. Dengate Thrush did not violate any rule since there is no policy preventing the members ICANN Board to join companies in the domain industry after their term expired. The internet community including Senator Wyden recommended for the development of a new ethics policy to prevent the “revolving door.” In his letter to Strickling, Senator Wyden stated that the designated IANA plays a huge role in regulating the multi-million dollar domain name industry. Since IANA is not an agency of the federal government, its’ executives are not bound by the same financial, ethics or conflict of interest rules followed by executives of federal agencies or members of the Congress. According to Wyden, '''“While I support the control of this system by NTIA, I also believe that any IANA employees ought to be made subject to the same ethics rules in place as NTIA employees. With the growth in importance of this authority, it is important to ensure that decisions are made impartially.”''' Senator Wyden recommended strict ethics guidelines with emphasis on transparency for the next contract negotiation with ICANN or any other organization that will be selected to operate IANA.<ref>[http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=2e414e69-1250-4ca3-ae6b-2b6091ed52cc Wyden Calls for Ethics Rules to Prevent Revolving Door for Internet Domain Name Regulators]</ref>   

Senator [[Ron Wyden]] wrote a letter to NTIA Assistant Secretary Strickling on September 14, 2011 regarding the issue of “revolving door” between the domain name industry and ICANN.  Reports and commentaries were written about [[Peter Dengate Thrush]]] immediate acceptance as Chairman of [[Minds+Machines]] after his term expired as Chairman of the [[ICANN Board]] on June 24, 2011. Several individuals from the internet community were uncomfortable with Dengate Thrush move since he voted for the approval of the implementation of the new gTLD program days after his term expired and he was the first ICANN chairperson to accept a high paying job from a company dedicated in providing complete gTLD application and registry services. Dengate Thrush did not violate any rule since there is no policy preventing the members ICANN Board to join companies in the domain industry after their term expired. The internet community including Senator Wyden recommended for the development of a new ethics policy to prevent the “revolving door.” In his letter to Strickling, Senator Wyden stated that the designated [[[IANA]] plays a huge role in regulating the multi-million dollar domain name industry. Since IANA is not an agency of the federal government, its’ executives are not bound by the same financial, ethics or conflict of interest rules followed by executives of federal agencies or members of the Congress. According to Wyden, '''“While I support the control of this system by NTIA, I also believe that any IANA employees ought to be made subject to the same ethics rules in place as NTIA employees. With the growth in importance of this authority, it is important to ensure that decisions are made impartially.”''' Senator Wyden recommended strict ethics guidelines with emphasis on transparency for the next contract negotiation with ICANN or any other organization that will be selected to operate IANA.<ref>[http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=2e414e69-1250-4ca3-ae6b-2b6091ed52cc Wyden Calls for Ethics Rules to Prevent Revolving Door for Internet Domain Name Regulators]</ref>   

In response to Sen. Wyden’s Letter,  Strickling agreed to Senator Wyden’s opinion that  the organization designated as IANA should maintain a high level of accountability and transparency. He assured the Senator that NTIA is actively working in developing policies that  will “best meet the requirement for a clear and enforced ethics and conflict of interest policy”  to the next IANA contract. In addition, the Assistant Secretary also informed the Senator  that two notices of inquiry had been conducted regarding the IANA contract on February and June 2011 respectively as part of the agency’s comprehensive review of the IANA. NTIA received 136 comments during the global input process and the stakeholders believe that there is a need to increase accountability and transparency. <ref>

In response to Sen. Wyden’s Letter,  Strickling agreed to Senator Wyden’s opinion that  the organization designated as IANA should maintain a high level of accountability and transparency. He assured the Senator that NTIA is actively working in developing policies that  will “best meet the requirement for a clear and enforced ethics and conflict of interest policy”  to the next IANA contract. In addition, the Assistant Secretary also informed the Senator  that two notices of inquiry had been conducted regarding the IANA contract on February and June 2011 respectively as part of the agency’s comprehensive review of the IANA. NTIA received 136 comments during the global input process and the stakeholders believe that there is a need to increase accountability and transparency. <ref>