Changes

A prominent example of ICANN Directors excusing themselves from voting per the new COI policies occurred at a Board meeting held in February, 2012. At that meeting, the board had a matter related to confirming a second round of [[New gTLD Program|new gTLDs]] in front of them, and 7 directors abstained from voting as per the new COI policy. Those directors were: [[Steve Crocker]] (CEO of consulting firm, [[Shinkuro]]), [[Bruce Tonkin]] (CSO at [[Melbourne IT]]), [[Sébastien Bachollet]] (CEO of [[BBS International Consulting]]), [[Bertrand de la Chapelle]] (International Diplomatic Academy), [[Thomas Narten]] (Senior Engineer, [[IBM]]), [[Ram Mohan]] (Non-voting Member, EVP at [[Afilias]]), and [[Suzanne Woolf]] (Non-voting Member, [[ISC]]). Two directors, [[Kuo-Wei Wu]] and [[Thomas Roessler]], had previously abstained at a December vote related to new gTLDs, but were once again declaring no conflict at the February meeting.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/seven-icann-directors-have-new-gtld-conflicts/ Seven ICANN Directors Have New gTLD Conflicts, DomainIncite.com]</ref>

A prominent example of ICANN Directors excusing themselves from voting per the new COI policies occurred at a Board meeting held in February, 2012. At that meeting, the board had a matter related to confirming a second round of [[New gTLD Program|new gTLDs]] in front of them, and 7 directors abstained from voting as per the new COI policy. Those directors were: [[Steve Crocker]] (CEO of consulting firm, [[Shinkuro]]), [[Bruce Tonkin]] (CSO at [[Melbourne IT]]), [[Sébastien Bachollet]] (CEO of [[BBS International Consulting]]), [[Bertrand de la Chapelle]] (International Diplomatic Academy), [[Thomas Narten]] (Senior Engineer, [[IBM]]), [[Ram Mohan]] (Non-voting Member, EVP at [[Afilias]]), and [[Suzanne Woolf]] (Non-voting Member, [[ISC]]). Two directors, [[Kuo-Wei Wu]] and [[Thomas Roessler]], had previously abstained at a December vote related to new gTLDs, but were once again declaring no conflict at the February meeting.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/seven-icann-directors-have-new-gtld-conflicts/ Seven ICANN Directors Have New gTLD Conflicts, DomainIncite.com]</ref>

===Rod Beckstrom's Speech===

===Rod Beckstrom Speaks Against the Board and NomCom===

At the opening ceremony for [[ICANN 43]] in San Jose, Costa Rica, [[Rod Beckstrom]] criticized the Board and [[NomCom]] for their insularity. He said, "ICANN must be able to act for the public good while placing commercial and financial interests in the appropriate context. How can it do this if all top leadership is from the very domain name industry it is supposed to coordinate independently?” He claimed that the NomCom's structure poses a significant threat to ICANN, and stated that the Committee, which appoints half of the Board's voting Directors, should be "free of conflicts," and should appoint candidates that are “financially independent of the domain name industry." He said that ideally, a fully independent and non-conflicted NomCom should be in place before the nominations for the next round of Board appointments begins.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/8126-beckstrom-slams-his-own-board-over-conflicts Beckstrom slams his own board over conflicts, domainincite.com]</ref>

At the opening ceremony for [[ICANN 43]] in San Jose, Costa Rica, [[Rod Beckstrom]] criticized the Board and [[NomCom]] for their insularity. He said, "ICANN must be able to act for the public good while placing commercial and financial interests in the appropriate context. How can it do this if all top leadership is from the very domain name industry it is supposed to coordinate independently?” He claimed that the NomCom's structure poses a significant threat to ICANN, and stated that the Committee, which appoints half of the Board's voting Directors, should be "free of conflicts," and should appoint candidates that are “financially independent of the domain name industry." He said that ideally, a fully independent and non-conflicted NomCom should be in place before the nominations for the next round of Board appointments begins.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/8126-beckstrom-slams-his-own-board-over-conflicts Beckstrom slams his own board over conflicts, domainincite.com]</ref>