Changes

Mr. Dengate Thrush left ICANN in June, 2011, about a month later it was announced that he was joining [[Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd.]] as its Executive Chairman. Top Level Domain Holdings Limited is the parent company of [[Minds + Machines]]. The move was greeted by both enthusiasm and allegations of misconduct, given the move from approving new [[gTLD]]s to effectively selling them. His supporters claim that he will bring a wealth of knowledge to the private sector,<ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2011/07/17/outgoing-icann-chairman-peter-dengate-thrush-joining-minds-machines-as-executive-chairman/ TheDomains.com]</ref> while his detractors claim that he compromised ICANN's integrity via a conflict of interest.<ref>[http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20110718.htm DNJournal.com]</ref>

Mr. Dengate Thrush left ICANN in June, 2011, about a month later it was announced that he was joining [[Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd.]] as its Executive Chairman. Top Level Domain Holdings Limited is the parent company of [[Minds + Machines]]. The move was greeted by both enthusiasm and allegations of misconduct, given the move from approving new [[gTLD]]s to effectively selling them. His supporters claim that he will bring a wealth of knowledge to the private sector,<ref>[http://www.thedomains.com/2011/07/17/outgoing-icann-chairman-peter-dengate-thrush-joining-minds-machines-as-executive-chairman/ TheDomains.com]</ref> while his detractors claim that he compromised ICANN's integrity via a conflict of interest.<ref>[http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2011/dailyposts/20110718.htm DNJournal.com]</ref>

Both the U.S. government and the [[European Commission]] took note of Peter Dengate Thrush's questionably timed move from the [[ICANN Board]] to [[Minds + Machines]]. In September, 2011 Senator Ron Wyden of the U.S. Government called for greater ethics rules to be written into the [[IANA]] contract.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/senator-calls-for-icann-ethics-controls/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DomainIncite+%28DomainIncite.com%29 Senator Calls for ICANN ethics Controls, DomainIncite.com]</ref> The politicalization of the IANA contract is the sole means that the US Government is still able to exert control over the organization, thus, the European Commission called on the US to amend the same type of controls into the contract. Just a few weeks prior to Ron Wyden's call for ethics controls, a leaked paper by the EC shows them taking up the same issue. They suggest creating new rules in the IANA contract that would prevent those that stand to gain from ICANN decisions from working on the board, to create a two year waiting period for any exiting board member wherein employment in the industry would be prohibited, and they also advocated paying the currently voluntary board to further prevent conflicts of interest from developing.<ref>[http://blog.internetgovernance.org/pdf/ECPaper3-4.pdf EC Paper 3 & 4]</ref>

Both the U.S. government and the [[European Commission]] seemed to take note of Peter Dengate Thrush's move from the [[ICANN Board]] to [[Minds + Machines]]. In September, 2011 Senator Ron Wyden of the U.S. Government called for greater ethics rules to be written into the [[IANA]] contract.<ref>[http://domainincite.com/senator-calls-for-icann-ethics-controls/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DomainIncite+%28DomainIncite.com%29 Senator Calls for ICANN ethics Controls, DomainIncite.com]</ref> The politicalization of the IANA contract is the sole means that the US Government is still able to exert control over the organization, thus, the European Commission called on the US to amend the same type of controls into the contract. Just a few weeks prior to Ron Wyden's call for ethics controls, a leaked paper by the EC shows them taking up the same issue. They suggest creating new rules in the IANA contract that would prevent those that stand to gain from ICANN decisions from working on the board, to create a two year waiting period for any exiting board member wherein employment in the industry would be prohibited, and they also advocated paying the currently voluntary board to further prevent conflicts of interest from developing.<ref>[http://blog.internetgovernance.org/pdf/ECPaper3-4.pdf EC Paper 3 & 4]</ref>

The above controversy resulted in a new Conflict of Interest Policy for members of the Board and others, released on December 8th, 2011, and effective immediately. The policy requires disclosure to the [[Board Governance Committee]] of any and all potential conflicts of interest, and subsequent abstention from ICANN activities related to the conflict of interest.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/committees/board-governance/coi/ ICANN Conflict of Interest Policy]</ref> Board members also may not join business with a new gTLD registry until 12 months after the registry's application has been voted on.<ref>[http://news.dot-nxt.com/2011/12/13/icann-board-dec-minutes ICANN Board December Minutes, dot-nxt.com]</ref>

The above controversy resulted in a new Conflict of Interest Policy for members of the Board and others, released on December 8th, 2011, and effective immediately. The policy requires disclosure to the [[Board Governance Committee]] of any and all potential conflicts of interest, and subsequent abstention from ICANN activities related to the conflict of interest.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/committees/board-governance/coi/ ICANN Conflict of Interest Policy]</ref> Board members also may not join business with a new gTLD registry until 12 months after the registry's application has been voted on.<ref>[http://news.dot-nxt.com/2011/12/13/icann-board-dec-minutes ICANN Board December Minutes, dot-nxt.com]</ref>