Ben Butler

Organization:	GoDaddy
Affiliation:	SSAC
Region:	North America
Country:	USA
Email:	bbutler@godaddy.com
LinkedIn:	Ben Butler

Ben Butler was the Director of Global Policy at GoDaddy, where he was responsible for the creation, coordination, and enforcement of internal and public policies relating to security, privacy, and abuse. Prior to this role, he served as a Director of IT Security Operations and Privacy where he was responsible for the teams that create and maintain systems for security operations, data privacy, security content, and user administration. He was especially passionate about keeping the internet a safe and enjoyable place for children. He was responsible for efforts to identify, investigate, report, and remove child abuse content. He worked at GoDaddy starting December 2001, previously as the Director of Network Abuse.

Butler was involved with ICANN as a member of SSAC starting in 2013.

Though he called himself "one of the world's foremost pessimists", Butler worked to draft and improve US legislation such as the Protect Act of 2008, which helps protect children online, as well as The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Act. He sought to raise "awareness of prevalent security issues and drive toward improved prevention and remediation of Internet Crimes, especially those affecting children."

In addition to policy and advisory efforts at ICANN, Butler was an active participant and speaker at various other security and abuse conferences including APWG, MAAWG, Internet Crimes Against Children, Technology Coalition, Blackhat, and SXSW.

Butler passed away in spring 2021.