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Re: [council] Letter to L.Touton
Ken -
Thanks for copying this to us. Joe is ICANN's outside counsel, and as such
he has an important role in providing legal guidance to all involved with
ICANN. As an individual, like all of us, he has a right to comment wherever
he pleases.
But rather than defend him with a knee jerk, which I would be inclined to
do, let me ask Kathy to please specify *exactly* what she is objecting to
since I have not seen all the postings. Otherwise, let's consider the
matter closed.
Esther
At 07:25 am 11/20/1999 -0500, Ken Stubbs wrote:
>i too agree personally with theresa's concerns here.
>i have found joe sims postings to be clearly defined and very helpful.
>i do not find that he in any way has biased any issues or debates and am
>quite comfortable
>with his current relationship with the ICANN organization and its various
>supporting bodies.
>
>ken stubbs
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Theresa Swinehart <Theresa.Swinehart@wcom.com>
>To: <KathrynKL@aol.com>; <ncdnhc-discuss@lyris.isoc.org>; <council@dnso.org>
>Sent: Friday, November 19, 1999 7:50 PM
>Subject: RE: [council] Letter to L.Touton
>
>
>> Kathy,
>>
>> To be honest, I was somewhat surprised to see your letter and find that
>the
>> characterization in the message to be disturbing, not to mention
>misleading.
>> With all due respect, I have not found the notes that Joe has sent (the
>very
>> few that he has contributed) to be anything resembling the perception your
>> letter makes. The few notes Joe does send are either legal advice, and if
>> they are not specifically legal advice, he is very clear that he is
>sharing
>> his personal view, and that he's doing so "for what it's worth (FWIW)". I
>> don't think it is correct to think that they've contributed in any way to
>an
>> unbalanced or unfair debate.
>>
>> You'd mentioned that Joe's background lends itself to question whether
>there
>> are inherent conflicts - I'd like to point out that every single member of
>> the DNSO has a background. Your letter, in my view, discourages
>> participation, and I don't think this is something that does the DNSO any
>> justice in encouraging. I think that it would be very helpful if we would
>> all try to participate and move things forward with discussions.
>>
>> Just to make clear for the record, these are my personal views only, not
>> those of the Business Constituency, my employer, my pool team, any working
>> groups or committees, etc. I am involved with (list can be provided upon
>> request), my immediate or extended family, or my prior employers.
>>
>> Theresa
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-council@dnso.org [mailto:owner-council@dnso.org] On Behalf Of
>> KathrynKL@aol.com
>> Sent: Thursday, November 18, 1999 2:43 PM
>> To: ncdnhc-discuss@lyris.isoc.org; council@dnso.org
>> Subject: [council] Letter to L.Touton
>>
>> I have sent the following letter to Louis Touton and wanted to share it
>with
>> you.
>>
>> Kathy Kleiman
>> -------------------------
>> Mr. Louis Touton
>> General Counsel and Vice President of ICANN
>> November 18, 1999
>>
>> Dear Mr. Touton:
>> As you know, parties involved with ICANN are in the process of
>> debating the role and powers of the General Assembly. This is an
>> important debate for all DNSO participants, but particularly
>> for the individuals and small businesses who feel largely
>> disenfranchised by the constituency process. The debate we have
>> and the decisions we make will strongly shape the long-term
>> participation of smaller parties in the GA, the DNSO and ICANN.
>>
>> Much to my surprise, Joe Sims has been an active participant and
>> advocate in the Names Council debate on the General Assembly
>> issue. In the past, Mr. Sims has played the more neutral role of
>> counsel to the Names Council, answering legal questions that we
>> raise regarding bylaws, procedures and deadlines. On this issue, he
>> has turned into an active advocate regularly publishing messages to
>> the Names Council that outline his concerns about the directions of
>> the General Assembly and providing a roadmap for the Names
>> Council to take more control from the General Assembly. I find
>> this advocacy role troubling.
>>
>> As you know, Mr. Sims is a senior partner of the law firm of Jones
>> Day, one of the largest law firms in the world. This law firm
>> represents many of the most prominent corporations in the country,
>> and boasts on its website that it "acts as principle outside counsel
>> to, or provides significant legal representation for, more than half
>> of the Fortune 500 companies...." This background naturally gives
>> rise to question of whether there are inherent conflicts between the
>> companies he/his firm represents and the large company vs. small
>> player disputes that are being played out in this names Council
>> debate.
>>
>> While I recognize and value the contribution of Joe Sims to
>> ICANN, to the extent there are real or perceived conflicts, I believe
>> it is inappropriate that he play a continuing role in the
>> debates over the General Assembly. Moreover, I question whether
>> it is appropriate for ICANN's outside counsel to be a participant
>> in substantive debates. I bring this matter to your attention and
>> ask you to take the actions necessary to create a more
>> balanced and fair debate. Thank you for your review.
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> /s/ Kathryn Kleiman
>> Representative to the Names Council from the
>> Noncommercial Domain Name Holders Constituency
>>
>>
>
>
Esther Dyson Always make new mistakes!
chairman, EDventure Holdings
chairman, Internet Corp. for Assigned Names & Numbers
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