Summary

Board approves Thomas Narten as a non-voting Liaison member of the New gTLD Program Committee, and all committee members reinforce their commitment regarding Board member conflicts.

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Whereas, on 10 April 2012 the Board created the New gTLD Program Committee, to which it delegated all legal and decision making authority of the Board relating to the New gTLD Program (for the round of the Program, which commenced in January 2012 and for the related Applicant Guidebook that applies to this current round) as set forth in its Charter, which excludes those things that the Board is prohibited from delegating by law, or pursuant to Article XII, Section 2 of the ICANN Bylaws.

Whereas, Thomas Narten has been determined by the Board Governance Committee's Subcommittee for Conflicts & Ethics to have mitigated the previously-identified conflict of interest with respect to the New gTLD Program, and that determination has been accepted by the Board.

Resolved (2012.05.06.10), Thomas Narten is hereby approved as a non-voting Liaison member of the New gTLD Program Committee.

Resolved (2012.05.06.11), all members of the New gTLD Program Committee reinforce their commitment to the 8 December 2011 Resolution of the Board (Resolution 2011.12.08.19) regarding Board member conflicts, and specifying in part: "Any and all Board members who approve any new gTLD application shall not take a contracted or employment position with any company sponsoring or in any way involved with that new gTLD for 12 months after the Board made the decision on the application."

Implementation Actions

  •  None

Rationale  

The Board reaffirms its Rationale for Resolutions 2012.04.10.01-2012.04.10.04, stating in full: In order to have efficient meetings and take appropriate actions with respect to the New gTLD Program for the current round of the Program and as related to the Applicant Guidebook, the Board decided to create the "New gTLD Program Committee" in accordance with Article XII of the Bylaws and has delegated decision making authority to the Committee as it relates to the New gTLD Program for the current round of the Program which commenced in January 2012 and for the related Applicant Guidebook that applies to this current round.

Establishing this new Committee without conflicted members, and delegating to it decision making authority, will provide some distinct advantages. First, it will eliminate any uncertainty for conflict Board members with respect to attendance at Board meetings and workshops since the New gTLD Program topics can be dealt with at the Committee level. Second, it will allow for actions to be taken without a meeting by the committee. As the Board is aware, actions without a meeting cannot be taken unless done via electronic submission by unanimous consent; such unanimous consent cannot be achieved if just one Board member is conflicted. Third, it will provide the community with a transparent view into the Board's commitment to dealing with actual, potential or perceived conflicts.

This resolution should have a positive impact on the community andICANN as a whole as the New gTLD Program Committee will be able to take actions relating to the New gTLD Program for the current round of the Program and as related to the Applicant Guidebook without any question of conflict arising.

No fiscal impact is anticipated as a result of this action and there will be no impact on the security, stability no resiliency of the domain name system.

Other Related Resolutions

Additional Information

  •  The resolution does not address funding for the items identified therein.

Explanatory text does not modify or override Resolutions.  See Board Resolutions Page for more information.

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