ICANNWatch | Board Squatter to Chair NomCom

Board Squatter to Chair NomCom
posted by michael on Monday January 20 2003, @07:02PM

Yep. It doesn't get much richer than this. Remember the Board Squatters? Those were the Interim ICANN Board members ("could serve for a fixed period, until the Board of Directors is elected and installed" -White Paper), who became the Initial ICANN Board, who promised they would step down within a year of ICANN's formation...then invoked the emergency extension provision of the By-Laws to extend their term to two years...then amended the By-Laws to double their terms to FOUR years...and recently extended their terms YET AGAIN to extend past four years in the form of membership on the new "Transition Board". Yes, those Board Squatters.

Well, ICANN just announced that one of them, Linda Wilson, is going to Chair the NomCom, the group that will pick the next ICANN Board.

In any other circumstances, I'd think of Linda Wilson as a sort of moderate among ICANN insiders. She has the sort of background that makes you think she'd believe in fair play, and sometimes even makes those sort of comments in public. But in ICANN matters, her bona fides are simply too compromised for this role. The Board -- via its then Chair Esther Dyson -- assured Congress, assured the Internet, that it would not take advantage of its power to amend the By-Laws to cling to power beyond two years. Then it did just that. The honorable course at that point was to resign. Esther Dyson did that. The Board Squatters didn't.

Appointing a Board Squatter to head the NomCom sends a powerful signal: 'Legitimacy? Heh, we don't need no legitimacy 'round here. After all, we've got the votes.'

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extended their terms YET AGAIN

Transition Board

Linda Wilson, is going to Chair the NomCom