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That's very interesting, and telling. BTW, I think it is Twomey, not Twoomey, or is that the Australian spelling? What's up with that Aussie government anyway? They hijack the .au domain, become the first ccTLD to sign ICANN's pay and obey contract, and bring in a version of the UDRP which greatly increases complainant rights (whilst elsewhere, eg: elsewhere in the Commonwealth like .ca and .uk, the trend is to bring in versions of the UDRP more weighted towards the rights of the respondent). Twomey, who was appointed by the BoD to serve as Chair of the GAC in 1999, seems to have left public service. So how can he remain a GAC member, let alone Chair, when the BoD voted a few months later in 1999 regarding GAC membership: The accredited representative of a Member must hold a formal official position with the Member's public administration. The term "official" includes a holder of an elected governmental office, or a person who is employed by such government, public authority or multinational governmental or treaty organization and whose primary function with such government, public authority or organization is to develop or influence governmental or public policies. Ironically, they inserted that clause at the urging of Paul Twomey. On his assumption of office, ICANN quoted Twomey as saying:The role of the GAC is a significant element of ICANN, [a]nd I acknowledge that ICANN's invitation for me to chair the GAC is a great compliment to Australia's role to date in the Internet reform process. In my position as Chairman, I will endeavour to ensure that the principles affirmed by ICANN, which are those of fairness and transparency of policy and procedure, are upheld, and that these principles are exercised to the maximum extent feasible. Well, we've seen what a great job he's done of that so far. Presumably they're now paying him because he at least has a proven ability to speak ICANNese. -g
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