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ICANN shutters Australian office, cans staff
Kevin Murphy,
January 1, 2013, 20:55:42 (UTC),
Gossip
ICANN has closed its office in Australia, according to a few (so far officially unconfirmed) reports we’ve received today.
Multiple sources also tell DI that all ICANN staff working at the Sydney office were let go over the Christmas period.
Sydney is/was a relatively small branch, with only a handful of staff based there, including some in legal and compliance departments.
According to ICANN’s last budget, its lease on the office was due to expire in February. Rent was pegged at $155,000 (US).
I believe the closure may be due to a rationalization of ICANN’s facilities costs under the new executive team.
The Sydney office was set up while Paul Twomey was ICANN’s CEO and spent a lot of his time in his native Australia.
I’ve not heard anything yet about whether the same fate has befallen the Palo Alto, California office, which was opened during Rod Beckstrom’s tenure as CEO for similar reasons.
ICANN is headquartered in Los Angeles, having recently relocated from neighboring suburb Marina Del Rey.
It also has a European office in Brussels, which last year moved from temporary facilities to a more permanent set-up.
Didn’t even know they had one here! 🙂