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New policy would ban President Trump from ICANN meetings (probably)

Kevin Murphy, November 9, 2016, 17:33:36 (UTC), Domain Policy

Those who sexually harass fellow community members could be banned from ICANN meetings under a policy proposed this week.
ICANN capThe proposal greatly expands upon an earlier version, published for comment in May, which would have banned “unwelcome hostile or intimidating behavior”.
It presents a long list of activities considered harassment, including:

  • Sexually suggestive touching
  • Grabbing, groping, kissing, fondling, hugging, stroking someone’s hair, or brushing against another’s body
  • Touching that the actor may not have intended to be sexually suggestive but which constitutes uninvited touching, such as rubbing or massaging someone’s neck or shoulders
  • Violating someone’s “personal space” after being told you are doing so
  • Leering, stalking, or suggestive whistling
  • Gesturing in a sexually suggestive manner
  • Circulating or posting written or graphic materials that show hostility or disrespect toward or that demean individuals because of Specified Characteristics as set forth above
  • Lewd or graphic comments or jokes of a sexual nature

We’re unlikely to see new President-Elect Trump keynoting at an ICANN meeting any time soon, in other words.
It’s possible that even referring to his “pussy-grabbing” antics could fall foul of the policy.
Protected “Special Characteristics” would include:

age, ancestry, color, physical or mental disability, genetic information, medical condition (cancer and genetic characteristics), marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth, gender, gender identity and gender expression), sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status

Under the proposal (pdf), the ICANN Ombudsman (referred to here, unusually, as the “Ombudsperson”) would have powers to punish those who he determines have been harassing others.
The powers would include:

excusing any individual responsible for inappropriate behavior from further participation in the ICANN process for a specified period of time, limiting the individual’s participation in some manner, and/or requiring satisfaction of prerequisites such as a written apology as a condition of future participation

This would all be in the discretion of the Ombudsman. There would be no requirement for the accuser to provide any corroboration or evidence.
The policy was created following a controversy earlier this year, in which a female ICANN participant accused a male participant of making comments about sandwiches in a way she found “lecherous”.
No wrongdoing was found by the Ombudsman in that case.
The new proposed policy is now open for public comment until January 27.
Photo credit: Michele Neylon

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Comments (3)

  1. ICANN can also forget about having any non-US Muslims attending meetings in the US.

  2. Acro says:

    AFAIK only a sandwich (of the culinary kind) was ever involved in an ICANN harassment allegation. Whatever happened to that case?

  3. Ken Stubbs says:

    What a huge waste of time even discussing this topic here.
    Really am more interested in how we can find more ways to manage ICANN’s
    out-of-control spending.

Leave a Reply to Ken Stubbs