Golding challenges McCarthy for Nominet board seat

Nominet has revealed the names of just two candidates who are standing in its non-executive director election this year.

Rob Golding of Astutium is on the ballot again, this time challenging incumbent Kieren McCarthy, who is standing for re-election for a second three-year term.

Golding stood last year and came a very close third place when there were two seats available. McCarthy won his seat in 2022 with a more comfortable margin, but only after a second round of voting.

Voting this year opens September 26 and the winner would take his seat in October at Nominet’s AGM.

Poblete’s ICANN board seat safe

Patricio Poblete seems set to serve a third and final term on ICANN’s board of directors, after nobody else put themselves forward as an alternative.

Poblete, of Chilean ccTLD registry NIC Chile, was nominated to continue in the role as one of the two ccNSO representatives on the board after his current term expires October 2026.

Nobody else stepped up as an alternative, so Poblete now appears to be a shoo-in, assuming he passes due diligence. The ccNSO said “if only one candidate is nominated, no election is required”.

His third term would end in late 2029.

Meet the six people battling to join ICANN’s board

Candidates from Verisign, Amazon, GoDaddy, Identity Digital, Tucows, and DotAsia have put themselves forward to become the domain name industry’s next pick for the ICANN board of directors.

The GNSO Contracted Parties House — registrars and registries — are currently holding an election to pick the next occupant of board seat 13, which will be vacated by term-limited incumbent Becky Burr next year.

These elections are usually pretty secretive — not even the names of the nominees are published — but this time around I am able to name all six candidates and five of them have kindly provided DI with their candidate statements, bringing candidates’ views to a public audience for the first time.

The candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

• James Bladel, VP of government and industry affairs at GoDaddy
• Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia
• Greg DiBiase, senior corporate counsel at Amazon
• Keith Drazek, VP of policy and government relations at Verisign
• Reg Levy, associate general counsel at Tucows
• Jonathan Robinson, director of Identity Digital subsidiary Internet Computer Bureau

While most of the candidates work for companies that operate as both registries and registrars, each only officially votes in one of the two CPH Stakeholder Groups, as indicated by “RySG” or “RrSG”, below.

Four of the candidates come from the North America region, while Chung is from the Asia-Pacific region and Robinson is European. Burr, who they would replace, is North American.

All of the candidates have been involved with ICANN for well over a decade, some since almost its foundation. Four are former or current chairs of the GNSO Council. One up until a few weeks ago served on the ICANN board for a single term in a different capacity.

Some of the candidates’ statements focus on issues at ICANN they would like to fix, improve, or build on, while others focus more on the candidate’s personal qualities and qualifications.

James Bladel, GoDaddy, RrSG

Bladel is an ICANN veteran with 20 years of experience on various policy-making working groups and committees, including a stint as chair of the GNSO Council. He’s also sat on the boards of the .uk and .me registries.

His candidate statement lists three shortcomings he sees in ICANN’s current trajectory that he believes he could help correct.

He says ICANN “faces a crisis of credibility” due to its failure “to make timely progress on key policy initiatives” and has “fallen into endless discussions and efforts to mitigate unknown risks”.

He gives the Next Round of new gTLDs and Whois policy as examples of where ICANN has moved too slowly to implement policies.

“ICANN must stop telling the world why its role is important and start showing clear examples of multistakeholder successes,” Bladel states, warning that governments will get involved if ICANN can not prove its worth.

He adds that while he does not believe blockchain-based naming systems are viable alternatives to the DNS, ICANN should be paying more attention to how they could be complementary and looking into why there appears to be demand for them.

Bladel provided his statement (pdf).

Edmon Chung, DotAsia, RySG

Chung is a 25-year ICANN vet and has just completed a three-year term on the board, as a Nominating Committee appointee, where he regularly fielded questions related to internationalized domain names, which is one of his specialties.

Chung said he would champion efforts such as Universal Acceptance Day and the new Applicant Support Program, both of which are intended to promote the newer TLDs, particularly those in non-Latin scripts.

As CEO of DotKids, he led the only new gTLD application in the 2012 application round to qualify for the ASP.

“I believe with another term on the board, I can contribute substance to shaping the discussions on [conflicts of interest], board agility and the business of TLDs,” Chung wrote.

Chung provided his statement (pdf).

Greg DiBiase, Amazon, RrSG

Current GNSO Council chair DiBiase claims credit for helping steer the community through its negotiations with the board over new gTLD policy recommendations, which if not exactly fractious have certainly been convoluted, over the last couple years.

He says he would focus on “improving communication” between board and CPH through informal channels with the contracted parties, building on Burr’s work.

He says he would attempt to plug gaps in processes, such as the uncertainty about the board’s power to change its mind on community recommendations it has already adopted.

The board’s attitude to risk is also a concern.

“Many in the ICANN Community view ICANN Org as extremely risk-averse and willing to reject community-made policy recommendations if they increase the probability of ICANN being sued,” DiBiase wrote.

“Whether true or not, I believe ICANN should focus on bigger-picture risks, like harm to credibility… and not just specific risks like lawsuits or IRPs,” he wrote.

DiBiase has headed Amazon Registrar’s legal team for eight years and previously worked in compliance for the Endurance group of registrars (now Newfold Digital).

He provided his statement (pdf).

Keith Drazek, Verisign, RySG

Drazek has been involved with ICANN for over 20 years, according to the bio published by current employer Verisign, the company for which he has been working since 2010. Prior to Verisign, he held a similar policy relations role at Neustar.

He has been GNSO Council chair, a member of the ccNSO Council representing North America, and chair of the RySG, among other roles in important policy working groups.

Drazek has not yet responded to my inquiries and I do not have his candidate statement. I will update this article should I receive it.

Reg Levy, Tucows, RrSG

Levy presents the fact that she is not following the typical path to the board — via, for example, sitting in the GNSO Council chair or on the Nominating Committee — as a strength.

She says she would be “a strong voice for the Community” on the board, which she said has shown a “worrying trend of the Board ignoring the Community and ignoring the role of the GNSO Council”.

Levy is the only candidate to take aim at ICANN’s finances in her statement, with criticisms of how its budget has ballooned beyond the scope of most non-profits over the last couple of decades, of its costly deals with long-incumbent vendors, and of its “shocking” and “disingenuous” executive compensation practices.

Levy says that she would probably be the youngest person on the current board, which could help with “ushering in a generational shift”. As the only female candidate, who would replace a female director, she notes that she’s the only chance of maintaining the current gender balance on the board.

Tucows published Levy’s statement (pdf) on its web site a couple weeks ago.

Jonathan Robinson, Identity Digital, RySG

Robinson’s statement focuses on his extensive industry experience, which dates back to when he founded the UK-based registrar NetBenefit back in 1997, and his long-time participation in the ICANN community.

His only current paid role in the industry is as the director of Internet Computer Bureau, the .io registry and Identity Digital subsidiary.

But Robinson’s key selling point appears to be that he would quit the ICB gig should he be elected, likely freeing him up to be able to engage in board discussions about new gTLD policy and other issues affecting the domain name industry.

ICANN directors are expected to recuse themselves from discussions on issues for which they have conflicts of interest. Burr does not currently recuse herself from such votes because, while she was originally elected while working for Neustar, she no longer has ties to the industry.

Robinson provided his statement (pdf).

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The candidates have already faced at least one round of interrogation by their voters, including at a closed-door session at ICANN 81 last month.

I’m told the first round of voting takes place this Wednesday, December 18, with a second round likely given the number of candidates. The current timetable published on the GNSO web site appears to be out of date.

The winner of the election will take over from Burr at ICANN’s 2025 Annual General Meeting next October in Muscat.

Nominet names director hopefuls

Nominet has named the five people who have put themselves forward for two seats on its board of directors. While there are familiar faces, there are also notable absences.

Ashley La Bolle of Tucows is defending her non-executive director seat and standing for her second term, but fellow NED Simon Blackler, famously of the PublicBenefit.uk campaign, is not.

PublicBenefit.uk resulted in a boardroom bloodbath at Nominet in 2021 and a change of focus for the .uk registry under new management.

Jim Davies, who threatened legal action after being excluded from the 2023 election, is also not on the list.

Rex Wickham of TwentyTwentyMedia, who sits on Nominet’s .UK Registry Advisory Council, is also on the list, along with Rob Golding, who has previously stood unsuccessfully for a NED seat.

Thomas Mangin and David Ward, neither of whom I believe have been candidates in Nominet elections before, round off the list.

Candidates’ election statements appear to be available to members only.

Nominet members get to vote, weighted according to how many .uk domains they manage, from September 23, and the new NEDs take their seats at the company’s AGM the following month.

Two seats up for grabs on Nominet board

The .uk registry, Nominet, has opened up its call for nominations for its 2024 non-executive director elections.

There are two seats up for grabs this year, currently occupied by Simon Blackler of Krystal Hosting and Ashley La Bolle of Tucows, both of whom were originally elected in 2021 and are eligible for reelection if they choose to stand again.

Blackler, you may recall, was the instigator of the PublicBenefit.uk campaign, which resulted in a boardroom bloodbath three years ago.

The seats represent half of the member-elected NEDs on Nominet’s board.

Non-members are eligible for nomination but only members may nominate and vote. Votes are weighted so the members with the most domains under management get the most votes, albeit with a cap to avoid capture by the largest players.

The deadline for nominations is July 7, and the vote takes place in September. Elections have historically reliably highlighted divisions in the .uk community.

Wright elected to Nominet board

Nominet members have selected Steve Wright to a non-executive directorship on the company’s board.

The .uk registry said today that his three-year term started at the company’s AGM yesterday.

Wright came very close to winning in the first round of voting, securing 723,027 votes. That was just shy of the threshold of 743,038 required to win. He picked up 79,264 in the second round to end up with a total of 802,291.

David Thornton was knocked out in the first round and Thomas Rickert was defeated in the second. Turnout was 13% of members.

Nominet members each have as many votes as they have .uk domains under management, capped to avoid capture by the largest registrars.

The election was somewhat controversial. Five candidates were initially nominated, but incumbent Phil Buckingham pulled out for mysterious reasons and regular Nominet antagonist Jim Davies was disqualified for missing a deadline on the screening process, which he denied doing.

Wright and Rickert debated during the London Domain Summit in August, and the consensus in the bar afterward was that you couldn’t really slide a cigarette paper between their platforms, which revolved around similar themes of transparency and communication.

Wright is a consultant and former owner of a hosting company.

This article was updated October 19 to correct Wright’s current job description.

Three candidates stand for Nominet board

Nominet has revealed the three candidates who will stand for election for a non-executive directorship on its board this year.

The candidates are Thomas Rickert, David Thornton and Steve Wright.

German lawyer Rickert is a familiar face in ICANN policy-making circles, currently as a representative of the ISPs constituency on the GNSO Council. He’s head of domains policy at German trade group eco.

Domain investor Thornton, has been on the Nomninet board as a NED before. He stood for reelection in 2021 but received less than 6% of the first-round votes and was beaten by Simon Blackler and Ashley La Bolle.

Wright is COO of hosting company Redcentric, which he joined earlier this year after it acquired his own hosting firm, according to his socials.

Their candidate statements are hidden behind a Nominet membership paywall.

Nominet said two other candidates were nominated but one pulled out — presumably incumbent Phil Buckingham, who has left for personal reasons — and other other failed to provide enough information for Nominet’s security screening.

“As Nominet is entrusted with managing critical internet infrastructure, these checks are important and all directors who join the company are asked to complete them,” the company said.

Candidates do not have to be members, but they do have to be nominated by two members to be eligible. The ballot, in which members get a number of votes dependent on how many domains they manage, will be held in September.

Nominet looking for another director

.uk registry Nominet has opened up its 2023 elections for a new non-executive director.

The company is looking for a NED able to serve a three-year term starting at the AGM in the fourth quarter.

Director Phil Buckingham’s current three-year term is up in September.

You don’t need to be a Nominet member to apply, but you do need to be nominated and seconded by members.

The deadline for nominations is June 2 and the voting opens in September.

Elections in previous years have proved controversial, with members unhappy about the company’s direction for some time.

ICANN dodges bullet as American elected to ITU top job

The International Telecommunications Union has elected Doreen Bogdan-Martin as Secretary-General, comfortably defeating a Russian candidate who could have caused serious problems for ICANN’s legitimacy.

She won 139 votes out of 172 cast at the agency’s plenipotentiary in Bucharest, the ITU said.​​ She only needed 83. Rashid Ismailov of the Russian Federation, the only other candidate, received 25 votes.

A couple of weeks ago, ICANN CEO Göran Marby took a rare political stance against the Russian’s platform, warning that it could lead to a fragmented internet and the death of ICANN.

Ismailov would have pushed for multilateral internet governance, with the ITU absorbing the functions of ICANN and other multistakeholder organizations.

Bogdan-Martin is American and much more amenable to the status quo.

Paraguay to chair the GAC

Paraguayan government official Nicolas Caballero has been elected as the next chair of ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee.

He ran unopposed, in an election that had to extend its nomination period because nobody put themselves forward in time for the original August deadline.

He will replace Egypt’s Manal Ismail, who will leave the chair following ICANN’s meeting in Cancun next March.

The role comes with a non-voting liaison position on ICANN’s board of directors.

Caballero, a technical advisor in Paraguay’s Office of the President, has been on the GAC for about 10 years.

He’s the first GAC chair from South America.