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Dear Heather,<br>
<br>
thank you for your kind message and thank you for raising the issue
of Conflict of Interest Policy with Chapters. This email is meant to
share my personal comments regarding the policy as it currently
stands and to question how this was established.<br>
<br>
First, how it was established. From your email, it appears that this
conflict of interest policy was adopted unanimously by the Board of
Trustees earlier this year - without any formal input from the very
people affected by the policy, that is the three communities from
which candidates on the Board of Trustees are drawn. Whilst I agree
that, in principle, a Conflict of Interest policy is needed in any
organisation, I wonder what was the trigger for this sudden waking
of the sleeping dragon after so many years where the matter had not
been addressed, and there did not appear to have been cause for
concern. Why were the relevant communities not consulted?<br>
<br>
Why do I call this a sleeping dragon? Because whilst I agree with
you that the "Independent Policy View" section needs further review,
it's a bit late to involve Chapters now that the section's already
been passed by the Board. Plus, it awakens all sorts of questions,
which I'll point out below.<br>
<br>
So let's see the two main paragraphs:<br>
<br>
<i><font color="#0000ff"><span style="left: 150px; top: 846.143px;
font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform:
scaleX(0.879936);">Individuals in the board or the leadership
of organizations that operate in ISOC’s areas of </span><span
style="left: 150px; top: 866.543px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.826838);">eng</span><span
style="left: 175.6px; top: 866.543px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.855801);">agement
shall not serve as trustees, unless the engagement is on
behalf of or at the request of </span><span style="left:
150px; top: 887.343px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family:
sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.883172);">ISOC’s Board. <font
color="#ff0000">Individuals who are directly involved in the
policy development process of these </font></span><span
style="left: 150px; top: 907.743px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.856398);"><font
color="#ff0000">organizations</font> shall not serve as
Interested Parties. These organi</span><span style="left:
598.8px; top: 907.743px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family:
sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.888369);">zations include, but
are not limited to, </span><span style="left: 150px; top:
928.543px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif;
transform: scaleX(0.907719);">ICANN (Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers) and the IGF (Internet </span><span
style="left: 150px; top: 948.943px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.887625);">Governance
Forum).<br>
<br>
</span><span style="left: 150px; top: 990.543px; font-size:
18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.932809);">Chapters</span><span
style="left: 150px; top: 1031.74px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.885278);"><br>
<br>
Given ISOC’s relation with its chapters, members of the
leadership of an ISOC chapter, which </span><span
style="left: 150px; top: 1052.14px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.896759);">include
th</span></font></i><span style="left: 220.8px; top:
1052.14px; font-size: 18.4px; font-family: sans-serif; transform:
scaleX(0.853343);"><i><font color="#0000ff">e chapter’s president
and treasurer, shall not serve as ISOC trustees</font></i><br>
<br>
I have a serious problem with the specific mentioning and
therefore targeting of ICANN and IGF. This is not only because I
am involved as a volunteer in these two organisations, but because
it unfairly targets the involvement of most of our Chapter members
in Internet Governance, whether at ICANN or IGF - and an
overwhelming majority of Chapter members are involved as
volunteers in these organisations. <b><br>
<br>
I would go further that their involvement in these organisations
create the very fabric that the multistakeholder model is built
on. Without this, there is no multistakeholder model. Is this
what the Internet Society wants?</b><br>
</span>
<ul>
<li><span style="left: 220.8px; top: 1052.14px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.853343);">Why is
there a focus on organisations that used to be, in the past,
referred to as the I-star organisations, organisations that
were viewed as friends, but now appear to be no longer? Why
were more "distant" organisations, like ITU, or the IEEE, or
ACM not given as an example?<br>
</span></li>
<li><span style="left: 220.8px; top: 1052.14px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.853343);">Why is
there a mention of "individuals who are directly involved in
the policy development process of these organisations" instead
of referring to being in their leadership? There is no
difference made between being in the leadership of an
organisation and contributing benevolently to a working group.<br>
</span></li>
<li><span style="left: 220.8px; top: 1052.14px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.853343);">Why is
there an ill-conceived mention of "policy development"
relating to IGF? The Internet Governance Forum does not make
any policy, it is... a discussion forum - this sentence is
embarrassing for ISOC as it appears to point at ignorance of
this basic point.<br>
</span></li>
<li><span style="left: 220.8px; top: 1052.14px; font-size: 18.4px;
font-family: sans-serif; transform: scaleX(0.853343);">If
deciding to open the can of worms, why not open it fully and
also include conflict of interests of individuals that <font
color="#ff0000">work </font>for large corporations that are
directly involved in Internet Governance - corporations that
could benefit from ISOC's "independent policy views" advocacy
on a National or International level? They get paid by these
corporations - surely that's a greater conflict of interest
than the one of volunteers?<br>
</span></li>
</ul>
<p>The Conflict of Interest policy, as it currently stands, could
prevent a lot of very competent people from taking on positions on
the ISOC Board of Trustees. This blanket ban throws the baby out
with the bath water. Worse: it is discriminatory towards a
specific type of volunteer. Is this really what ISOC wants? <br>
</p>
<p>Instead of a policy that stops people from taking office
altogether, if there is a deep concern in the ISOC Board of
Trustees that conflicts of interest are a strong reality that
needs to be addressed, perhaps is it time to:</p>
<p>1. Have a policy that allows all Board members to declare their
interests publicly, for all to see, on a publicly accessible page,
which can be updated regularly.</p>
<p>2. Have a policy that allow Board members to recuse themselves
from discussions where their other commitments pose a conflict of
Interest for this topic only. I understand that one or more
members of the Board did exactly this during the PIR discussions.</p>
<p>3. Have a policy that allows the ISOC Board of Trustees to be
accountable to the ISOC Community, the channel for the Internet
Society to continue to excel in its Mission as listed in
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/">https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/</a> - so the Internet
Society does not risk being used as a lobbying tool for vested
interests?<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>As I said, these are my personal views. I accept that I might be
out of line, but my interest here is to safeguard the Internet
multistakeholder model and when I see a friendly organisation
wandering towards fragmenting this vulnerable ecosystem into "us
against them" amongst its friends, I cannot keep my mouth shut.</p>
<p>Kindest regards,</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Olivier<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 04/11/2020 01:35, Heather West via
Chapter-delegates wrote:<br>
</div>
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cite="mid:CAPunpCY0HarEFXR5XjosPqcyEOop9LqmyODC67NonPUGm0GHvA@mail.gmail.com">
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As Chair of the Internet Society Audit Committee, I wanted to
share an update with you.<br>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">
<br>
As you may know, the Audit Committee reviews the Conflict of
Interest forms filed by members of the Board of Trustees and
officers of the Internet Society to ensure that we are in
compliance with our Conflict of Interest (“CoI”) policy.<br>
<br>
The CoI policy states that members of the Board of Trustees
cannot hold a position in the policy development process in
another organization operating in the Internet Society’s
areas of engagement, and we are evaluating a situation where
this restriction may be relevant. One of our Trustees has
been appointed as a non-voting member to the GSNO Council,
the Generic Names Supporting Organization – a
policy-development body that develops and recommends
policies relating to generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to
the ICANN Board.<br>
<br>
The Internet Society has a long history of collaborating
with our diverse community from around the world, and is
committed to having vibrant and robust global engagement. We
work across countries and cultures and seek diverse
cross-organizational expertise. This makes us stronger—sound
practices and clear policies are a critical part of that.<br>
<br>
We recognize that the expertise of our trustees is also
valued by other groups. At the same time, our community is
best served when board members are able to maintain their
independence from other organizational interests that are in
the Internet Society’s areas of engagement.<br>
<br>
While our CoI policy was adopted unanimously by the Board of
Trustees earlier this year, the Board has determined that a
section addressing a conflict under the “Independent Policy
View” section needs further review. The Governance Committee
will evaluate this section with the goal of providing its
assessment and recommendations to the Board for further
discussion. We anticipate this work will be concluded by
the time of our next Board of Trustees meeting.<br>
<br>
Below is the link to our Conflict of Interest policy on the
Internet Society website.<span
style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></p>
<div><a href="https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/</a> <span
style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sincerely,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heather West<br>
Audit Committee, Chair, Internet Society Board of Trustees</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">=========== Español =========== </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Como presidente del Comité de Auditoría
de Internet Society, quería compartir una actualización con
ustedes.<br>
<br>
Como saben, el Comité de Auditoría revisa los formularios de
Conflicto de Interés presentados por miembros de la Junta
Directiva y funcionarios de Internet Society para asegurarse
de que cumplimos con nuestra política de Conflicto de
Interés ("CoI").<br>
<br>
La política de CoI establece que los miembros de la Junta
Directiva no pueden ocupar un puesto en el proceso de
desarrollo de políticas en otra organización que opere en
las áreas de participación de Internet Society, y estamos
evaluando una situación en la que esta restricción puede ser
relevante. Un integrante de la Junta Directiva ha sido
designado como miembro sin derecho a voto del Consejo de
GSNO, la Organización de Apoyo para Nombres Genéricos, un
organismo de desarrollo de políticas que desarrolla
y recomienda políticas relacionadas con los dominios
genéricos de nivel superior (gTLD) a la Junta de ICANN.<br>
<br>
Internet Society tiene un largo historial de colaboración
con nuestra diversa comunidad de todo el mundo y está
comprometida a tener un compromiso global vibrante y sólido.
Trabajamos en distintos países y culturas y buscamos
diversos conocimientos especializados entre organizaciones.
Esto nos hace más fuertes: las prácticas sólidas y las
políticas claras son una parte fundamental de eso.<br>
<br>
Reconocemos que la experiencia de los integrantes de nuestra
Junta Directiva también es valorada por otros grupos. Al
mismo tiempo, se sirve mejor a nuestra comunidad cuando los
miembros de la Junta pueden mantener su independencia de
otros intereses organizacionales que se encuentran en las
áreas de participación de Internet Society.<br>
<br>
Si bien nuestra política de CoI fue adoptada por unanimidad
por la Junta Directiva a principios de este año, la Junta
ha determinado que una sección que aborda un conflicto en la
sección "Opinión de la política independiente" necesita más
revisión. El Comité de Gobierno evaluará esta sección con el
objetivo de proporcionar su evaluación y recomendaciones a
la Junta para su posterior discusión. Anticipamos que este
trabajo concluirá en el momento de nuestra próxima reunión
de la Junta Directiva.<br>
<br>
A continuación se muestra el enlace a nuestra política de
Conflicto de Interés en el sitio web de Internet Society.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sinceramente,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heather West</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Presidente, Comité de Auditoría, Junta
Directiva de Internet Society </p>
<div><br>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">=========== Français ===========</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">En tant que président du
comité d'audit de l'Internet Society, je voudrais vous
faire part d'une mise à jour.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Comme vous le savez
peut-être, le comité d'audit examine les formulaires de
conflit d'intérêt remplis par les membres du conseil
d'administration et les dirigeants de l'Internet Society
afin de s'assurer que nous sommes en conformité avec notre
politique, en matière de conflit d'intérêt ("CoI").</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">La politique en matière
de conflits d'intérêts stipule que les membres du conseil
d'administration ne peuvent pas occuper de poste dans le
processus d'élaboration des politiques d'une autre
organisation opérant dans les domaines d'engagement de
l'Internet Society, et nous évaluons actuellement une
situation dans laquelle cette restriction pourrait
s’avérer pertinente. L'un de nos administrateurs a été
nommé membre sans droit de vote du Conseil du GSNO, soit
l'Organisation de soutien des noms génériques - un organe
d'élaboration des politiques qui élabore et recommande au
conseil d'administration de l'ICANN des politiques
relatives aux domaines génériques de premier niveau
(gTLD).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">L'Internet Society
collabore depuis longtemps avec notre communauté
diversifiée du monde entier, et s'engage à avoir un
engagement mondial dynamique et solide. Nous travaillons à
travers les pays et les cultures et recherchons une
expertise transversale diversifiée. Cela nous permet
d'avoir des pratiques plus solides - et des politiques
claires sont un élément essentiel dans cette démarche.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Nous reconnaissons que
l'expertise de nos administrateurs est également appréciée
par d'autres groupes. En même temps, notre communauté est
mieux servie lorsque les membres du conseil
d'administration sont capables de maintenir leur
indépendance par rapport aux intérêts d’autres
organisations qui sont dans les domaines d'engagement de
l'Internet Society.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Bien que notre politique
de CoI ait été adoptée à l'unanimité par le conseil
d'administration au début de cette année, le conseil a
déterminé qu'une section traitant d'un conflit dans la
section "Independent Policy View" doit faire l'objet d'un
examen plus approfondi. Le comité de gouvernance évaluera
cette section dans le but de fournir son évaluation et ses
recommandations au conseil d'administration pour une
discussion plus approfondie. Nous prévoyons que ce travail
sera terminé d'ici la prochaine réunion du conseil
d'administration.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR"><br>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="FR">Vous trouverez ci-dessous
le lien vers notre politique en matière de conflits
d'intérêts sur le site web de l'Internet Society.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"
lang="FR">Sincèrement,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"
lang="FR">Heather West</span><span
style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"
lang="FR">Président du comité d'audit, du conseil
d'administration de l'Internet Society</span></p>
</div>
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