[Chapter-delegates] Message from Internet Society Audit Committee Chair

Thu Nov 5 12:01:34 PST 2020

Olivier 

I welcome your comments on this issue.  They raise important issues.

Passage of this Conflict of Interest Policy without consultation with the Chapters is a bad way forward and contrary to the reasons the ISOC Bylaws were amended to create the Chapters Advisory Council. I can see some reasons for a rule that the top leaders of a Chapter should not remain in their positions once elected to the Board of Trustees, but there was no discussion. It would be interesting to learn what, if any, models exist for this sort of Conflicts Policy in advocacy organizations that have chapters.

More concerning is that the Conflict of Interest Policy goes beyond the terms of the normal Conflict of Interest Policy that the US Internal Revenue Service seeks to have US public charities (like ISOC) use in their governance.  The purpose of these Conflict of Interest Policies is primarily to prevent financial conflicts not to prevent people serving on multiple Boards.  A good example was ISOC’s proposal to sell its interest in PIR.  Any Board member of ICANN would have had to recuse him/herself from being involved, at a minimum on the proposal.

I recommend that the Conflict of Interest Policy be reconsidered with full engagement by the parties.

John More 

> On Nov 5, 2020, at 11:39 AM, Olivier MJ Crépin-Leblond via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> wrote:
> 
> Dear Heather,
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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 organization, 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?
> 
> 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.
> 
> So let's see the two main paragraphs:
> 
> Individuals in the board or the leadership of organizations that operate in ISOC’s areas of engagement shall not serve as trustees, unless the engagement is on behalf of or at the request of ISOC’s Board. Individuals who are directly involved in the policy development process of these organizations shall not serve as Interested Parties. These organizations include, but are not limited to, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and the IGF (Internet Governance Forum).
> 
> Chapters
> 
> Given ISOC’s relation with its chapters, members of the leadership of an ISOC chapter, which include the chapter’s president and treasurer, shall not serve as ISOC trustees
> 
> 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. 
> 
> 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?
> 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?
> 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.
> 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.
> If deciding to open the can of worms, why not open it fully and also include conflict of interests of individuals that work 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?
> 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? 
> 
> 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:
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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.
> 
> 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 https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/ <https://www.internetsociety.org/mission/>  - so the Internet Society does not risk being used as a lobbying tool for vested interests?
> 
> 
> 
> 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.
> 
> Kindest regards,
> 
> 
> 
> Olivier
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 04/11/2020 01:35, Heather West via Chapter-delegates wrote:
>> 
>> As Chair of the Internet Society Audit Committee, I wanted to share an update with you.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> Below is the link to our Conflict of Interest policy on the Internet Society website. 
>> 
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/ <https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/>  
>> Sincerely,
>> 
>> Heather West
>> Audit Committee, Chair, Internet Society Board of Trustees
>> 
>>   
>> =========== Español =========== 
>> 
>> Como presidente del Comité de Auditoría de Internet Society, quería compartir una actualización con ustedes.
>> 
>> 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").
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> A continuación se muestra el enlace a nuestra política de Conflicto de Interés en el sitio web de Internet Society.
>> 
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/ <https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/>
>> Sinceramente,
>> 
>> Heather West
>> 
>> Presidente, Comité de Auditoría, Junta Directiva de Internet Society 
>> 
>> 
>> =========== Français ===========
>> 
>> En tant que président du comité d'audit de l'Internet Society, je voudrais vous faire part d'une mise à jour.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 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").
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 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).
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 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.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Vous trouverez ci-dessous le lien vers notre politique en matière de conflits d'intérêts sur le site web de l'Internet Society.
>> 
>> https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/ <https://www.internetsociety.org/coi-policy/>
>> 
>> Sincèrement,
>> 
>> Heather West
>> 
>> Président du comité d'audit, du conseil d'administration de l'Internet Society
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):
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>> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct: https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/ <https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society Chapter Portal (AMS):
> https://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct: https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/

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