The US administration is not very happy about the transition of ICANN top managers to the private domain business. This has become clear from the statement by David Redl, who heads the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Speaking at the 63rd ICANN Meeting in Barcelona which concludes today, he praised the steps taken by the internet community to increase the transparency and accountability of ICANN. At the same time, he stressed that there was still a lot to be done.
“We need safeguards to ensure that ICANN staff and leadership are not only grounded ethically in their professional actions at ICANN, but also in their actions when they seek career opportunities outside of ICANN. One potential fix could be “cooling off periods” for ICANN employees that accept employment with companies involved in ICANN activities and programs. This is an ethical way to ensure that conflicts of interest or appearances of unethical behavior are minimized,” Domain Name Wire quoted Redl as saying.
Redl did not give names, but apparently he was speaking about Akram Atallah. It was reported earlier that Atallah, who headed ICANN’s Global Domains Division for five years and was the right-hand man of the corporation’s president, will from November 12 lead the company Donuts, which governs the largest number of new top level domains.
