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<div>ICANN Ombudsman Frank Fowlie's "air rage" incident & cover-up attempt have made the news in Canada's Globe & Mail.</div><div><br></div><div>I've been told in the past from board members that "even though Fowlie embarrasses the organization every year or so, they haven't fired him because they think he's a nice guy and they like him". At some point, the board will have to put the best interests of the organization ahead of their personal friendship with the Ombudsman.</div><div><br></div><div>Robin</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;"><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;"><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/internet-ombudsman-riled-by-disclosure-of-bad-behaviour-on-flight/article1652548/">http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/internet-ombudsman-riled-by-disclosure-of-bad-behaviour-on-flight/article1652548/</a></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal;"><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; "><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px; line-height: 22.0px"><font face="Georgia" size="6" style="font: 22.0px Georgia">Internet ombudsman riled by disclosure of bad behaviour on flight</font></p></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 22px; "><font face="Georgia" size="4" color="#444444" style="font: 15.0px Georgia; color: #444444">Frank Fowlie wants his name removed from an online document released by the Canadian Transportation Agency</font></div></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; "><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><font face="Georgia" size="4" style="font: 14.0px Georgia">Paul Waldie</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 11.0px Verdana">From Tuesday's Globe and Mail</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#444444" style="font: 10.0px Verdana; color: #444444">Published on Monday, Jul. 26, 2010 8:24PM EDT</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 16px; "><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#444444" face="Verdana" size="2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; line-height: normal;"><br></span></font></div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">As ombudsman for the agency that manages Internet domain names, Frank Fowlie is used to dealing with complaints related to the Web.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">But now Mr. Fowlie, a Canadian and a former RCMP officer, is pursuing his own complaint about the Internet and the disclosure online of some damning details about his bad behaviour during an <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/internet-ombudsman-riled-by-disclosure-of-bad-behaviour-on-flight/article1652548/#"><font color="#002356" style="color: #002356">Air Canada</font></a></font><img src="cid:29A131DA-602B-4625-8D2B-30EC76923CC0@local"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana"> flight last year.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">Mr. Fowlie wants the Canadian Transportation Agency to remove his name from a decision the federal agency made in February involving a case he brought against Air Canada. In the five-page decision, posted on the CTA’s website, the agency not only ruled against Mr. Fowlie but questioned his credibility and concluded his behaviour during the flight was “abusive and offensive.” Mr. Fowlie says publication of the ruling on the website has made him the “target of media scrutiny” and undermined public confidence in his position as ombudsman for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. The non-profit organization is based in California and co-ordinates the system for naming Internet addresses.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">The CTA has refused to take down his name. In a ruling released last week, it said his personal concerns don’t outweigh public access to agency rulings. The CTA also called his arguments “implausible” and questioned how someone in his position could make such claims.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">The saga began on March 22, 2009, when Mr. Fowlie flew on Air Canada from Paris to Montreal with a connection to Vancouver, where he is based. During the first flight, Mr. Fowlie didn’t get his meal choice and started shouting and swearing, according to CTA filings. When the flight’s service director tried to intervene, Mr. Fowlie became aggressive. After the plane landed in Montreal, he complained to the ground manager in an “intimidating” manner, according to the CTA. His behaviour was so unruly the pilot banned him from the Vancouver connection. That enraged Mr. Fowlie, who had to be escorted from the boarding area by airport security, the CTA said. He got to Vancouver the next day on another Air Canada flight.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">After returning home, Mr. Fowlie filed a complaint with the CTA about Air Canada’s conduct. The CTA dismissed the complaint. It didn’t help that Mr. Fowlie had altered notes he’d allegedly made at the time of the incident, putting his credibility into question, the CTA added.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">Mr. Fowlie didn’t stop. When the ruling came out, he gave an interview to the Ottawa Citizen and criticized the CTA and Air Canada, saying the airline “views customers as cattle.” Soon blogs and websites began commenting on the ruling and Mr. Fowlie’s remarks.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">Within weeks, Mr. Fowlie was back at the CTA, asking it to remove his name from the decision. He argued the publicity was damaging public perception about the ombudsman and could cost him his job, according to CTA filings. He also said he didn’t realize when he launched the complaint that publication of the ruling could have such an impact.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">The CTA dismissed the request and challenged Mr. Fowlie’s arguments. The agency said he had been told repeatedly that CTA rulings were publicly available online. It also didn’t buy his concerns about his job. Mr. Fowlie’s “allegation that he will lose his employment is merely speculative and not proven by evidence,” the CTA said.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 25.0px 0.0px; line-height: 18.0px"><font face="Verdana" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Verdana">Mr. Fowlie, who has been ICANN ombudsman since 2004, was unavailable for comment.</font></p><br><div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div><br class="khtml-block-placeholder"></div><div>IP JUSTICE</div><div>Robin Gross, Executive Director</div><div>1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA</div><div>p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451</div><div>w: <a href="http://www.ipjustice.org">http://www.ipjustice.org</a> e: <a href="mailto:robin@ipjustice.org">robin@ipjustice.org</a></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></body></html>