<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">So some rumors are not in fact baseless….<div><br></div><div>Many things one could say, snarky and otherwise, but I'll leave it at this: I hope they find a replacement who understands it's supposed to be a global organization that acts in public interest….</div><div><br></div><div>BD<br><div><br></div><div><br><div>
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<div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">"Bruce Tonkin" <<a href="mailto:Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au">Bruce.Tonkin@melbourneit.com.au</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">August 17, 2011 3:17:08 AM GMT+02:00<br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">"GNSO Council List" <<a href="mailto:council@gnso.icann.org">council@gnso.icann.org</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><b>[council] Rod Beckstrom to leave ICANN at the end of his term</b><br></span></div><br><div><br>Hello All,<br><br>From: <a href="http://www.icann.org/en/news/releases/release-16aug11-en.pdf">http://www.icann.org/en/news/releases/release-16aug11-en.pdf</a><br><br>August 16, 2011<br><br>BECKSTROM TO LEAVE ICANN AT END OF HIS TERM<br><br>Rod Beckstrom will continue to fulfill his term as ICANN's President and<br>CEO, which will be completed on 1 July 2012. He has held this position<br>since 1 July 2009.<br><br>"I am incredibly proud of ICANN's achievements throughout my tenure,"<br>said Beckstrom. "In two short years we have advanced this organization<br>to a new level of professionalism and productivity, and turned it into a<br>genuinely multinational organization that will serve the world community<br>long after my time here."<br><br>Beckstrom has had many notable accomplishments at ICANN. They include<br>the negotiation and signing of the Affirmation of Commitments, the<br>historic 2009 agreement with the US Government that moved ICANN's<br>oversight from one government to the world, and the signing of the<br>Internet's root with DNSSEC. The introduction of internationalized<br>domain names under his watch has allowed millions of Internet users to<br>access the Internet entirely in their primary language script.<br><br>"I can summarize my time here in four words: strong execution, great<br>teambuilding," he said. "We have built a world-class executive team, and<br>elevated ICANN's stature through strategic relationships with<br>governments, businesses, top technology firms and international<br>organizations."<br><br>A program to launch new generic top-level domains - a major change to<br>the domain name system - was approved in June and will launch in the<br>next year. ICANN's agreement with the US government - the IANA functions<br>contract - expires in March, and Beckstrom emphasized his commitment to<br>bring the contract renewal to a successful conclusion.<br><br>Steve Crocker, Chair of ICANN's Board of Directors, said: "The Board of<br>Directors fully supports Rod through the completion of his July 2012<br>term and is committed to continuing the collaboration that has produced<br>so many benefits for ICANN and for the global Internet."<br><br>Beckstrom continued: "I remain committed to leading this critical<br>organization with the utmost dedication, and to living up to our common<br>vision: One world, one Internet."<br><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>