Candidate's statement replying to the EC's questions- Africa

[Edward Morris]

Apologies to everyone.


I've been sitting here dumb and happy thinking my response to the EC
questions were sent out on the mailing list over a week ago. I was
traveling in Turkey following the IGF and inadvertently sent the replies
using an e-mail address that was not recognized by the friendly computers
in Syracuse. The message was bounced and as been sleeping in the quarantine
section of my e-mail account waiting to be discovered.


Many thanks to Bill to alerting me to his nonreceipt of my responses in his
e-mail this morning. That promoted me to search for the message and
discovering the problem.


Well, at least you can be assured that if fortunate enough to be chosen for
the EC any information system we put in place will have to be user
friendly. Otherwise it appears I won't be able to handle it!


Apologies again.


Respectfully,


Edward Morris








1. Why do you want to serve on the EC?



---



A few vignettes:



1. About a year ago, December 6th to be exact, I was in Dublin at a session
on the internet and trademark law that was sponsored by the International
Trademark Association. Attendees were generally house counsel for
multinational corporations along with a few marketing gurus. To hear them
talk, the new gTLD program was a disaster comparable with the Holocaust,
numerous world wars and your generic ethnic cleansing. This program, and
ICANN, was the greatest threat to capitalism the world has ever faced.



Fair enough. Over the years I’ve gotten to know representatives of brand
owners, like them personally, but understand that their reality is very
different than ours. I look at ICANN and it’s history and see an
organization largely captured by i.p. interests, with the NCUC one of the
few components with members  that truly understand the development of
intellectual monopoly law and policy, and challenge it’s backdoor expansion
through ICANN policy development.



A consensus emerged at this meeting that the new gTLD program may turn into
their perceived ICANN’s worst nightmare: that once operational, the
multinational corporations possessing the new gTLD’s will take a more
active interest in ICANN, will start attending meetings and, in the word’s
of one speaker, will “Occupy ICANN”.





2. At about the time of the Prague meeting, which I attended, distribution
of the privacy letter became an imperative. I had a meeting scheduled on
another matter with the President of one of the Baltic states. What a great
opportunity to do my best to get the privacy commissioner of this country
involved in the battle.



I had one simple request. I wanted the letter to be signed by our acting
chair, preferably on some sort of letterhead. There was some effort to help
me in this regard but nothing concrete. I wound up handing the President a
print out of the letter, sans signature and letterhead. It was not taken
seriously.





3. I’m a bit cynical when I hear the words “change” or “breath of fresh
air” applied to leaders, political or organizational. Some saw the
appointment of Fadi Chehade as a revolutionary occurrence. My initial view
was that one American alumnus of Stanford University was replaced by
another American graduate of Stanford University. Diversity?



Nevertheless there have been some encouraging signs. Words of
"transparency" and "balance" are ones that, defined appropriately, are
positives for our Constituency. Yet, the word “efficiency” and the
backgrounds of some executive appointees do give cause for concern.



Policy aside, the new ICANN appears to prioritize concepts more associated
with business than with legislative organs. Efficiency is not always
democratic or representative. We need to ensure that an efficient ICANN
respects the multistakeholder model in reality as well as in words.



---



I’m not a career ICANNer. You do not want to have an Executive Committee
composed of six of me. I do not yet have the institutional knowledge or
cross Constituency relationships needed on the wider E.C. Yet it is
precisely that lack of experience that, if selected, will make me a
valuable component of a multifaceted E.C. that needs to operate within a
changing ICANN and outside of it.



I hope to  ask questions that need to be asked that those more historically
involved with ICANN might not think of. I’ve already been quite vocal on
the need to change institutional impediments that exist to bringing in new
members. We need to be more transparent in our membership process and we
need to act much quicker. The quality of people and organizations we want
and need in this Constituency must feel valued from the day they apply or
they will spend their times and energy elsewhere. I’ve already had people
whose interest was stimulated by interactions with Constituency members
decide not to proceed with the NCUC whilst waiting for a membership
decision. Other opportunities appeared and they got tired of waiting for us
to accept them.  We need to fix this and will.



I’m not sure exactly where Bill will want to put me in his portfolio based
E.C. but I think my core talents lay in areas we need help in:
organization, recruitment and communication. I have a lot of experience
working in and running political campaigns. Those skills are transferable
to the E.C. position. I’m particularly interested in building an internal
communication structure more suited to project based work, in addition to
our more policy based listserv. Several members in Baku told me that simply
setting and publicizing deadlines is difficult in the current set up. We
need to take full advantage of technology to better organize our efforts so
we can be both effective and more inclusive in creating policy output.



I’d also like to try to avoid situations I’ve often seen since joining the
NCUC where individual members are making heroic efforts to singlehandedly
draft a policy document to meet an impending ICANN deadline that our
Constituency has largely ignored. Organization, communication, project
based platforms. We need to improve our efforts in these areas and will.



I think I can make a difference in these facets of the NCUC. This is the
skill set I offer. It is not the core, though, of why I want to serve. I
offer my services because of my affinity for the history, policy
perspectives, and people in the NCUC and my desire to see the Constituency
grow and flourish.



This Constituency is the heart and soul of both the internet and of ICANN.
I was a student at the University of Southern California in the late
1980’s. I didn’t understand the significance of all of this, to me the
internet was how I could save money on phone calls to my girlfriend at
Stanford by writing computerized notes to her, but I do know the culture in
which it was created. It was a distinctly noncommercial environment and, we
should never forget, commercial use online was prohibited during the early
stage of the net. Our Constituency was the (nonmilitary) internet.



Today the number one use of the internet is social media. The platforms may
be provided by commercial entities but the use itself is principally
noncommercial. E-mail follows along those lines. We are the only group in
ICANN in a position to affect policy decisions concerning the DNS who
represent those who actually use the internet in the manner it was intended
to be used at it’s creation and as it is primarily used today.



I don’t mean to diminish the contributions of other stakeholders. Yet I
feel no obligation to take a backseat to any of them. I had a conversation
with a GAC member in Baku who detested our position on the IOC/IRC matter
and questioned the legitimacy of the NCSG itself. I got the feeling he
didn’t think any of us showered.



I fear this is the type of attack that will become more common in a more
corporate, “professionalized” ICANN. I spoke to one of our more active
members in Baku who told me all she wanted was a brochure and card
describing the NCUC so she could appear the equal of (member of another
stakeholder group) at meetings. I think that is a reasonable request.



In this new ICANN world appearance and perception count for a lot more than
perhaps they should. Yet it is reality and we need to upgrade in these
areas for the long haul. The pre-ICANN outreach programs are a wonderful
perception changing and building activity I hope we can continue and use as
outreach to other stakeholdrs as well as to those who might be interested
in the NCUC itself.



If selected,  hope to work with others on the EC to use my skill set to
help our Constituency work on a more equal footing with other better
financed and supported stakeholders. I’d like to try targeted recruiting
with the goal of creating a deeper and more diverse bench of membership
expertise. Increased membership numbers are nice but numbers do not get
quality work done. We need quality as well as quantity.



Why do any of this? Why commit to the hours I know this position will
require?



Very simply, I want to help upgrade our Constituency so we can actively and
successfully represent those whose interests are our raison d'être: the
billions of noncommercial internet users worldwide who are depending upon
us to secure for them a free, fair and open internet. We’re needed more
than ever as commercial interests prepare to “Occupy ICANN”. Simply put, I
just want to do my part so the wonders of the internet are there for future
generations to enjoy and explore.











2. Provide a brief biography of recent experience, associations, and
affiliations relevant to serving on the Executive Committee. Describe the
relevance of your personal and professional experience to serve on the NCUC
Executive Committee, and identify any conflicts of interests you might have.





I have an extensive professional background in both human rights and
political campaign organization.



Most of my activity in the human rights field has been field based. During
the Yugoslavian conflict I spent most of my time setting up refugee camps
in countries and regions beset by massive forced migration. In a war
environment, often negotiating with future war criminals, I developed
skills that I think will serve me well on the EC. I learned to listen, to
not take things too personally, to deal with a wide variety of people and
to function on little rest.



My career as a political operative began in third grade when I was excused
from class to lap envelopes for George McGovern. I spent my senior year of
high school roaming the country for Ted Kennedy. I’ve been working
extensively on campaigns ever since.



I’ve worked both in North America and in Europe. I served as state
coordinator in two Presidential primary campaigns (McGovern’s ’84 campaign
and in 1992 as the coordinator in seven states for Governor Jerry Brown)
and also spent a year of my life in the Nordic region campaigning against
E.U. membership for Sweden and Finland. I’ve worked professionally in the
U.K. on both Labour and Liberal Democratic campaigns.



Most recently I worked for the Arizona Democratic Party focused on
Representative Gabrielle Giffords re-election campaign. It was the
attempted assassination of Representative Giffords that caused me to return
to Europe, take some time off to study (a postgraduate degree in Cyberlaw
at the University of Leeds) and reflect upon life itself. At the time of
the shooting I was gearing up for Representative Giffords putative 2012 run
for the U.S. Senate.



Running a campaign requires extensive organizational and communicative
abilities. I believe the skills I’ve developed on campaigns can be applied
to an E.C. position.



Despite being a relative ICANN novice, I do have extensive education in
internet governance and related fields.



My bachelors degree from the University of Southern California was in the
fields of political science and history. I also have been awarded a Master
of Comparative Law diploma from the University of Lapland in Finland
(thesis: grey market imports) and hold an LLM in intellectual property law
from Queen Mary, University of London. I’m currently enrolled part time in
the cyberlaw program at the University of Laeeds.



I have completed both the Internet Law Program at the Berkman Center at
Harvard Law School and the European Summer School of Internet Governance in
Meissen. The Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration in
Helsinki has awarded me a Diploma in Cyberspace marketing.



In addition, I have earned short term diplomas and degrees, mostly in human
rights,  at the postgraduate level from both Abo Akademi and the University
of Turku in Finland, the University of Stockholm and the American
University of Paris.



I’ve recently spent time at NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of
Excellence in Tallinn and am attempting to develop some competence in cyber
conflict issues.


I have previously served as a Fellow of the Center of the Study of the
Presidency in Washington and at the Nordic Institute of International
Affairs in Stockholm.



I know of no conflicts of interest I may currently have.







3. The EC performs several functional responsibilities for the
Constituency.  What  level of time commitment can you bring to your EC role
on a weekly and overall basis?  Describe any concerns or limitations on
your ability to attend online meetings of the Executive Committee and ICANN
Meetings in person.





I am willing and able to make the EC position my highest professional
priority during the forthcoming year and can make a firm commitment to work
any and all hours that may be needed to accomplish our goals.



I should be able to attend all online meetings of the Executive Committee
and will attempt to attend all ICANN meetings during my time on the EC,
assuming my finances and meeting costs properly align.









4. Communication with the membership is critical. How would you keep
members apprised of your EC-related activities?



As an EC we need to issue regular communiqués to the membership. This
should be part of an overall communications strategy we need to develop and
implement at the first instance.



I’ll also provide my e-mail and messaging contact information to all
members at the start of my term and encourage them to contact me personally
if I can clarify or provide any information to them of EC activity.







5. How do you foresee NCUC’s function, scale, or role changing in the
future? What areas of ICANN policy, if any, need more attention and why? Be
concise (200 words maximum).



I agree with those who are positioning the NCUC as a policy oriented, as
opposed to membership oriented, Constituency. We have subject matter
expertise and need to exploit that.



Once we’ve rebuilt our infrastructure and expanded our membership, I would
be interested in revisiting an idea I first heard in Prague about becoming
an ICANN+ group. My sense is a lot of the issues we have an interest in
have both an ICANN and external dimension. We may want to have a mechanism
to expand our reach at the appropriate time.



We need to be vigilant about unjustified attempts to expand i.p. rights. I
published last year about the nonuse trademark created during Sunrise B of
.XXX . I.P. interests are back again with more sunrise blocking proposals
in the new gTld’s. We need to strongly oppose them as well as oppose any
attempt to create a Famous Marks list.



Two emerging issues we may need to evaluate in the context of ICANN: social
media and cyber conflict. I have a journal article coming out in the spring
questioning whether the UDRP and WHOIS are less relevant when malfeasors
can simply migrate to social media platforms.



Although ICANN will assuredly try to avoid the issue, I do believe that the
recently released  Tallinn Manual (which applies humanitarian law to cyber
conflict) does attribute some potential responsibility to ICANN in the case
of cyber conflict. We may want to start thinking about about these issues
before any potential crisis, rather than after.
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