IP: ICANN See Clearly Now, the Execs Have Gone

[David Farber <dfarber () earthlink net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: "the terminal of Geoff Goodfellow" <geoff () iconia com>
Date: Wed, 29 May 2002 17:03:50 
To: "Dave E-mail Pamphleteer Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: ICANN See Clearly Now, the Execs Have Gone

ICANN See Clearly Now, the Execs Have Gone
http://www.mediaunspun.com

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has been
controversial since before its founding. Its acronym, ICANN, is punnable and
headline-able. A few years back the tech press, and even mainstream outlets,
delighted in detailing the organization's stumbles and interviewing its
harshest critics. ICANN's role -- coordinating the allocation and use of IP
addresses and domain names -- guarantees that its moves will continue to
touch all on the Net.

So why was news of the impending retirement of its CEO and a scaling back by
a key vice president treated so perfunctorily? Why did few of the mainstream
outlets even notice that a key ICANN lawyer, a power behind the throne, is
also rumored to be stepping back from his involvement?

Most everybody who covered the story wrote fewer than 300 words -- about the
length of ICANN's press release. Reuters, in a filing picked up by USA
Today, CNET, the L.A.Times, and other outlets, at least noted that there had
been controversy surrounding the tenure of ICANN CEO M. Stuart Lynn. Nobody
reported any of the controversy asscoiated with Chief Policy Officer Andrew
McLaughlin and only ComputerWire's piece in The Register so much as
mentioned that eminence grise lawyer Joe Sims also intends to withdraw from
acting for ICANN.

For deeper background on the story, turn to the Weblogs. Ted Byfield penned
a critical summary of Lynn's tenure for IcannWatch after Bret Fausett's
ICANN Blog broke the news of the CEO's planned departure. Here's a detail
the mainstream missed: Word first came from dissident ICANN director Andy
Muller-Maguhn, who wrote a quick note to a European mailing list while on a
flight home from an ICANN meeting in New York, forcing ICANN to rush out its
own press release. - Keith Dawson

Internet body chief to step down in 2003 (Reuters)
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/05/28/icann-changes.htm
(also CNET, ZDNet, LAT)

ICANN to lose CEO, key staff (ComputerWire)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/25484.html

ICANN Bids Adieu to Lynn and McLaughlin
http://www.icannwatch.org/article.php?sid=768

[icann-europe] news from the icann board retreat
http://angua.rince.de/icann-europe/2002/05/msg00005.html

Lynn to Retire in 2003; McLaughlin to Go Half-Time (press relese)
http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-27may02.htm

ICANN President and VP announce plans to retire (ComputerWorld)
http://tinyurl.com/8de

ICANN President Announces Retirement
http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article.php/8_1145471

Internet-Oversight Body IcannSays CEO Lynn Plans to Resign (Roundup)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1022611124928828200,00.html
(Paid subscription required)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
geoff.goodfellow () iconia com, Prague CZ * tel/mobil +420 (0)603 706 558
"success is getting what you want & happiness is wanting what you get"
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/biztech/articles/17drop.html


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