Dear all,

I would like to extend my support to Ed for his nomination for a second
term on the GNSO council.

When I was just entering the NCSG a few years ago as the youngest member,
there was no one who was more helpful in showing me the ropes. When I first
met him, Ed had a vision of a wholly open and involved process for Internet
Governance, incorporating all groups of stakeholders, including young
people like myself. He was far ahead of the curve on this idea: I just
returned from the Latin American Internet Governance Forum and the Internet
Society now has a group called the Youth Observatory, started specifically
so that younger voices can be heard in internet policy discussions.

Ed's goal of bringing in new voices shows the type of counselor that he is;
Ed wants to make sure that all voices can be duly heard.

I think Ed will be able to do a lot of good in his second term, as he has
done in his first.

- Sam Stern


On Tue, Aug 16, 2016 at 7:53 PM, Edward Morris <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> *STATEMENT OF EDWARD MORRIS*
>
> *CANDIDATE FOR RE-ELECTION AS A GNSO COUNCILLOR REPRESENTING THE
> NONCOMMERCIAL USERS STAKEHOLDER GROUP (NCSG)*
>
> • *Name, declared region of residence, gender and employment:*
>
>
> - Edward Morris
> - Europe
> - Male
> - Employment: independent contractor specializing in event management,
> specifically concert management. Clients within the past six months
> include: Doctor Music, Barley Arts, Live Nation, SMG Europe, JLM Group, abc
> Production AG.
> - Academic: Colorado State University: MA in Organizational Leadership
> program.
>
> • *Any conflicts of interest:*
>
> None
>
> • *Reasons for willingness to take on the tasks of the particular
> position:*
>
> 1. I don’t like being told what I can say, 2. I have a passion for many of
> our issues with a skill set we need that is not otherwise represented in
> our Council contingent and 3. Jon Postel was a good guy.
>
> My answers are quite simplistic but they really cut to the base of why I’m
> involved in the NCSG, and why I’m willing to commit to two more years to
> what I’ve found to be an incredible time and energy consuming position.
>
> I’m a free speech guy. Big time. I’m told that as a young boy I used to
> throw toys out of the crib whenever my parents asked me to be quiet. I
> haven’t changed much. I can couch it in sophisticated terms, I can quote
> Milton as in “give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely
> according to conscience, above all liberties”, and others, but my passion
> for free speech comes from my heart rather than from my head. I believe
> that gives it added impact and is a guarantee to you, our Members, that I
> will be vigilant and will battle any attempt to use ICANN to censor the
> internet in any way, shape or form. It’s not just an intellectual
> obligation for me, it’s at the core of who I am.
>
> Intellectual monopoly interests (an older and, in my view, far more
> accurate depiction of the bundle of rights referred to in recent years as
> “intellectual property”) not only are overrepresented everywhere I look at
> ICANN but are attempting to achieve in ICANN what they could not achieve
> through legislation in the wider world. That not only is wrong, it is
> dangerous, threatens free speech and thought, and the NCSG needs to
> continue in our traditional role of opposing the IPC maximalists in ICANN.
> I want to help.
>
> I am the only candidate or returning Councilor with extensive intellectual
> monopoly experience. I have an LLM in IP Law, with distinction, from London
> (Queen Mary), a number of lesser postgraduate diplomas in the field, and
> was a card carrying academic member of the International Trademark
> Association (NTA) for four plus years. Intellectual monopoly rights are at
> the heart of policy discussions at ICANN and I believe it is important that
> at least one NCSG Councilor has some depth of knowledge in the field. In
> fact, when I was hesitating about volunteering to continue on Council I was
> asked to consider serving again for this specific reason by some of our
> Members most involved in intellectual monopoly issues. We need someone with
> IP expertise on Council to ensure fair and balanced GNSO output in this
> field. With your consent, I would like to serve that role for the NCSG
> during the next two years.
>
> My legal experience and experience in statutory drafting (principally for
> the Great and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts) is also
> something that differentiates me from the other talented Members who have
> volunteered to serve you on the GNSO Council. This particular aspect of my
> background allows me to perhaps review proposed Charters and Issue Reports
> in a slightly different way than those without legal expertise. We may not
> want an entire contingent of Councilors who think like lawyers, in fact we
> don’t, but one or two are absolutely essential to get the job done properly.
>
> Finally, Jon. For those who don’t know, in the formative days of the
> internet Jon Postel *was* ICANN. Along with Joyce Reynolds, Jon ran the
> names and addressing functions largely by himself out of offices at the
> University of Southern California (USC). I first met Jon when I was a
> freshman at USC and was given a menial work-study job in his office. Jon
> was larger than life, hated shoes, and was really nice to a scared young
> kid 3,000 miles from home. He was the man who taught me by example that it
> was OK just to be myself.
>
> I don’t think Jon would like the modern ICANN very much. Suits, fancy
> watches and bling weren’t his thing. I do think he’d like us, though: Jon
> was about freedom in his personal life, and freedom for everyone in his
> professional life. Bringing ICANN back to the principles Jon lived by and
> believed in is a big part of the reason why I’m in the NCSG. To pay back a
> man, if only a little, who pointed me in the right direction when my own
> life could have gone either way.
>
>
> • *Qualifications for the position:*
>
> When I ran for Council two years ago, many of you did not know me, nor me
> you. So we could get to know each other, I detailed my background quite
> extensively in my 2014 Candidate Statement, which can still be found here:
> https://community.icann.org/display/gnsononcomstake/Edward+Morris .
>
> To summarize, I’ve had a career that has taken me through a range of
> positions in government, politics, entertainment and the human rights
> field, working for people as diverse as Edward Kennedy, Gabby Giffords,
> Mary Robinson and Bruce Springsteen. I earned my undergraduate degree from
> the University of Southern California, my principle law degrees are from
> the University of Lapland and the University of London (Queen Mary), and I
> have since acquired a variety of postgraduate degrees and short term
> diplomas from a dozen institutions in nine countries in a variety of fields
> including business, trade law, human rights and cybersecurity. I have a
> tendency to do what I want in life and although the path I’ve chosen has
> not blessed me with a ton of money or security it sure has been an
> interesting journey.
>
> At this point, though, I’d suggest my principle qualification for this
> position is that I am your current councilor. I have a record for you to
> judge and, although I’m never completely satisfied with anything I do, I
> submit I’ve done a fairly decent job for you. I’ve certainly tried.
>
> Effort without success is failure. I don’t like failure. Fortunately I do
> believe I’ve had some areas I can point to where I’ve had some success
> working on your behalf as your GNSO Councilor the past two years. Let me
> highlight a few of them:
>
>
>    - Since ICANN was created there has been an effort by the community to
>    gain access to documents and financial records used in the functioning of
>    the corporation. Karl Auerbach, the last directly elected ICANN Board
>    member from North America (fun fact: he beat Larry Lessig for the board
>    seat) had to sue ICANN to get Inspection of these records for board
>    members, despite having that right under California law.
>
>
> When the CCWG Accountability began on December 9, 2014 I proposed that we
> adopt a membership structure for the corporation. Inspection rights came
> with membership under California law. Membership became our operating model
> for much of the existence of the CCWG. When Board pressure caused the
> community to dump membership, I successfully led the effort to retain
> Inspection rights in the new model, actually holding post midnight
> discussions with the CCWG tri-chairs in Dublin to ensure it was retained.
> When the Board rejected Inspection in their initial evaluation of the CCWG
> proposal I continued to educate, converse with and otherwise lobby Board
> members on the matter. I sent each one of them a Christmas card. In the
> end, the Board not only relented but together we developed an Inspection
> plus model that also included an Investigation right, providing for an
> audit of ICANN by community request under certain circumstances. I know of
> no corporation in California with macro transparency mechanisms this strong.
>
> Lots of people contribute to the making of any policy at ICANN. No
> difference here. That said, I do believe I did make a major contribution to
> this community being able to get these transparency rights placed in the
> Bylaws, rights that had eluded it for a decade and a half. I’m quite sure
> that when I finish my work here this will be my greatest accomplishment in
> this space.
>
>
>
>    1. In February 2015 Westlake Consulting released a report as part of
>    the GNSO Review that was devastating to the noncommercial community. Using
>    substandard methodology, heresay, and other methodologically improper
>    methods the report was a clear hatchet job that imperiled this stakeholder
>    group and both constituencies.
>
>
> Working at the Constituency level, with the help of Stefania Milan, I
> constructed a strategic response to Westlake and was principle author of a
> 10 page response that, after having been greatly improved by many NCSG
> members and brilliantly edited by Bill Drake, caused the consulting firm to
> delete most of the offending material. We beat them by producing a more
> professional and scientifically strenuous report than these paid
> consultants could produce. It was a tribute to all of us in the NCSG.
>
> Councilors need to be active defending their Stakeholder Group and
> Constituencies in Council and throughout ICANN.
>
>
>
>    - During the past two years I’ve written and have submitted to ICANN
>    either as sole author, co-author or principle pen holder 17 public
>    comments. The one comment I most prize was one which received a headline in *Domain
>    Incite* that read “Odd-couple coalition wants URS deleted from legacy
>    gTLD contracts”.
>
>
> This issue was an important one: ICANN’s bypassing of the PDP process by
> contractually imposing new gTLD RPM’s on legacy gTLD’s. What was unique
> about this comment, though, was it’’s authorship: it was a joint comment of
> the NCSG and the Commercial Stakeholders Group (CSG).  As Kevin Murphy
> wrote, “Commercial and non-commercial interests within ICANN have formed a
> rare alliance in order to oppose the Uniform Rapid Suspension policy in
> three new legacy gTLD contracts”.
>
> The comment was jointly written by myself and Phil Corwin, a fellow GNSO
> Councilor from the Business Constituency. Council offers the opportunity
> for bridge building across Stakeholder Groups. I work well with Phil, as I
> do with many of the other Councilors from the other groups. A further
> example of this was my recent appointment to the GNSO drafting team (DT)
>  that will port transition accountability measures into the GNSO. The NCSG
> will have one more representative than any other group because I was
> appointed not by the NCSG policy committee but by a Councilor appointed by
> the Nominating Committee that had appreciated the work I had done in the
> CCWG.
>
> When mutual interests dictate, Councilors need to be proactive working
> with other groups in a cooperative and friendly fashion so all parties can
> achieve the maximum result for those whom they represent.
>
>
>    - In March of this year I had the honour of representing the ICANN
>    community as a lecturer at USC’s Institute of Internet Policy. Presenting
>    alongside Steve Crocker, Fadi Chehade, Vint Cerf, Fiona Alexander and our
>    own Wolfgang Kleinwachter, I spoke both of the noncommercial communities
>    role in ICANN and of the actual (as opposed to theoretical) way policy is
>    made in the organization.
>
>
> As Councilor there are times you are called upon to represent the NCSG
> externally. When asked to do so I do my best to project a professional,
> competent and truthful image. I’ve been invited back to speak at next years
> Institute.
>
>
> These are just a few examples of the things I’ve been working on for you,
> in a wide variety of areas, as one of your GNSO Councilors.
>
> I also made some promises to you when I ran for the Council seat I
> currently hold about my values and how I would conduct myself representing
> you. I hope I’ve kept my word to you:
>
> Attendance: I promised you that if elected I would show up and do my job.
> I have. I have a Council meeting attendance rate of 96.2%. Of the 167
> participants of the CCWG-Accountability group only 9 attended more meetings
> than I (62 plenary sessions). I achieved perfect attendance on the CCWG
> legal sub-team and achieved attendance rates in excess of 67% in all other
> other CCWG working groups, parties and sub-teams I have been a part of.
>
> -Corporate largess: I promised you that if elected I would not accept any
> gift, drink or food from any corporate entity and that I would not attend
> the Grand Gala’s that for some highlight an ICANN meeting. I have kept my
> word to you in this regard. I don’t judge others but for me to accept
> anything from a corporate party that may have a position on an issue before
> Council would constitute a potential conflict of interest, one that I
> believe prudent to best avoid.
>
> -Contributions: Serving on the GNSO Council is public service to me. It’s
> important to me that I do not financially benefit from this service in any
> way. I pledged that any money I received from ICANN as a stipend for
> meeting attendance that exceeded my expenses I would donate to children’s
> charities at meeting sites. I did so. Small contributions were made to the
> following charities in the name of the NCSG:
>
>
>    - Children’s Fund of the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles  $110
>    - Catholic Childrens Centre, Singapore  200 Singapore $
>    - I made a donation in Argentina but lost the receipt. I don’t have
>    the name or amount. My apology.
>    - UNICEF-Morocco $150
>    - Jack and Jill Foundation 90 euro
>    - Mannerheim League for Child Welfare 85 euro
>
>
>
> *• Statement of availability for the time the position requires:*
>
> To do this job properly you just can’t sit on Council: you need to be
> active in working groups, read the industry press, attend to the activities
> of the Stakeholder Group and *both *constituencies. I’m currently,
> somehow, active in nine working groups / subgroups, am the rapporteur for
> one, and all of this is in addition to my Council, Stakeholder Group and
> Constituency activities.
>
> I do not have enough time to do all of this. No one does. I do have
> flexibility, money is not the most important thing in my life, and I’m
> willing to give it a go for another two years if you want me to. All I can
> promise is I will do everything I can to do the best I can to keep this
> level of activity going for the next 24 months. I’ll never be a Councilor
> who just shows up for the Meetings: that you can count on. I don’t do
> things half way as the principle of moderation never really appealed to me
> in any area of my life! If you return me to represent you on the GNSO
> Council I will work for you and our mutual interests as hard as I can and
> for as many hours as needed and possible.  I take my commitments seriously,
> I show up and I do the work. That’s who I am.
>
> *• The nominee’s statement may also include any other information the
> candidate believes in relevant:*
>
> I’ve had the good fortune of receiving the endorsement of some of this
> communities leading figures. These are people I’ve worked closely with in
> this field for the past two years. If you’re still trying to figure out
> what I’m about and whether you should vote for me I’d ask you to consider
> the comments of those who know best the work I’ve done on your behalf:
>
> NCUC co-founder Kathy Kleiman:
>   https://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1608&L=
> NCSG-DISCUSS&F=&S=&P=5988
>
> NPOC Chair Klaus Stoll:
> https://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1608&L=
> NCSG-DISCUSS&F=&S=&P=9483
>
> NCSG PC Chair Marilia Maciel:
> https://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind1608&L=
> NCSG-DISCUSS&F=&S=&P=96631
>
> I don’t deserve half of what they have written about me but I’m deeply
> appreciative that they took the time to write what they did.
>
> Going forward, here are a few of the things I’d like to focus on if you
> return me to Council:
>
> 1. Budget – I was the principle author on Council of this years GNSO
> budget comment. The ICANN budget is complicated but with our increased
> community powers post transition now including budgetary approval authority
> we need to have someone with expertise in the matter. I hope to be that
> person and have discussed both with Council leadership and staff the way I
> can continue to increase my knowledge and competence in the area so that I
> can contribute further in this regard;
>
> 2. Council procedure: appointments:  Council is not set up to appoint
> people to anything. Yet increasingly that has become one of our primary
> responsibilities. I’ve had discussions with the Council Chair on this
> matter and believe we’ll be setting up a committee to try to create a more
> permament solution in this area. I hope to be able to contribute to that
> effort;
>
> 3. Travel: There has been a bit of a reorganization of the reporting
> structure of the ICANN Travel Department. I’ve been told to expect changes
> in support types, amounts and frequency. Most of our members, including
> myself, are not wealthy and rely upon ICANN support to attend Meetings. I
> intend to monitor this situation and if changes are proposed or imposed I
> will fight to ensure the NCSG is no worse off, and perhaps better off,
> going forward than we are today;
>
> 4. Pro bono commitment to access the IRP: During early stages of the
> CCWG-Accountability we obtained assurances that nonprofits and other less
> than wealthy organisations would be able to obtain some sort of pro bono
> assistance to access the new Independent Review Panels. Somewhere that
> promise has been lost. I intend to do my best to see that it is restored;
>
> 5. Rights Protection Mechanisms: As the CCWG work stream 2 winds down I
> intend to increase my participation in the RPM WG. Eventually I would like
> to make this my principle policy focus in ICANN;
>
> 6. Continued leadership in the CCWG: As rapporteur for the CEP subgroup I
> will lead the efforts in this area and will continue my work on the
> Transparency, Ombudsman and Jurisdiction subgroups. In addition, as an
> appointed member of the Legal Executive I will help manage our independent
> counsel.
>
> I’m sorry to be so expansive but I wanted you to get a full picture of
> what I’ve been doing on your behalf the past two years. I sincerely thank
> you for placing your trust in me, I hope I haven’t let you down, I’ve tried
> my best, and I would be honoured if you would consider returning me to the
> GNSO Council as your representative for a final two year term.
>
> Now for the song.
>
> Two years ago I concluded my statement with a campaign song. It’s a way to
> show everyone where I spend a lot of my time, concerts, but also it’s a way
> for me to send a larger message to everyone, one better conveyed by music
> than by words. Last time I sent everyone a link to “Land of Hope and
> Dreams” with the message that the internet is for everyone.
>
> The NCSG is a great group with a great bunch of people. Yet, sometimes
> things aren’t all that positive here. Disagreement over policy morphs into
> the politics of personal attack. Heck, I’ve been the recipient of a few
> attacks like that and it sucks. Sometimes other groups and people are
> demonized as being evil, to contrast them with the “good” us. I’m not a big
> fan of such bipolar thought.  So many good people here yet sometimes we’re
> dragged down into such negativity. It’s bad karma and I personally am not
> comfortable with it.
>
> So my campaign song this year is a hope for a better day, a day when
> mutual respect and caring creates a vibe so positive that people look over
> to us and want to join us because we are just so positive and supportive of
> everyone we come in contact with, friend and perceived enemy
> alike. Wouldn’t that be great? So here’s a message from a guy I just spent
> ten weeks running around Europe with, in a video of mine from Glasgow that
> went a bit viral: Here’s Bruce Springsteen with Waiting On A Sunny Day:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCrzJSUY_4w. May such days be in all our
> futures!
>
> Peace everyone,
>
> Ed
>
>
>
>
>
> *WORKING GROUP / SUBGROUP PARTICIPATION DURING MY FIRST TERM AS YOUR
> COUNCILOR*
>
> *Current:*
>
> - Rapporteur, CCWG, Reviewing the CEP sub-team
> - NCA appointee, Drafting Team on new GNSO rights and obligations under
> the revised ICANN Bylaws
> - Appointed, CCWG, Legal Executive
> - Participant, CCWG - Accountability
> - CCWG, Jurisdiction sub-team
> -CCWG , Ombudsmn sub-team
> -CCWG, Transparency sub-team
> -Review of Rights Protection Mechanisms WG
> -Review of Rights Protection Mechanisms, Trademark Clearinghouse Subgroup
>
> *Past:*
>
> -Participant, CCWG: Accountability
> -Rapporteur, CCWG, Ombudsman sub-team, WS1
> -CCWG Work party 1
> -CCWG Work Party 2
> -CCWG Work Party 2
> -CCWG Work Party 2 Ombudsmn sub-team
> -CCWG Work Party 2, Independent Review sub-team
> -CCWG Stress Test Work Party
> -CCWG Legal sub-team
> -CCWG Legal sub-team Executive, WS1
> -CCWG Work Area 1
> -CCWG Work Area 4
> -Council, budget working group
> -Council, sexual harassment working group
>
>



-- 
-Sam