So some rumors are not in fact baseless…. 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…. BD Begin forwarded message: > From: "Bruce Tonkin" <[log in to unmask]> > Date: August 17, 2011 3:17:08 AM GMT+02:00 > To: "GNSO Council List" <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: [council] Rod Beckstrom to leave ICANN at the end of his term > > > Hello All, > > From: http://www.icann.org/en/news/releases/release-16aug11-en.pdf > > August 16, 2011 > > BECKSTROM TO LEAVE ICANN AT END OF HIS TERM > > Rod Beckstrom will continue to fulfill his term as ICANN's President and > CEO, which will be completed on 1 July 2012. He has held this position > since 1 July 2009. > > "I am incredibly proud of ICANN's achievements throughout my tenure," > said Beckstrom. "In two short years we have advanced this organization > to a new level of professionalism and productivity, and turned it into a > genuinely multinational organization that will serve the world community > long after my time here." > > Beckstrom has had many notable accomplishments at ICANN. They include > the negotiation and signing of the Affirmation of Commitments, the > historic 2009 agreement with the US Government that moved ICANN's > oversight from one government to the world, and the signing of the > Internet's root with DNSSEC. The introduction of internationalized > domain names under his watch has allowed millions of Internet users to > access the Internet entirely in their primary language script. > > "I can summarize my time here in four words: strong execution, great > teambuilding," he said. "We have built a world-class executive team, and > elevated ICANN's stature through strategic relationships with > governments, businesses, top technology firms and international > organizations." > > A program to launch new generic top-level domains - a major change to > the domain name system - was approved in June and will launch in the > next year. ICANN's agreement with the US government - the IANA functions > contract - expires in March, and Beckstrom emphasized his commitment to > bring the contract renewal to a successful conclusion. > > Steve Crocker, Chair of ICANN's Board of Directors, said: "The Board of > Directors fully supports Rod through the completion of his July 2012 > term and is committed to continuing the collaboration that has produced > so many benefits for ICANN and for the global Internet." > > Beckstrom continued: "I remain committed to leading this critical > organization with the utmost dedication, and to living up to our common > vision: One world, one Internet." >