Indeed, NCSG is blessed with experienced candidates. You have my full support the great Edward ! Best ! Peter. On Aug 17, 2016 12:55 AM, "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 > >