Rumors are flying that Rod Beckstrom, former director of the US Homeland Security Department’s National Cybersecurity Center, is the new CEO of ICANN. This is still unconfirmed by ICANN but comes from well-informed sources. We also hear that David Eisner, the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service under G.W. Bush and former VP at AOL, was also in the running. Perhaps someone familiar with DC is a prudent choice, given ICANN's recent performance there. Beckstrom is best known for his dramatic resignation from his post earlier this year to protest the “takeover” of cybersecurity policy by the National Security Agency, an act of principle. Beckstrom has his own .com domain and is based in California. The link to cybersecurity issues could be a strength or a weakness, depending on the way the U.S. government handles its still-controversial supervisory role. Stay tuned.
11 thoughts on “Will Rod Beckstrom replace Twomey?”
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Michael Gallagher
http://e3.gamespot.com/story/6210945/gamings-head-cheerleader-delivers-e3-keynote-address
Michael Gallagher
E3 2009: Entertainment Software Association president Michael Gallagher delivers unrelentingly optimistic State of the Industry address.
Gallagher also pointed to social gaming as a growing trend. He [Michael Gallagher] said social networking is a 21st-century business built on a close relationship between game creators and their audiences.
Michael Gallagher
Michael Gallagher, ICANN CEO #6
R.I.P. .XXX
First the IANA will be split from ICANN.
That happened once before when Network Solutions
decided to take “Names” and ARIN took “Numbers”.
Does the US own the DNS root? If not who does? Was the development of the DNS root funded by the US taxpayer? Are US taxpayers currently funding the operation of the DNS root?
Update on the Search and Appointment of a New President and CEO of ICANN
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-14jun09-en.htm
ICANN has once again moved more deeply into MEAT-SPACE and away from Cyberspace with their closed process of selecting a new $700,000 per year CEO.
Apparently 100 people applied. Who were they ?
Apparently internal ICANN employees applied but all were considered disqualified. Who were they ?
ICANN has used 1970s selection processes and now plans to use their big meat-space meeting in Sydney to send Paul T home and usher in the new puppet, all while claiming that ICANN represents The Internet Community.
Summary – Unelected, self-appointed Board Members tell each other they represent the Internet Community. They are then told by the U.S.
Government (via operatives) what CEO to select.
Get out the Rubber-Stamp
1) Douglas Brent (COO) $390,939 ($99,412 contribution to employee benefit plans)
2) John Jeffrey (General Counsel) $314,500 ($63,982 contribution to employee
benefit plans)
3) Paul Levins (VP), $263,946 ($84,110 contribution to employee benefit plans,
and $48,359 expense account and other allowances)
4) Kurt Pritz (SVP), $318,846 ($79,627 contribution to employee benefit plans)
5) Paul Twomey (CEO), $691,610 ($255,649 contribution to employee benefit plans)
6) Kevin Wilson (CFO), $153,310 ($50,198 contribution to employee benefit plans)
(some of the above might not be for a full 12 months)
Page 43 reveals Amy Stathos, Theresa Swinehart, David Conrad, Denise Michel and
Daniel Halloran combined for a total of $1,094,308, with $278,826 as
contributions to employee benefit plans and $115,649 for expense accounts.
Page 44 reveals Jones Day pulled in $1.6 million for legal services, the
Ombudsman's corporation pulled in $437K, Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti pulled in
$240K, Gibson Dunn Crutcher got $140K and Clayton Utz got $128K.
Page 45 reveals The Wentworth Company got $589K, Interisle got $395K, Project
Management Solutions got $338K, Iron Mountain got $327K, and Crown IT got $309K.
Page 11 reveals that 54 other employees were paid over $50,000.
Yes, Rod is in Sydney. That has been widely reported via Twitter.com.
Rod has also been low-key and having breakfast with selected insiders. Some of those people have chosen to claim he is the new CEO. That is not the case.
Rod is watching key meetings and joked about people being crazy enough to select him and whether he would be crazy enough to accept.
ICANN has morphed into a WIPO+WTO and people now expect it to solve world hunger. PDT is out of control. The U.S. Government would need to gut ICANN and start over. Rod may not be the person to do that.
I think Rod Beckstrom was the right choice for this position with his immense tech industry experience and i am sure he is going to give his best to his new job. I guess he has already started to tighten some of the measures regarding the ownership of domains.
I don't think that this seems like a good pick for the job. There are plenty of other candidates that are much better qualified for the position. I do agree that ICANN has a lot of issues to work out, but I am not for sure this is the best move for the organization.
During my college days when I was preparing for ccvp exam,I consider to joint homeland security but I think there are many other fields which have to discover.
May be that's what made ICANN somewhat strict in the past one year. I have to submit my identity lot of times to godaddy regarding my domain ownership. Even, i think this is a good move considering the the domain hacks.
The CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service under G.W. Bush and former VP at AOL, was also in the running.” Beckstrom recently made headlines for his sudden resignation from his post at NCSC, criticizing the lack of funding from the NSA and its move to try to “rule over” the NCSC.
ccda