Frank Fowlie to leave ICANN role.
ICANN Ombudsman Frank Fowlie has announced he will leave his post no later than January 31 of next year.
In a statement posted to the ICANN web site today, Fowlie said “After six years with ICANN, I have logged 794 days in travel status, or about two years and five months away from home. It’s time for me to spend a bit more time at home with my wonderful wife.”
The statement is vague about whether Fowlie is leaving on his own accord, simply referring to it as a “departure” rather than resignation or termination.
Fowlie, who essentially is tasked with resolving disputes, caught fire this year for not handling his own dispute very well. He allegedly shouted at and cursed at an Air Canada employee after not receiving his proper meal. Once Fowlie arrived at his layover, he allegedly acted aggressively toward the ground manager. The crew for his next flight was told what happened, and the captain denied Fowlie access to the flight because he was a “risk of further disruption.†Security was called in.
Fowlie filed a complaint with Canadian Transportation Agency over the incident, but it ruled against him. He was embarrassed when the press caught wind of his dispute, and later (unsuccessfully) tried to have his name struck from the record.
As ICANN seeks to find a new ombudsman, I hope they take a hard look at the expense of having someone travel 794 days in six years.
Philip Corwin says
While I wish Mr. Folwie enjoyable times at home with his “wonderful wife”, he will not be missed as ombudsman.
From ICA’s letter to him dated June 12, 2009 —
Dear Mr. Fowlie:
I am writing in response to your e-mail of June 3, 2009, which provided the results of your investigation of the allegations of the Internet Commerce Association (ICA) of April 21, 2009. We alleged that the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) constituted by ICANN to let intellectual property interests develop proposed “solutions” for new gTLDs was operating in violation of relevant provisions of the ICANN Bylaws, and requested prompt corrective action to require compliance.
We have carefully reviewed your findings and regret to say that we find them tardy, nonresponsive, and non-persuasive. It is precisely this type of inadequate process and unconvincing result that leads so many within the ICANN community to regard it as an organization lacking effective assurance of accountability.
Full text at: http://www.internetcommerce.org/node/193
Geekay says
You should also look at the DNJOurnal blog posts abouyt this and a VANOC Lawsuit