The interim board for the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers has appointed Louis Touton as the
its first vice president, general counsel and secretary.
Touton will direct legal affairs for the consensus-building organization as of Nov. 1, conciding with ICANN’s annual meeting in Los Angeles.
In recognition of ICANN’s “severely troubled resources,” Touton has waived
his salary for the first year of service. While he called on ICANN to
pursue volunteerism as one remedy for its financial constraints, he
cautions that his decision should not be made a precedent for
public-service organizations to expect voluntary employment.
“I firmly believe that the ICANN cause is a good one and deserves the
volunteer spirit it has so broadly evoked,” Touton said in the letter to interim ICANN president Mike
Roberts.
In the same letter, Touton also commented on the development of a permanent
cost-recovery mechanism, calling for moderation in its burden on the industry.
“Although the Internet community has been generous in its financial support
through ICANN’s startup phase, ICANN should always strive for economy in
its operations,” added Touton. “The community has a right to expect ICANN to be both light-handed in its coordination activities and light-fingered in its budgetary needs.”
Touton joins ICANN from the law firm of Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, where he
primarily managed intellectual property cases for technology clients.
He previously worked in the development of ICANN’s registrar
accreditation and domain name dispute resolution policies.
“The Members of the ICANN Board and I are extremely pleased that Louis is
joining ICANN,” said Interim ICANN Chairman Esther Dyson. “His
professional credentials are impeccable, but in addition he is a pleasure
to work with and has already invested a great deal of professional and
personal time in understanding the challenges and work ahead for ICANN.”
Touton called the appointment “at once flattering and sobering.”
The news comes just weeks before ICANN will hold its annual meeting Nov. 1-4 in Los Angeles. No detailed agenda has been released, although the board will take up efforts to expand the number of top-level domain registries. Several Domain Name Supporting Organization work groups will hold sessions as well.
All of the sessions, except the meeting of ICANN’s governmental affairs committee, will be open to the public. More information on the meeting is available here.
