It has been a standing joke among internet insiders for many years that the global internet has no CEO. Indeed should not and cannot have one - Here, largely in Roberts OWN Words, is a chronology which I encourage readers to ponder -- the pre installation manuevering of Roberts and his first 102 days as ICANN soon to be "internet" CEO. 10/25/98 - 2/5/99. August 28, 1988 From: Mike Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: "Ratification" - the IFWP Emperor has no Clothes To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 15:06:21 -0400 (EDT) I'm appalled at the convoluted and narcissistic thinking behind the so-called [IFWP] "ratification" meeting. Let's review the bidding, shall we? - we'll hold the meeting immediately after the yet-to-be-confirmed final-negotiating meeting of the yet-to-be-determined number of important White Paper stakeholders that we have 100% conviction will lead to an accepted legal structure for the new IANA corp. - even though the cumulative probability of the previous item is in the range of 30%, we'll find some gullible soul with a high limit credit card to start signing financial commitments for the meeting even though we haven't come close to paying our bills for previous events - the close conjunction of the ratification meeting with the final negotiating meeting is so tight that no one outside walking or driving distance of the site will attend on less than a full fare airline ticket and a full fare at a fully booked hotel. This is designed to ensure an open and inclusive participation in the meeting. - also designed to ensure the broadest participation of all concerned Internet citizens, we will arrange for a electronic vote on the final document, using a system whose features are unknown to essentially all of the proposed participants. In the interests of time, we will forego any attempt at verification of the votes with actual living humans and we will not be overly concerned if the agreed upon final document is neither sanctioned by governing boards of the parties to it in time for the vote, nor that the vote commences before it is even posted. - in view of the fact that the hosts of the negotiating session and several of the known major players have firmly rejected the notion that the agreed upon document is actually open to revision by the Internet community at the ratification meeting, we will arrange for moderators to paper over any dissents that emerge. The Chair of the meeting will call for a voice vote and declare that he/she hears more ayes than nays, thus sanctioning the decision reached before the meeting. Thanks but no thanks. My organization will have nothing to do with such an unrepresentaive, undemocratic, uninclusive gathering. - Mike Roberts EDUCAUSE COOK: A remarkable self righteous remarkable display of venom. Other members of the IFWP Steering committee may want to comment on Roberts truthfulness. Remember the whining about how broke IFWP was? Fear not -- money was being found. September /8/99 WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - A group of leading high-tech companies will unveil on Wednesday a plan to raise "seed money" to back private-sector efforts to reform the Internet's name and address system. The group, called the Global Internet Project, hopes to raise about $500,000 in pledges from major Internet companies to cover the initial expenses of a new nonprofit corporation . Jan 17 1999 Icann Board meeting Michael Roberts presented an update on anticipated expenditures, which total $1.1 million for the period from November, 1998, through June, 1999, and on fundraising efforts. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously approved (with Michael Roberts abstaining) the adoption of the following resolutions: RESOLVED [resolution 99.7], that Michael Roberts, in his capacity as an officer of the Corporation, be, and he hereby is, authorized to disburse funds of the Corporation for purposes that he believes to be in the interest of the Corporation, in accordance with the following procedures: [snip] Jan 24 99 san Jose mercury news Roberts is one of those increasingly rare individuals whose careers have been shaped by the square, old-fashioned concepts of duty and service. In the '80s, he'd guided the nation's universities to build the framework for the modern Internet as a cooperative venture. And later, when the world rushed in and traffic jams threatened to make the Net unusable for the very institutions that had founded it, he'd stepped in again to find a solution. **Now, out of duty, he's coming back one more time -- to set up an organization that will give the Net community control over how the network's central functions will evolve.** Dec 3, 1998 Einar Stefferud to Esther Dyson about Mike Roberts modus operandi: nothing has been made public from your all day meetings with other groups on 13 November, as the rules for those ICANN meetings were "off the record' and "Non-Disclosure". Even the fact of those meetings, and the attendee names have been keep from the public. And the fact that one of those meetings was used by Mike Roberts to privately prebrief some selected DNSO.ORG people on the probable requirements they will have to meet in their upcoming proposal to become the sanctioned ICANN DNSO has not been made public. I had to learn about it by flying to Monterey, MX, and spending three days working positively and constructively with the DNSO participants. And, I continue to learn about how Mike is continuing to give private advice to this one DNSO contender, but not make such information available to any other potential contender, or to the public. San jose mercury 1/24/99 For the time being, the closest thing the Internet has to a government is being run out of a cluttered back bedroom of Roberts' gracious yet unremarkable '50s Eichler-style home in the foothills behind the Stanford campus. Negotiations about the design of this new body dragged on right through the government's Oct. 1 deadline for the handoff. Postel approached Roberts and asked him if he'd be willing to serve as the interim CEO of such an organization. ``I told him `I'm not campaigning for this, but, you know, if nominated I would serve.' '' [Cook: since Jon is no longer with us this is a most convenient statement for mike to make. it would be more credibel if there were witnesses.] Wed, 14 Oct 1998 11:03:22 -0700 (PDT) So in january 99 mike says he wasn't campaigning, yet on 10/14/98 he wrote the following on record to me: From: Mike Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Gordon Cook) Gordon - it is no secret that I have represented EDUCAUSE and its members over the course of the summer in matters related to the white paper. I helped organize and fund IFWP and participated in its Steering Committee as long as that was useful. I moderated a panel in Geneva, I drafted policy positions for EDUCAUSE management, I have had dozens and dozens of bilateral and multilateral conversations about every aspect of the topic, including conversations about the desirable characteristics of Board members, interim and permanent, and who might fulfill those characteristics best. If that makes me guilty as charged, then I plead guilty. San jose Mercury news 1/24/99 `One of the things that was very frustrating in the fall was that there were a few people who confused having their way with being heard,'' says Roberts. ``I want to make sure everybody gets heard, but there comes a point where you have to say `OK, we've heard everybody, and now we're going to go on.' '' If there's one thing that's central to Roberts' mission, it's to safeguard the Net's old-time community values -- collaborative work and shared resources -- in the face of today's more selfish commercial interests. ``I take that very seriously. There's quite a number of us that really feel an attachment to the culture that's grown up on the Internet. And thereare a lot of forces trying to tear that down,'' he says. ``We (ICANN) really should strive to be the gatekeepers of the commons. There is still a commons out there and we have to make a commitment to maintain it for everyone.' Wired news 2/4/99 "Some of those people think the management should check with the public every time they make a decision, which is crazy," Roberts said. "That's flat-out crazy." As for retaining Ogilvy, Roberts said ICANN is a worldwide organization that gets worldwide press coverage and needs professional help. "I'm not very warm and fuzzy about the opinions of a bunch of self-appointed critics out there," Roberts said. "They create a context of their own, they create their own standards and then criticize us against those standards.... I am responsive to criticisms that we don't live up to the standards set out in the White Paper [that mandated ICANN]." Mike Roberts Management Style 10/27/98 This mornings' email brings detailed complaints about Mike Roberts modus operandi.... from senior internet people.... 1. That he mixes a combination of self righteousness and disdain for those who don't see the world his way. [Cook: Roberts' response to me a month ago when I expressed dismay that ICANN backers, with no indication of support from the US government had gone ahead and completed the process of incorporation..... was in effect darn right....what did you expect? why should you be surprised?] 2. That when he is given something to run, he runs it as he pleases without oversight and without accountability from membership. 3. That he pretends to listen and then does whatever he wants. 4. That he has an unwavering belief in his ability to always make the right decision and is unwilling to listen to criticism or to views of those who see things differently. Cook on feb 4. I got some flak on October 27 1998 because I wouldn't reveal the source of these comments. After 3 months of observing Tsar Michael, perhaps some readers will admit that Roberts performance has nicely matched the billing and that it is time in remember that just as there can be no central office for the internet there can be no central point of control and no Emperor Mike. *************************************************************************** The COOK Report on Internet 431 Greenway Ave, Ewing, NJ 08618 USA (609) 882-2572 (phone & fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.cookreport.com NOTE: Contempt in which ICANN PRES. MIKE ROBERTS holds rest of Internet: "Some of those people think the management [ICANN] should check with the public [the Communities of the Internet] every time they make a decision, which is crazy," Roberts said. "That's flat-out crazy." WIRED NEWS 2/4/99 ***************************************************************************
