Statement of Interest related to ICANN and the work of the GNSO Council
updated 071006

I am an independent research consultant and a part time adjunct professor at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. I also have a recurring contract with the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) as a consultant to its secretariat and am an associate of the Interisle Consulting Group. Interisle Consulting Group is the independent contractor that is currently being utilized for the Nominating Committee Review.

I have no role in this review, am not involved in any of this work and am completely shielded from any of the information or data collected as part of this work. I currently have no employment, contract, statement of work, financial interest, share ownership or any other business relationship with ICANN, registries or registrars except as a registrant of several domain names.

As part of my volunteer activities I give advice to various representatives of indigenous nomadic and semi-nomadic populations on Internet topics which include the possibility of obtaining a gTLD. I am currently involved in activities that may lead to the creation of an non governmental organization (NGO) whose primary purpose would be to assist indigenous groups as well as populations from the less developed nations, NGOs active in representing the needs of these populations, and other advocacy groups, in obtaining a presence on the Internet. These activities may involve providing assistance in obtaining a TLD, including assistance in raising the necessary funding for a TLD, when that is an appropriate solution to their goals.

Statement of Interest to PRO WG

I am a nomcom appointee to the council, and believe that part of my responsibility as a volunteer to the council is to participate in as much of the work as possible. I am employed as a research consultant at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden where my funding comes from general University funds, Swedish nation research funding and ETRI, a research institute funded by the S. Korean government. I also have a contract doing QoS R&D for a Swedish start-up and am occasionally employed as a consultant to the secretariat of the IGF. I do not belong to any of the ICANN constituencies, though I do belong to several of the organizations that are members of the NCUC. I am also a registrant of several TLDs.

My primary interest in this WG has to do with a concern that the necessary protections for trademarks be balanced with the necessity of protecting the public from the loss of common words from the commons.

Older Statements of Interest

Statement of interest to IDN WG

My primary interest in this WG has to do with a concern that technology and policy each contribute to the process of deploying IDN in their respective roles.

Statement of interest to PDP Feb06 Task Force
Policies for Contractual conditions: Existing Top Level Domains

When I originally joined this Task Force it was near the beginning of my term in the council and I joined to learn about how an ICANN task force functioned.. Now my main interest in this TF is facilitating the successful completion of the TF work with as much consensus as is possible in this area.

Statement of interent to WHOIS Working Group

1. Current occupation, employer and position

I am employed as an adjunct professor at Luelå University of Technology. I also have a contract doing QoS R&D for a Swedish start-up and am occasionally employed as a consultant to the secretariat of the IGF.

2. Type of work performed in 1 above

At the university I am responsible for the creation of a curriculum for a new program on Internet Governance and supervision of MA and Ph.D. students. I am also part of research efforts dealing with ubiquitous communications in remote communications challenged areas. As a technical consultant I do research on QoS in converging telecommunications systems, and as a consultant to the secretariat of the the IGF I provide a variety of services including creation of synthesis reports.

3. Financial ownership or management leadership of registries, registrars or other firms that are interested parties in Whois

I have no financial ownership or management leadership in any firm. I am currently involved with several non paying activities concerning indigenous peoples and other marginalized populations who desire access to TLDs. Some of these activities may someday result in registries, registrars or other firms that are interested parties in whois.

Nature of your interest in Whois

I am a nomcom appointee to the council, and believe that part of my responsibility as a volunteer to the council is to participate in as much of the work as possible. I am also interested and active in civil society efforts to limit the abuse of private information and do maintain membership, or contributor status, in several NGOs that have this as part of their chartered goals.