Desperate Nominet chairman claims member vote to fire him would spark British government intervention
- Reference: 1615884245
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/03/16/nominet_government_intervention/
- Source link:
“We have been warned that instability will be of serious concern to government,” Wood [1]wrote on Monday. “We know it would create a scenario which would make intervention more likely.”
[2]
His note, titled “A threat to independence,” concluded that “a vote for the EGM resolution will not preserve Nominet's independence.” By EGM resolution, Wood means an upcoming extraordinary general meeting during which Nominet's membership [3]will vote whether or not to boot him and other non-elected members from its board.
The specter of government intervention was immediately dismissed by the [4]PublicBenefit.uk campaign , which forced the vote, as “repetitious FUD in an attempt to scare the membership into extending their regime.” Other members have also taken exception to both the tone and the wording, with one [5]noting that the statement about independence not being preserved “appears to be a statement of fact. There is no ‘could,’ ‘may,’ ‘probably,’ there is only ‘will not preserve’.”
[6]
Yet, it is not a given that Nominet would lose its independence if the vote goes against the registry operator's management.
The chairman’s post comes one week before an EGM, triggered by Nominet members, seeks to get rid of Wood, Nominet CEO Russell Haworth, one other non-elected board member, as well as remove two additional staff members, from the board.
Members are [7]angry over what they see as mismanagement of the company: at the same time that .uk prices have been increased by over 50 per cent, producing tens of millions of pounds in revenue, Nominet’s operating profits have dropped 38 per cent and charitable contributions have been slashed by 65 per cent.
Money, money, money
Where has all the money gone? To a series of failed commercial ventures spearheaded by Haworth and supported by the members of the board that the campaign wishes to evict. And while overseeing all of these flops, the campaign notes, the management team awarded itself huge salary increases and bonuses: director pay has increased by 70 per cent since 2016, with Haworth getting a 30 per cent pay bump in 2019 alone.
The [8]snapping point for many came when Haworth responded to criticism from Nominet members by simply pulling the plug on the member’s online forum – the only official form of communication between the organisation and its domain-trading members – during the middle of his speech at an annual general meeting: an obvious abuse of power than both Haworth and Wood have since [9]half-apologized for.
As battle for future of .UK's Nominet draws closer, non-exec director hits a nerve with for-profit proposal [10]READ MORE
In an effort to win votes, the Nominet board has [11]offered some modest proposals including freezing domain prices and wage increases for two years, putting more money toward charitable causes, and creating a new communications channel for members. But the reforms would retain the existing board and structure, and has been seen as too little, too later by many in the UK domain industry.
The overall result of a successful vote would be to put the company back in the hands of its broader membership, with the six remaining board members largely accountable to them. For Wood and Haworth, however, a yes vote would not only see them kicked off the board, but led to an unraveling of their efforts over the past five years to turn Nominet into a for-profit company despite its legal status as a not-for-profit, member organisation with a public benefit remit.
Losing fight
Both have made several determined efforts to turn the vote in their favor over the past month, though the PublicBenefit.uk campaign continues to pick up support. As of Monday, it has the [12]public support of 432 members, representing 75 per cent of the organisation’s largest 50 members and 25.1 per cent of all voting rights.
To win, the yes vote needs more than 50 per cent of the total votes cast – something that now looks like a virtual certainty given the fact that only on very rare occasions is member turnout on such votes higher than 10 per cent.
Having lost the support of the broader membership on a personal basis, Wood is gambling that enough members will worry about what comes next to stick with what they know. “We have been warned that instability will be of serious concern to government. We know it would create a scenario which would make intervention more likely,” Wood wrote.
“Some of our detractors seem not to care. Or perhaps they have just not appreciated the real risk of intervention and government control. This is a dangerous game. It would lead to an unpredictable future for the UK domain name industry and .UK pricing and policy.”
[13]
There have been no statements, comments or tweets from the relevant arm of the government – the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) – on the EGM. ®
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[1] https://www.nominet.uk/a-threat-to-independence/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YFCPy4vOf7XUpTsW7nIavQAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/23/nominet_egm_vote/
[4] https://publicbenefit.uk/#plan
[5] https://www.greywing.uk/the-blog/nominet-egm-voting-yes-will-bring-government
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YFCPy4vOf7XUpTsW7nIavQAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/31/nominet_board_vote/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/23/nominet_internal_forum_shut_down/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/09/nominet_ceo_appeal/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/10/nominet_registry_vote/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/11/nominet_board_offer/
[12] https://publicbenefit.uk/
[13] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/networks&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YFCPy4vOf7XUpTsW7nIavQAAANU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Citation needed
While I think the dismissal/appointments behind the EGM are probably in Nomnet's and the uk internet industry's best interest - a change to a formal quango would be better than staying with the current leadership.
And if the EGM resolution doesn't go through because of block voting by outside interests - then the government may be said to have a duty to intervene in the national interest to what will be a broken organisation. Broken by those who run it.
Be careful of what you warn about Messrs Wood & Haworth. It may come back to haunt you.
A Nominet Member.
Re: Citation needed
Agree. That “warning” from HMG needs to be transparent and truthful, we haven’t heard anything like that in our circles
I'm pondering how bad "government control" would really be, assuming they wanted to run it as a simple non-profit registry...
I'm pondering how bad "government control" would really be
Think Hancock. Think Harding. There's always room for bigger! bolder! more disastrous! failures. Kittens will be harmed. Children left unattended at bus stops. Milk will go sour and Scotland will rebuild that Hadrian Wall. You wouldn't want any of that, would you?!
Re: I'm pondering how bad "government control" would really be
Such key national "assets" aren't for use on small things like Nominet, we need them on key national projects to make sure their "skills and wisdom" can affect the great british people on a national level
Re: I'm pondering how bad "government control" would really be
Now that really would be a threat - if he gets pushed out Harding might be put in to replace him.
Is that the same government who spunked away £37 billion on a test and trace system with nothing to show for it? The government that bought aircraft carriers with no aircraft? The government that puts incompetent lightweights like Patel, WIlliamson and Hancock into the cabinet? The government that's never completed an IT project on time or in budget? Or is it some other government?
Swapping out one job lot of incompetent, self-serving tossers for another job lot that's full of much more incompetent, self-serving tossers is a genuis idea. What could possibly go wrong?
a desperate last-minute attempt to keep his job
Hasn't he worked out by now that it would be better for his future career if he found a face-saving way to resign, rather than wait until he's ignominiously kicked out?
He hasn't worked anything out. That's why the current situation exists.
He's worked out how to make a cushy billet out of Nominet.
Ah, but then the new administration would have access to the records and accounts. In full detail. Original documents.
Disclaimer: I have no skin in this game and no real knowledge of the issues, and I don't earn money from Web sites or the Internet (alas, see icon).
“We have been warned that instability will be of serious concern to government,” Wood wrote on Monday.
Don't worry, mate. Even if it were a serious concern to government, by the time they get around to doing anything about it (after repeated debates, policy changes and deadline extensions) the new management will have things perfectly stable again.
I'm not sure that having it Government Controlled would be any worse than the train wreck the current Directors are running.
"I'm not sure that having it Government Controlled would be any worse than the train wreck the current Directors are running."
How about we put Failing Grayling in charge of Nominet and find out?
in plain English
Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know My name is the Government when I lay My vengeance upon thee.
Re: in plain English
I think I found your wallet.
And?
He says that like it's a bad thing.
Neutral icon -->
Why?
Is he a Statue?
I didn't think that Nominet
was in the Sudetenland.
“We have been warned"
Oh really ? By who ? Citation please, Mr Hawarth, you bullshitting arsebag.
The pitchforks are coming to get you, and get you they will.
What a piece of shit he is.
Isn't it an offence to knowingly make false statements to the board?
Only if you get investigated. And if nothing changes and the board stays the same, you can guarantee no investigation will happen.
One for the guide book
I'm going to get in here now and say that the current board of Nominet should be described as "A bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the second against the wall after the Marketing Department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation when the revolution comes."
Now, where's that rift in the time-space continuum?
I seem to remember, the EGM was initially arranged so that the current drivers of the careering company could be removed and more competent drivers put in their place. However the current drivers objected to having the replacements decided upon at the same meeting, hence forcing the situation where the company will be driverless until another hurried meeting can be arranged.
Isn't it then the current directors who have forced this instability onto the organisation, and not those who sought a seamless transfer of power?
Perhaps the spectre of their suggested instability and government intervention will materialise, not from the actions of its voting members, but the actions of its exiting directors, as they smash and burn everything on their way out? 'Cos they do seem to be acting like spoilt children.
"Forcing the situation where the company will be driverless until another hurried meeting can be arranged.".
That's no big deal. A break of a few months between the old and new boards won't matter much. Nominet's core registry and DNS functoon will continue to work just fine regardless of what's happening (or not) in the boardroom. As proven by the bomb-proof registry service it has provided while Howard and his cronies have been in charge.
Remember that Belgium recently went over a year without a government and the machinery of state - collecting taxes, running an army, keeping the lights on, etc - carried on as normal. If a country can manage for that long without any leadership, I'm sure Nominet could too.
"This is a dangerous game. It would lead to an unpredictable future for the UK domain name industry and .UK pricing and policy"
As opposed to ...?
Just when you think they couldn't sink any lower...... I'm inclined to think that Mark Wood wouldn't recognise the truth if it whacked him over the head with a 14lb hammer.
Pulling the plug on the forum was the last straw
.. and now Nominet proposes that the members communicate with each other through a central party policy of communication - where the current executive get to hear everything and the members hear nothing - Webinars, closed Twitter chat, and private meetings. The members have nothing further to discuss with this executive, they want to inhabit their own community and they want to listen to each other
It raises the usual questions about top management:
Do they believe what they say?
Do they believe we'll believe what they say?
Do they think we won't care even when we don't believe what they say?
Do they care whether we care when we don't believe what they say?
None of the alternatives show them up in a good light but I've never been able to determine which is the case given that the only external evidence is that they keep spouting bollocks that only an idiot would believe.
Citation needed
“We have been warned that instability will be of serious concern to government. We know it would create a scenario which would make intervention more likely,” Wood wrote.
Really? Do show everyone the actual warning. Oh, what's that? It was a verbal comment only?