Touton said: After almost four years with ICANN, I feel the organization has achieved the stability and global recognition that will allow it to fulfill its mission… I feel that I have accomplished what I set out to do.
He leaves in late June. ICANN said in a statement that Touton’s position, which had evolved and expanded from his initially role as legal advisor, will be split into two – general counsel and VP of business operations.
The organization, which manages technical and policy aspects of the internet’s domain name system, has started an executive search. Esmé Smith of Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, ICANN’s outside counsel, will take the general counsel role in the meantime.
An ICANN spokesperson said that Touton currently has no job lined up. However, as a key founding player in what is frequently one of the internet’s most controversial policymaking bodies, his skills are sure to be in demand.
ICANN is in the closing stages of a reform process that overhauled its organizational structure. It recently appointed a new CEO, Paul Twomey, to take the organization into its version 2.0.
Source: Computerwire
