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'''Peter Dengate Thrush''' is a barrister specializing in Internet law, [[Intellectual Property|intellectual property]], and competition. Mr. Thrush is currently the Executive Chairman of [[Tope Level Domain Holdings]], which is the parent company of [[Minds + Machines]]. He is  a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of [[ICANN]], a positon he held from November, 2007 until June, 2011.  

'''Peter Dengate Thrush''' is a barrister specializing in Internet law, [[Intellectual Property|intellectual property]], and competition. Mr. Thrush is the former Executive Chairman of [[Tope Level Domain Holdings]], which is the parent company of [[Minds + Machines]]. He is  a former Chairman of the Board of Directors of [[ICANN]], a positon he held from November, 2007 until June, 2011.  

He served multiple terms as Chairman and was elected to his last term following the [[ICANN]] Annual General Meeting in December, 2010.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/biog/thrush.htm Official ICANN Biography for Peter Dengate Thrush]</ref> Mr. Thrush also sat on the [[ICANN]] President's Strategy, Board Finance, Board Governance and Executive committees. During his tenure, Thrush oversaw one of the most important changes to the Internet and TLDs by beginning the process of allowing domains to be registered using non latin characters.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Technology/Internet-Addresses-Using-Non-Latin-Characters-Are-Approved/Article/200910415425926 Sky News]</ref> He also chaired the Board as they debated and eventually approved the mode for introducing new gTLDs, the [[.xxx]] debate, and celebrated ICANN's 10th anniversary.<ref>[http://blog.logicboxes.com/tag/peter-dengate-thrush/ Blog.LogicBoxes.com]</ref> His final [[ICANN]] meeting as Chairman, [[ICANN Singapore]], was the historic venue for the approval of the new [[gTLD]] process.

He served multiple terms as Chairman and was elected to his last term following the [[ICANN]] Annual General Meeting in December, 2010.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/biog/thrush.htm Official ICANN Biography for Peter Dengate Thrush]</ref> Mr. Thrush also sat on the [[ICANN]] President's Strategy, Board Finance, Board Governance and Executive committees. During his tenure, Thrush oversaw one of the most important changes to the Internet and TLDs by beginning the process of allowing domains to be registered using non latin characters.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Technology/Internet-Addresses-Using-Non-Latin-Characters-Are-Approved/Article/200910415425926 Sky News]</ref> He also chaired the Board as they debated and eventually approved the mode for introducing new gTLDs, the [[.xxx]] debate, and celebrated ICANN's 10th anniversary.<ref>[http://blog.logicboxes.com/tag/peter-dengate-thrush/ Blog.LogicBoxes.com]</ref> His final [[ICANN]] meeting as Chairman, [[ICANN Singapore]], was the historic venue for the approval of the new [[gTLD]] process.

The above controversy resulted in a new Conflict of Interest Policy for members of the Board and others, released on December 8th, 2011, and effective immediately. The policy requires disclosure to the [[Board Governance Committee]] of any and all potential conflicts of interest, and subsequent abstention from ICANN activities related to the conflict of interest.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/committees/board-governance/coi/ ICANN Conflict of Interest Policy]</ref> Board members also may not join business with a new gTLD registry until 12 months after the registry's application has been voted on.<ref>[http://news.dot-nxt.com/2011/12/13/icann-board-dec-minutes ICANN Board December Minutes, dot-nxt.com]</ref>

The above controversy resulted in a new Conflict of Interest Policy for members of the Board and others, released on December 8th, 2011, and effective immediately. The policy requires disclosure to the [[Board Governance Committee]] of any and all potential conflicts of interest, and subsequent abstention from ICANN activities related to the conflict of interest.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/committees/board-governance/coi/ ICANN Conflict of Interest Policy]</ref> Board members also may not join business with a new gTLD registry until 12 months after the registry's application has been voted on.<ref>[http://news.dot-nxt.com/2011/12/13/icann-board-dec-minutes ICANN Board December Minutes, dot-nxt.com]</ref>

====In His Defense====

====In His Defense====

Peter Dengate Thrush defended his move to Minds + Machines in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He denies any impropriety in his actions, and points to his predecessor, [[Vint Cerf]], who took up a job at [[Verisign]] following his chairmanship of ICANN. He notes that he had no vested interest in his current employer's interests when he was voting with, and leading, [[ICANN Board|the board]].<ref>[http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/11/22/web-braced-for-1000-new-top-level-domains-a-year/ Web Braced for 1000 New Top Level Domains, Blogs.WSJ.com]</ref>

Peter Dengate Thrush defended his move to Minds + Machines in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. He denies any impropriety in his actions, and points to his predecessor, [[Vint Cerf]], who took up a job at [[Verisign]] following his chairmanship of ICANN. He notes that he had no vested interest in his current employer's interests when he was voting with, and leading, [[ICANN Board|the board]].<ref>[http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/11/22/web-braced-for-1000-new-top-level-domains-a-year/ Web Braced for 1000 New Top Level Domains, Blogs.WSJ.com]</ref>