Sen Cruz spars with CEO of Web Domain Organization

Tensions flared between presidential candidate Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the head of the organization that manages Internet domain names. Earlier in Feb, Sen Cruz criticized Fadi Chehadé, the CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), for co-chairing a committee associated with a conference in China. Chehadé defended his decision to take the position in a letter recently and said that not attending the December conference “would not have served the global Internet community.” “I have confirmed that my service in this role is a post-ICANN effort that is in my personal capacity, with my first meeting as co-chair to occur later this year,” he said in his letter. “I have not received any form of gift, reimbursement, compensation, or any other form of personal enrichment, direct or indirect, for this post-ICANN effort, though I understand that travel costs to the World Internet Conference will be covered while I serve on the high level advisory committee. I do not have any plans to seek any form of employment with the Chinese government.” Sen Cruz, who was joined on the initial letter by Sen James Lankford (R-OK) and Sen Mike Lee (R-UT), took issue with Chehadé’s portrayal of involvement with the conference. “Either the World Internet Conference and the People’s Republic of China have misreported the events that took place during their own conference or Fadi Chehade isn’t being completely honest with the United States Senate,” he said Feb 23, citing a December report that he said indicates Chehadé met with the committee during the conference.