The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) just emailed its membership to notify them that longtime ICA Counsel Phil Corwin is leaving the organization to pursue another opportunity. Taking his place as Counsel on an interim basis is intellectual property (and domain industry) attorney Zak Muscovitch.

Commenting on Phil’s departure, the ICA shared the following with its members (I received permission to publish this):

“While no one can replace Phil, we will look for new counsel with particular strengths in the priorities we see ahead of us in our second decade. We see the next 18-24 months as critical for the domain industry. In the policy arena there are ongoing initiatives that have the potential to dramatically impact our ability to protect our assets and conduct business. There are large, well-funded and determined players working to change domain intellectual property law in ways that could dramatically impact our community. The ICA has been working for months to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy to counter these movements and we think we have a solid plan that, with your help and support, will protect the future of domain investing.

ICA’s 2018 mission will focus on three core areas; first, Represent and defend the domain community in policy matters affecting us. Second, Promote a positive perception of the domain community through education and engagement with policy makers, journalists, and others whose work influences our industry. Third, Build a supportive community among our members. We believe by focusing on these three core areas, we can make the biggest impact for our membership.

Phil has left the ICA is a strong position. In our first decade, Phil put us on the map, establishing us an important stakeholder in the ICANN policy development process, and successfully advocated on dozens of issues large and small that profoundly benefited the domain industry. He leaves an enduring legacy as one of the architects of the policy framework that governs the domain name system. We wish Phil well in his new endeavors. Phil will remain on the ICA-mail and ICA-social list for a few days and will have access to ICA’s NamePros forum, should anyone wish to reach him there. His responses may be delayed as he is embarking on a 25-hour trip back from ICANN 60 in Abu Dhabi this evening.

The ICA Board is excited about the opportunity to continue our growth building on the foundation that Phil created. We’ll be reaching out to our membership to solicit your support and guidance during this transition. ”

Phil has become one of the most recognizable faces of the ICA, and his presence will be missed at ICANN meetings and various events where he represented the ICA and domain name owners. Throughout the years, the ICA has done a great job of protecting the interests of domain name owners, and I am confident the Board of Directors will be able to find someone who will continue to advocate to ICANN, governments, and organizations on behalf of our group.

I wish Phil all the best, and I look forward to hearing about his permanent replacement.