<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Dear Michael,<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">May I suggest that in the first instance, before proposing to rewrite A4Ai’s entire mission and purpose, you and those interested could have a conversation with them about your concerns?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I suspect that will get a better reception from presenting them with a redraft completely out of the blue, without having any dialogue.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Regards, Nick</div><div class="">
<br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On 26 Mar 2016, at 23:49, Michael Gurstein <<a href="mailto:gurstein@gmail.com" class="">gurstein@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div class="WordSection1" style="page: WordSection1; font-family: OpenSans; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">My original<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://gurstein.wordpress.com/2016/03/20/a4ai-who-could-oppose-a-more-affordable-internet-the-alliance-for-an-affordable-internet-a4ai-and-the-neo-liberal-stealth-campaign-to-control-the-internet-throughout-the-developing-world-and-make/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline;" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">blogpost</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>examining the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://a4ai.org/best-practices/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline;" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">“Policy and Regulatory Best Practices” of the Alliance for an Affordable Internet (A4AI’s)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></a>has generated some considerable discussion including on the InternetPolicy elist sponsored by the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline;" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">Internet Society</span></a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(ISOC). In the course of that discussion a challenge was put forward by Bill Smith, a tech industry veteran, Board Member of ISOC and the “tech evangelist” for PayPal as follows (taken from a post to the InternetPolicy elist (Fri 2016-03-25 9:31 AM)<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">What is lacking in the discussion against A4AI, is a well-articulated alternative. Some bits and pieces may appear but they suffer from the same deficiencies attributed to A4AI’s principles, best practices, and policy positions – they are offered as fact with no substantiation.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">A4AI has what I consider a set of easily understandable principles, best practices, and policy positions. I suspect that when applied in practice, they will be effective in many circumstances. They may not be appropriate in all. (Think globally act locally.)</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><i class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">What I haven’t seen are a similar set of principles, best practices, and policy positions from the non-neoliberal corner. Perhaps such a set could be presented to this list for consideration and debate.</span></i><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class=""><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;" class="">This below is my response to this challenge (I have added additional comments by Brandt Dainow also a contributor to the InternetPolicy elist):<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="https://gurstein.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/alternative-best-practices-for-the-a4ai-to-be-renamed-alliance-for-an-accessible-internet/" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline;" class="">https://gurstein.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/alternative-best-practices-for-the-a4ai-to-be-renamed-alliance-for-an-accessible-internet/</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><a href="http://tinyurl.com/zhejpvh" style="color: rgb(149, 79, 114); text-decoration: underline;" class="">http://tinyurl.com/zhejpvh</a><o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class="">M<o:p class=""></o:p></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><o:p class=""> </o:p></div></div><span style="font-family: OpenSans; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; 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