<html><body><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-unicode"><span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;"><div>Fellow New Yorkers [see apology below if you're not],<br>
<br>
When Matt Cooperrider suggested a commons approach to governing New
York's TLD in 2007, I said "Nice idea, but people aren't ready for
this." Over the past four years several developments have led this
rusting old head to reconsider Matt's proposition:<br>
</div><ul><li><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom">Elinor
Ostrom's</a> 2009 Noble Prize for Economics for "her analysis
of economic governance, especially <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_commons" title="The
commons">the commons</a>." This transformed a then slow-growth
effort to nurture and reclaim the commons into a global
movement. There's now even a
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.schoolofcommoning.com/">School of the
Commoning</a> in London. <br>
</li><li>The city's decision in early 2009 to support an application
for a city-TLD. This relieved us of the burden of developing a
structure and securing financing for a TLD application, and provided time
to think about a city-TLD's broader implications.<br>
</li><li>The 2010 closing of city hall's gates to public
engagement in imagining our TLD's role in social and economic development and civic affairs. (With <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://connectingnyc.org/tick-tock">ICANN's deadline for filing an application for our TLD fast approaching</a>, we're not sure if that move
represents a blunder, cronyism, or something else.)</li><li>ICANN's initiating the New TLD Program without providing any
guidance to cities. With cities home to more than half the
global population, the key generators of economic growth, and
the hope for a sustainable planet, it seems their
multi-stakeholder governance model demonstrated its limits. <br>
</li><li>Governor Cuomo's office saying in <span style="font-family:Verdana; color:#000000; font-size:10pt;">September that New York's </span>TLD issue "was not a priority."
</li><li> And most recently, at an October 20 <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.coactivate.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/blog/2011/10/18/commons-governance-of-the-nyc-tld/">"Tea
& TLDs" meeting</a>, <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Bollier">David
Bollier</a>, a leading thinker about the commons, observed that city-TLDs provided "an open
greenfield for new governance structures." Further, he suggested
that the Occupy Wall Street movement might provide the
opportunity to present city-TLDs as "greenfields" to cities
globally. Since the Occupy movement has grasped the essence of the commons in
the "Whose streets? Our streets!" mantra, it might be a short hop to urbanites chanting "Whose TLDs? Our TLDs!"<br>
</li></ul><div>
So with the extant governance structures having failed, we've
decided to explore the commons approach by bringing the city-TLD
opportunity to the Occupy movement.<br>
<br>
While we've explored commons governance over the years - see <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.coactivate.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/common-pool-resource">here</a>
and <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.coactivate.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/blog/category/common-pool-resource%C2%AD%C2%AD%C2%AD%C2%AD/">here</a>
- this Thursday we're digging deeper into the potential,
participating in a "Occupy the Digital Commons" meeting at the
Atrium, 60 Wall Street, from 6-8 PM. The meeting was convened by
Occupy Wall Street's <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.nycga.net/groups/nurturing-the-commons/">Campaign
for the Commons</a> working group (an entity we're part of).
Here's part of the meeting announcement from the <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.nycga.net/events/event/occupying-our-digital-commons/">Occupy
Wall Street</a> site: <br></div>
<blockquote>
<div><i>This will be the first face-to face-meeting of this group.
We’ll start with a brief review of the commons, including the
newest commons, city-TLDs – .boston, .rome, .paris, .london,
.mumbai, .nyc, etc. (Like .com and .org but just for these
cities.) </i></div>
<div><i>Then we’ll turn our attention to how we can best create an
awareness of the foundation role the commons play in society
and of the need to nurture them. We’ll look to how the group
might fit within Occupy Wall Street structure, if nurturing
the commons might be a stated goal of the Occupy movement, and if
city-TLDs might provide an engine to advance the cause.</i><br>
</div>
</blockquote><div>
The working group's portfolio is broader than city-TLDs, the <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_commons">commons</a>
itself, but the hope is that a global Occupy movement
can bring some youthful heads and energy to the development of
city-TLDs as public interest resources, perhaps by serving as
greenfields
for new governance structures. (For those not familiar with the many
features of city-TLDs (greenfields is one of about a dozen), use the
links below to our web resources.)<br>
<br>
Hope to see you Thursday. If you can't make the meeting, we'll be having a prep meeting
Thursday morning at our regular <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/107114190098481725633">Tea &
TLDs Google+ Hangout</a>, and we'll blog the Occupy meeting ASAP.<br>
<br>
NOTE: Thursday promises to be an active day for New York's <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://occupywallst.org/">Occupy</a> movement. While the
Atrium's address is <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60_Wall_Street">60 Wall</a>, there's a separate entrance on
Pine Street.<br>
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;;;"> <font face="Arial">Best,<br>
<br>
Tom Lowenhaupt<br>
<br>
<br>
</font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;;;"><font face="Arial">----------------------------------------------- </font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;;;"><font face="Arial">Thomas Lowenhaupt, Founder
& Chair</font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;;;"><font face="Arial">Connecting.nyc Inc.</font></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size:12pt;;;"><font face="Arial"> </font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:tom@connectingnyc.org">tom@connectingnyc.org</a>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">Jackson Hts., NYC 11372</font></div><div>
<font face="Arial">718 639 4222</font><font face="Arial"><br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.coactivate.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/blog/">Blog</a></font>
- <font face="Arial"><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.coactivate.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/project-home">Wiki</a></font>
-<font face="Arial"><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/"> Web</a></font><br>
<br>
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<big>My apologies to those receiving this message with zero
interest in the topic. My email list got messed, and while I've
tried to pick and choose from the 1,000+ names, there are surely
places I've botched. </big><big>I</big><big>f you'd like to be
removed, email me - </big><big><a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:toml@communisphere.com">toml@communisphere.com</a></big><big>
- and I'll
take your name off my .nyc list. </big><big>I've included those from the ICANN
community hoping they can help us think this through. </big><big>We
email about once a month. </big><br>
<br></div>
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