[governance] Proposed statement on .ORG sale

Wed Dec 11 01:57:34 EST 2019

agree, parminder

On 10/12/19 9:10 PM, Imran Ahmed Shah wrote:
> Thanks Ayden, I support the additional lines, these are important and
> necessary... 
>
> Regards 
>
> Imran 
>
> On Tuesday, 10 December 2019, 19:59:47 GMT+5, Ayden Férdeline
> <ayden at ferdeline.com> wrote:
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> In response to comments in this thread and new developments today, I
> have proposed some further edits to the statement that we could
> potentially send to the ISOC Board. Please find below. Note that key
> changes are in red. Thanks!
>
> Ayden Férdeline 
> --
>
> /To:    Gonzalo Camarillo, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Internet
> Society//
> /
>
> /
> /
>
> /As members of a network which encompasses many non-commercial
> organizations and individuals, we are concerned by the announcement
> that Ethos Capital intends to acquirethe assets of the Public Interest
> Registry (PIR) from the Internet Society (ISOC), including the .ORG,
> .NGO, and .ONG Registry Agreements. We ask that this sale be called
> off. //
> /
>
> /
> /
>
> /Principally, we are concerned that the sale of PIR to a private
> entity investment firm will significantly alter the Domain Name System
> and weaken ISOC. PIR played an important role, as the only remaining
> non-commercial top-level domain registry operator, in serving as a
> counterbalance against commercial exploitation. PIR ran .ORG, .NGO,
> and .ONG for the benefit of its users, whereas other top-level domains
> are run by private companies with purely financial objectives. While
> the interests of companies and users do at times overlap, they can
> also conflict, and when this occurs there are significant human rights
> implications. PIR, as a subsidiary of ISOC, could be relied upon to do
> what was best for domain name registrants, and has a proud history of
> doing just that. However, PIR also gave ISOC legitimacy and influence.
> It allowed ISOC to take an active role in shaping Internet
> infrastructure. In relinquishing its control over PIR, ISOC would lose
> its ability to directly impact how millions of people around the world
> positively experience the Internet every day, and we think that is a
> great pity.//
> /
>
> /
> /
>
> /We understand that Ethos Capital approached ISOC with an offer in
> September 2019 and that an agreement had been reached to sell PIR by
> November 2019. This secret process caught us, and everyone, unaware,
> not just of the transaction but of the urgency to divest of PIR. //
> /
>
> /
> /
>
> /We join ICANN in its 9 December 2019 letter calling for ISOC to be
> more transparent about the proposed sale of PIR. We ask that ISOC
> commit to publishing on its website all correspondence and documents
> exchanged with ICANN in relation to the proposed change in control of
> PIR. In addition, we ask that ISOC commit to publishing on its website
> any filings (including motions and petitions) in the Pennsylvania
> Orphans' Court relating to the change in status of the PIR.//
> /
>
> /
> /
>
> /We expect an organization that operates in the public interest, and
> who promotes the values of openness, trust, and transparency, to be
> open and transparent about major decisions. //
> /
>
> /
> /
>
> /This is a major decision that will result in a significant change,
> for ISOC and for the Internet community, and it has been proposed a)
> without a human rights impact assessment being conducted, b) without
> consultation with impacted stakeholders, and c) without appropriate
> safeguards in place to protect the interests of .ORG, .NGO, and .ONG
> registrants and the people who visit their websites every day. //
> /
>
> /
> /
>
> /ISOC has successfully stewarded .ORG via PIR for 17 years, gaining a
> reputation as a careful manager of a resource that truly is the global
> home for nonprofits and the noncommercial community. Given this
> background, and ISOC’s stated commitments to transparency and
> openness, we are unable to reconcile the path that you have taken with
> the values we thought ISOC espoused. Accordingly, we call upon ISOC to
> withdraw from its negotiations with Ethos Capital, to withdraw from
> selling PIR, and to honor its charter.//
> /
>
>
>
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> On Monday, December 9, 2019 2:29 PM, parminder
> <parminder at itforchange.net> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Imran, very useful..
>>
>> So a community asset given to ISOC for free, nay with a $ 5 million
>> subsidy, for safe keeping and management on behalf of the community
>> is suddenly declared by ISOC to just be a sterile financial asset --
>> with no community implications whatsoever -- that it is selling off
>> to a newly formed for profit entity in order to maintain and augment
>> its funding. And we are supposed to stay quiet or just applaud ISOC's
>> financial astuteness....
>>
>> It cannot get more absurd that this..
>>
>> parminder
>>
>> On 09/12/19 12:19 PM, Imran Ahmed Shah wrote:
>>> Hi Parminder,
>>> There were 11 bidders. ICANN evaluated 11 proposals when VeriSign
>>> was leaving in 2002.
>>> At that time, the bidding criteria was different, the bidders were
>>> quoting their quality of services, as there was objections on
>>> VeriSign Support. Secondly, bidders were offering the cost of their
>>> fee for services per domain (registration and/or renewal). ISOC was
>>> not the lowest bidder.
>>>
>>> No, ISOC/PIR did not have to pay anything. In compensation from
>>> ICANN, VeriSign given seed money (Endowment) to ISOC/PIR for
>>> capacity building and Registry handling and support 2.6 million
>>> domain names.
>>>
>>> Regards
>>>
>>> Imran Ahmed Shah
>>>
>>> On Monday, 9 December 2019, 09:44:57 GMT+5, parminder
>>> <parminder at itforchange.net> <mailto:parminder at itforchange.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> From those who know I request response to this question:
>>>
>>> Was ISOC given the .org registry as a result of an auction (apart
>>> from other evaluation criteria) or not, meaning did ISOC pay
>>> anything, and if so how much?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> parminder
>>>
>>> On 09/12/19 3:27 AM, Ayden Férdeline wrote:
>>>>
>>> Indeed John, this criteria is interesting, particularly number 6,
>>> which I have pasted below. I do not believe Ethos Capital has a
>>> "level of support for the proposal from .ORG registrants," but the
>>> Internet Society did, and that is why .ORG was assigned to them over
>>> other bidders.
>>>
>>> */6. Level of support for the proposal from .org registrants./*
>>>
>>> /Demonstrated support among registrants in the .org TLD,
>>> particularly those actually using .org domain names for
>>> noncommercial purposes, will be a factor in evaluation of the
>>> proposals. Noncommercial registrants do not have uniform views about
>>> policy and management, and no single organization can fully
>>> encompass the diversity of global civil society. There will likely
>>> be significant difficulties in ascertaining the level of support for
>>> particular .org proposals from throughout the .org registrants and
>>> noncommercial community. Nevertheless, proposals to operate the .org
>>> TLD should provide available evidence of support from across the
>>> global Internet community./
>>>
>>>
>>> Best wishes,
>>>
>>> Ayden Férdeline 
>>>
>>>
>>> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
>>> On Sunday, December 8, 2019 10:49 PM, Sylvain Baya
>>> <governance at lists.riseup.net> <mailto:governance at lists.riseup.net>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi all,
>>>>
>>>> Le dim. 8 déc. 2019 9:19 PM, John Levine <icggov at johnlevine.com
>>>> <mailto:icggov at johnlevine.com>> a écrit :
>>>>
>>>>     In article
>>>>     <CAJjTEvFXJ+ZLsdLwYF2vMkChKizoZ9RKN7p+O_Bj52yiAn858g at mail.gmail.com
>>>>     <mailto:CAJjTEvFXJ%2BZLsdLwYF2vMkChKizoZ9RKN7p%2BO_Bj52yiAn858g at mail.gmail.com>>
>>>>     you write:
>>>>
>>>>     ><hxxps://www.icann.org/news/icann-pr-2001-03-01-en
>>>>     <http://www.icann.org/news/icann-pr-2001-03-01-en>>
>>>>
>>>>     It might be more useful to refer to the criteria used to evaluate
>>>>     the .org proposals and decide who got the registry:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dear John,
>>>> ...have you used it yourselves ?
>>>>
>>>>     https://archive.icann.org/en/tlds/org/criteria.htm
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> ...for sure, these criteria are interesting ; but let me know if
>>>> there is a specific criterion which contains, explicitely, the key
>>>> words : */*_By_* and _*For*_/* ?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks.
>>>>
>>>> Shalom,
>>>> --sb.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>     R's,
>>>>     John
>>>>
>>>
>>>
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