[governance] Proposed statement on .ORG sale
Sylvain BAYA (via governance Mailing List)
governance at lists.riseup.net
Wed Dec 18 09:01:18 EST 2019
Hi all,
Le 18/12/2019 à 12:48, Sheetal Kumar a écrit :
> Dear all,
>
> This is the final version of the letter, which we will be sending
> today. I will cc in the list.
Dear Sheetal,
Thanks, go on ! and please, also save a copy somewhere (?
igcaucusDOTorg/letters/)
on IGCs website.
Shalom,
--sb
> Thanks to everyone for their active contributions.
>
> Best
> Sheetal.
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *Subject: Letter from the Internet Governance Caucus re: the sale of .org*
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 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 acquire the 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 would 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 greater legitimacy and
> wider influence. It allowed ISOC to take an even more active role in
> shaping Internet infrastructure. In relinquishing its control over
> PIR, ISOC would lose some of 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 and we call for more
> inclusiveness in addition. 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
> coherent with those values when making major decisions.
>
> This is a major decision that would 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 ISOC has taken with
> the values we thought ISOC espoused. Accordingly, we call upon ISOC to
> withdraw from its negotiations with Ethos Capital, and to withdraw
> from selling PIR, so to honor its charter.
>
> Sincerely yours,
>
> Members of the Internet Governance Caucus (IGC)*
>
> /*The Internet Governance Caucus is composed of 500 individual
> members. Please see more information on the IGC here:
> https://igcaucus.org/igc-charter//
>
> On Fri, 13 Dec 2019 at 20:16, Sylvain Baya <abscoco at gmail.com
> <mailto:abscoco at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> Thanks dear Ayden.
> Just one thing :-)
>
> ...add *inclusiveness* alongside with the recommendation for more
> *transparency*.
>
> Please see below (inline)...
>
> Le ven. 13 déc. 2019 4:54 PM, Ayden Férdeline <ayden at ferdeline.com
> <mailto:ayden at ferdeline.com>> a écrit :
>
> Thanks for this edit, Ian, and thanks to everyone who had
> shared their input on this statement. I've pasted below what
> we have at present. I apologise if I have missed any edits or
> failed to address any concerns - if so, please can you advise.
> Thanks again and enjoy your weekend!
>
> Best wishes, 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 acquire the 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 would 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 greater legitimacy and wider
> influence. It allowed ISOC to take an even more active role in
> shaping Internet infrastructure. In relinquishing its control
> over PIR, ISOC would lose some of 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. /
>
>
> “/...the proposed sale of PIR*, and we call for more inclusiveness
> in addition.*/”
>
> Thanks.
>
> Shalom,
> --sb.
>
> /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 coherent with those values when making
> major decisions. /
>
>
> /This is a major decision that would 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 ISOC has taken with the values we
> thought ISOC espoused. Accordingly, we call upon ISOC to
> withdraw from its negotiations with Ethos Capital, and to
> withdraw from selling PIR, so to honor its charter./
>
>
> */About the Internet Governance Caucus/*
>
>
> /The members of the Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) are
> individuals, acting in their personal capacity, who subscribe
> to IGC's charter. The IGC is guided by its vision and mission,
> included below./
>
>
> /_Vision_/
>
>
> /The policies that shape the Internet impact not only the
> development of the technologies themselves, but also the
> realization of internationally agreed human rights, social
> equity and interdependence, cultural concerns, and both social
> and economic development. Our vision is that Internet
> governance should be inclusive, people centered and
> development oriented. Our contributions to the various forums
> relevant to Internet governance, will strive to ensure an
> information society which better enables equal opportunity and
> freedom for all./
>
>
> /_Mission_/
>
>
> /The mission of the Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) is to
> provide a forum for discussion, advocacy, action, and for
> representation of civil society contributions in Internet
> governance processes. The caucus intends to provide an open
> and effective forum for civil society to share opinion, policy
> options and expertise on Internet governance issues, and to
> provide a mechanism for coordination of advocacy to enhance
> the utilization and influence of Civil Society (CS) and the
> IGC in relevant policy processes./
>
>
>
>
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> [...]
>
>
>
> --
>
> *
> *
> *Sheetal Kumar*
> Senior Programme Lead | GLOBAL PARTNERS DIGITAL
> Second Home, 68-80 Hanbury Street, London, E1 5JL
> T: +44 (0)20 3 818 3258| M: +44 (0)7739569514 |
> PGP ID: E592EFBBEAB1CF31 | PGP Fingerprint: F5D5 114D 173B E9E2 0603
> DD7F E592 EFBB EAB1 CF31|
>
>
--
Best Regards !
baya.sylvain [AT cmNOG DOT cm] | <https://www.cmnog.cm> | <https://survey.cmnog.cm>
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