[governance] Proposed statement on .ORG sale

[Ayden Férdeline]

Hi Judith,

Thanks for your question. Here's an example of a human rights concern that I see with the proposed sale of PIR to Ethos Capital:

Firstly, it has been [acknowledged](https://www.keypointsabout.org/) that Fadi Chehade’s company, Chehade & Company, is an adviser to Ethos Capital.

[The Register hasreported](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/26/org_selloff_internet/) that Mr Chehade himself was seen at PIR's office last week during a meet-and-greet with PIR's staff.

Mr Chehade is [co-chair of the advisory committee](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/12/18/ex_icann_ceo_will_work_with_china/) to the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, and has other business dealings in China.

Could .ORG registrants in China be assured, once Ethos Capital takes ownership of PIR, that if the Chinese government requested the contact information of a .ORG registrant, that Mr Chehade would not instruct Ethos Capital to do as the Chinese government wishes?

I think this is an area of divergence where a PIR under ISOC's management may behave differently to a PIR owned by a company whose advisor has strong business interests in China. It's a theoretical example and I want to be careful about 'guilt by association', but I think there is a real risk here that a venture capital company is not going to care so much about the interests of their customers as a non-profit might. (Mind you, ISOC has not demonstrated much concern for them lately either, but that's a different issue...)

Best wishes,

Ayden Férdeline

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Thursday, 5 December 2019 20:54, Judith Hellerstein <judith at jhellerstein.com> wrote:

> HI Sheetal and Aiden
>
> While I agree with points 1 and 4 I do not understand what are the implications on human rights and not sure I agree with this statement. I also definitely do not agree with point 4
>
> - There are potential implications for human rights if the sale goes through (need to list/clearly enumerate these)
> - As a result, many members of IGC align themselves with the statements from EFF and Access Now and the call for an outright halt to the sale.
>
> Judith
>
> _________________________________________________________________________
> Judith Hellerstein, Founder & CEO
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>
> On 12/5/2019 8:48 PM, Sheetal Kumar wrote:
>
>> - There are potential implications for human rights if the sale goes through (need to list/clearly enumerate these)
>> - As a result, many members of IGC align themselves with the statements from EFF and Access Now and the call for an outright halt to the sale.
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