<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>To NCC:
<BR>I read with dismay about the high charges our members must pay to convert their local currencies into US dollars to pay ICANN. It is hard enough to come up with the membership fee, no one should have to pay additional fees. I have spent hours on the phone with my bank, and ** my bank will clear foreign currency checks without a charge.**
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<BR>I can offer the following service to the Constituency:
<BR>- If you send me a membership check from your organization, in your local currency, I
<BR> will clear it at no cost and send the money on to ICANN.
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<BR>I will place your check in my IOLTA account. This is a special bank account held by attorneys for funds that are given to them in trust (which means that the money does not belong to the attorney). After the checks have cleared, I will send them on to ICANN in US dollars. I will also notify Dany Vandromme, our NCC representation in charge of membership fees of their arrival.
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<BR>Here is the procedure I propose:
<BR>1) If your organizations has access to a credit cards, wire transfers or easy conversion to US currency -- ** go ahead and continue to pay ICANN directly.**
<BR>2) If conversion is a problem, then if you feel comfortable, you can send your check to me for clearing and forwarding to ICANN. The check must be payable to **Kathryn A. Kleiman, Esq., IOLTA.**
<BR>3) Send email about your check, organization, date of sending, and membership fee to me, KathrynKl@aol.com and to Dany Vandromme (our NCC rep on membership dues) at vandrome@renater.fr so we know it is coming.
<BR>4) Send the check to Kathryn A. Kleiman, Esq, Attention: Membership Dues, McLeod, Watkinson & Miller, One Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 800, Washington DC 20001.
<BR>5) Make the check payable to Kathryn A. Kleiman, Esq., IOLTA.
<BR>6) Let me know in your note with the check (since currency values may have changed) the amount of the membership fee (in US dollars) that you are paying.
<BR>7) Also in your note please tell me your organization's name, and the email address and name of the person in your organization I should notify when the check has cleared and the payment has gone on to ICANN.
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<BR>Please only use this service if you feel comfortable with it, and with me. I hope it helps make the difficult process of paying membership fees a little easier.
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<BR>Regards,
<BR>Kathy Kleiman
<BR>Founding Director, ACM's Internet Governance Project
<BR>(Former NCC Adcom member and Names Council representative)</FONT></HTML>