New domain name .ngo would be for charities only

[Carlos Afonso]

Hi Norbert, it seems not to be the worldwide ngo community, but the US
ngo community. Even the concept of "charities" varies widely from
country to country, depending on quite different local laws. This seems
to be a TLD for the 501(c) organizations in the USA and this is it. We,
in the planet outside of those US boundaries, should not bother about
it, I guess.

--c.a.

Norbert Klein wrote:
> Thanks, Rebecca, for sharing this - but I have some problems with what is
> proposed:
>
> ".ngo would be for charities only"
>
> I am writing from Cambodia and I know that very often we are considered to be
> irrelevant by those who care for the "larger picture."
>
> There is a fierce debate going on in some circles here, that "NGOs should not
> get involved in anything else but charity work" - and they should not
> be "political" by talking about the environment (like Greenpeace? I usually
> ask), or talk "about what these NGOs call human rights which is just
> criticising the government to get international funding."
>
> A new, restrictive definition as "charities" may become part of the new NGO
> law under discusion.
>
> So why would the Internet community need a ".ngo for charities only"? It will
> only make our life more difficult, I am afraid.
>
> NGOs here use either domain names under the Cambodian ccTLD to show their
> Cambodian identiy, or they use .org - is that not the best solution also for
> the future?
>
>
> Norbert
>
>
>>> From: Non-Commercial User Constituency [mailto:NCUC-
>>> DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Rebecca MacKinnon
>>> Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 6:02 AM
>>> To: NCUC-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>>> Subject: [NCUC-DISCUSS] New domain name .ngo would be for charities only
>>>
>>> FYI, see article below. After the London consultation, Abraxas
>>> Partners and Verisign held an invitation-only seminar for people in
>>> the NGO sector who might want to consider applying to run a new gTLD.
>>> They also appear to be helping Article 25 to set up a new .ngo domain.
>>> Some of their materials - in PDF and PPT - attached. Not sure if this
>>> list-serv does attachments to copying to Robin for further forwarding.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Rebecca
>>>
>>> -----
>>>
>>> http://thirdsector.co.uk/news/Article/922487/New-domain-name-ngo-
>>> charities/
>>>
>>> New domain name .ngo would be for charities only
>>>
>>> By Kaye Wiggins, Third Sector Online, 23 July 2009
>>>
>>> Human rights charity Article 25 proposes internet scheme to be funded
>>> by philanthropists
>>>
>>> Human rights charity Article 25 has proposed a consortium of charities
>>> to run a new internet domain name that would be available only to
>>> not-for-profit groups.
>>>
>>> The charity wants the proposed consortium to raise $185,000 (£112,000)
>>> and bid for a .ngo domain because it says the .org address is open to
>>> abuse by fraudulent groups.
>>> Its suggestion follows an announcement from internet regulatory body
>>> Icann that from 2010 onwards any organisation will be allowed to bid
>>> to run new internet domains.
>>>
>>> Victoria Harris, chief executive of Article 25, toldThird Sector
>>> Online her organisation wanted to put together a consortium of
>>> charities that would ask philanthropists and corporate firms for
>>> funding to bid for and run the new domain.
>>>
>>> "Lack of regulation has meant that commercial entities, individuals
>>> and even professional criminals have been able to register websites
>>> with .org suffixes quite legally, with no check on their identities or
>>> intentions," she said.
>>>
>>> "In order to have a web address ending in .ngo, a group would have to
>>> prove to the consortium that it was a genuine charity. Once consumers
>>> realise that legitimate charitable organisations are regulated by the
>>> .ngo domain name, the battle against fraud will start to be won."
>>>
>>> Article 25 will hold meetings with interested charities and umbrella
>>> groups to discuss a framework for the scheme over the next few months.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Rebecca MacKinnon
>>> Open Society Fellow | Co-founder, GlobalVoicesOnline.org
>>> Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Centre, University of
>>> Hong Kong
>>>
>>> UK: +44-7759-863406
>>> USA: +1-617-939-3493
>>> HK: +852-6334-8843
>>> Mainland China: +86-13710820364
>>>
>>> E-mail: rebecca.mackinnon at gmail.com
>>> Blog: http://RConversation.blogs.com
>>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/rmack
>>> Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/rebeccamack
>
>
>