[council] FYI - New GNSO Constituency Notice of Intent - Not-for-Profit Organizations Constituency

[Avri Doria]

Hi,

We were happy to have you join the NCSG and we believe in the outreach.  That outreach is a reason we accepted your membership application, and I personally was hoping to see the new members Debbie attracted forming a strong Interest-Group within the NCSG to actually start participating in the work on the GNSO.

The topic has to do with formal Constituencies or the Interest-Groups that we have defined in the new charter.  As Milton said somewhere else we support constituencies with a small c, we call them Interest-Groups.  Constituencies with a large C are a divisive organizational structure that two of the SGs have already moved away from, and we are trying to move away from.  To quote Milton again, something I rarely do:

"Constituencies create a zero-sum game; constituencies create a positive sum game."

Our intention once the NCSG Charter is endorsed is to devolve the NCUC into many smaller Interest-Groups as opposed to having one large Constituency.  Your app;lication for a constituency would require that we maintain the NCUC and that is something we would prefer not to do - we want to become many smaller Interest-Groups (constituencies with a small c)

So we welcomed you, did expect there would differences on some issues (trademarks), hoped you would form an Inteerst-Group to argue from your perspective and hoped you would get involved in the work of the NCSG and GNSO.  What we did not expect was an application to form a Constituency (large C) with a cover letter that bashed the NCUC without any mention of the future the NCSG was trying to achieve and which we though those joining the NCSG would support.

I still hope there is a way to work this out without ending up in a divisive distraction, but I am rather sure that the NCSG, based on the overwhelming vote for the charter, will be arguing strongly against formation of the new Constituency but for inclusion of the new non-commercial members and for the creation of many strong and diverse Interest-Groups.

a.



On 17 Jun 2010, at 09:39, Amber Sterling wrote:

> I am one of the leaders supporting the proposed Not-for-Profit
> Organization Constituency.  First and foremost the proposed NPOC is not
> an attempt to merely expand trademark owners rights.  
> 
> I have been a lurker on this list serve for a while now and I believe
> that the NCSG does not promote various opinions and discussions from its
> "dynamic representation of various social classes".  The NPOC would
> allow not-for-profit organizations to affiliate and respond to various
> DNS issues, as it pertains to our organizations.  
> 
> Debra Hughes, another leader of the NPOC, reached out to all GNSO
> council members.  Rafik even joined one of our outreach webinars.
> 
> Further, it is my understanding that ICANN has strongly encouraged (if
> not mandated) membership expansion.  This new constituency would be a
> vehicle for new members to join the ICANN conversation.
> 
> Amber Sterling
> Business Development Specialist
> Association of American Medical Colleges
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NCSG-NCUC [mailto:NCSG-NCUC-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Konstantinos Komaitis
> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 9:19 AM
> To: NCSG-NCUC-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Re: [council] FYI - New GNSO Constituency Notice of Intent -
> Not-for-Profit Organizations Constituency
> 
> That is very true - because we have been so very good at stopping the
> expansion of trademarks outside our circles now we will have to do the
> same within our own one. It is embarrassing for a constituency that
> calls itself non-commercial to promote the ICANN-led protection of
> trademarks and seek to justify it.
> 
> KK
> 
> Dr. Konstantinos Komaitis,
> Law Lecturer,
> Director of Postgraduate Instructional Courses
> University of Strathclyde,
> The Law School,
> The Lord Hope Building,
> 141 St. James Road,
> Glasgow, G4 0LT
> UK
> tel: +44 (0)141 548 4306
> http://www.routledgemedia.com/books/The-Current-State-of-Domain-Name-Reg
> ulation-isbn9780415477765
> Selected publications:
> http://hq.ssrn.com/submissions/MyPapers.cfm?partid=501038
> Website: http://domainnamelaw.ning.com/
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NCSG-NCUC [mailto:NCSG-NCUC-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of
> Kimberley Heitman
> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 10:57 AM
> To: NCSG-NCUC-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Re: [council] FYI - New GNSO Constituency Notice of Intent -
> Not-for-Profit Organizations Constituency
> 
>> I do not understand very well. Why option to form a nonprofit group?
> Are 
>> we not in a dynamic representation of various social classes?
> 
> Have you noticed the proponents all have an interest in trademarks? A
> cynic
> might think that it is an attempted takeover of the public interest
> constituency by trademark owners, launched from the home of
> astro-turfing.
> 
> -----------------------
> Kimberley James Heitman
> www.kheitman.com
> -----------------------
>