NYTimes: International Olympic Committee - "elitist, domineering, and crassly commercial at its core"

Fri Jul 6 14:54:46 CEST 2012

Hi,

There are many definitions I think. And given that many national economies don't have a class of entity registration called non profit, it can be difficult.  This is especially complicated because the charter calls for not only non commercial structure but non commercial purposes - or else every Chamber of Commerce would qualify for NCSG membership, not that any have applied as far as I know.

But in the NCSG we do have a method of making a final decision on the issue of whether an organization is commercial or non-commercial vis a vis NCSG.  Under the charter, should an organization be deemed commercial and rejected for membership when it and many others beleive it is non-commercial, a vote can be called based on section 2.4.2.1 of the NCSG charter.  The process requires 15 members to petition the decision, an attempt to reconcile the view of the petitioners and EC, and then if all else fails a vote.

avri

On 6 Jul 2012, at 07:44, Mark Leiser wrote:

> Hi - 
> 
> I don't know if I am opening a can of worms here, but the term "non-profit" has different meanings in different contexts and jurisdictions. I am, therefore, curious if there is a ICANN approved definition of what 'non-profit' is... Does anyone know? 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Kind regards,
>  
>  
> Mark Leiser
>  
> 
> 145 Kilmarnock Road
> Suite 612
> Glasgow G41 3JA
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> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 10:25 AM, Alex Gakuru <gakuru at gmail.com> wrote:
> Joly,
> 
> I am trying really hard to avoid being slammed with a MOPO-like kind
> of subsequent accusations, here.
> 
> Thanks for understanding,
> 
> Alex
> 
> On 7/6/12, Joly MacFie <joly at punkcast.com> wrote:
> > Which forced marriage do you have in mind, Alex?
> >
> > j
> >
> > On Fri, Jul 6, 2012 at 5:03 AM, Alex Gakuru <gakuru at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Deep down here in Africa many NGOs champion against forced marriages.
> >> But when forced marriages happen up there at ICANN who speaks against
> >> the practice?
> >>
> >> On 7/6/12, Nuno Garcia <ngarcia at ngarcia.net> wrote:
> >> > I have said this once: The Olympic Committee has a budget that is
> >> > bigger
> >> > than many nations' budgets. They can afford not  to be for-profit. The
> >> same
> >> > goes for other organizations.
> >> >
> >> > And some statements are pure intellectual arrogance.
> >> >
> >> > Best,
> >> >
> >> > Nuno Garcia
> >> >
> >> > On 5 July 2012 23:16, Joly MacFie <joly at punkcast.com> wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> But you are not disputing their facts, I take it.
> >> >>
> >> >> j
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> On Thu, Jul 5, 2012 at 5:58 PM, Michael Carson
> >> >> <mcarson029 at comcast.net>wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >>> Alain,
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>> I agree.  This op-ed is just that - the opinion of two individuals.
> >> >>>
> >> >>>   Michael Carson
> >> >>>
> >> >>> YMCA of the USA
> >> >>>
> >> >>> ------------------------------
> >> >>> *From: *"Alain Berranger" <alain.berranger at GMAIL.COM>
> >> >>> *To: *NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> >> >>> *Sent: *Thursday, July 5, 2012 3:55:09 PM
> >> >>> *Subject: *Re: NYTimes: International Olympic Committee - "elitist,
> >> >>> domineering, and crassly commercial at its core"
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>> NPOC  really welcomes national Olympic committees as Members because
> >> >>> they
> >> >>> are true notforprofit organizations...
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Alain
> >> >>>
> >> >>> On Thursday, July 5, 2012, Robin Gross wrote:
> >> >>>
> >> >>>>  As a commercial organization that tried to join NCSG, very
> >> >>>> relevant…
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> No Medal for the International Olympic Committee says the New York
> >> >>>> Times…..
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>>
> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/opinion/no-medal-for-the-international-olympic-committee.html?_r=3&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> ------------------------------
> >> >>>> July 4, 2012
> >> >>>>  **Olympian Arrogance**** By JULES BOYKOFF and ALAN TOMLINSON****
> >> >>>> ****
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Brighton, England
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> WHILE Europe roils in economic turmoil, London is preparing for a
> >> >>>> lavish
> >> >>>> jamboree of international good will: in a few weeks, the city will
> >> host
> >> >>>> the
> >> >>>> 2012 Summer Olympics.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> But behind the spectacle of athletic prowess and global harmony,
> >> >>>> brass-knuckle politics and brute economics reign. At this nexus sits
> >> >>>> theInternational
> >> >>>> Olympic Committee <http://www.olympic.org/>, which promotes the
> >> >>>> games
> >> >>>> and decides where they will be held. Though the I.O.C. has been
> >> >>>> periodically tarnished by scandal — usually involving the bribing
> >> >>>> and
> >> >>>> illegitimate wooing of delegates — those embarrassments divert us
> >> >>>> from
> >> >>>> a
> >> >>>> deeper problem: the organization is elitist, domineering and crassly
> >> >>>> commercial at its core.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> The I.O.C., which champions itself as a democratic “catalyst for
> >> >>>> collaboration between all parties of the Olympic family,” is
> >> >>>> nonetheless
> >> >>>> run by a privileged sliver of the global 1 percent. This has always
> >> >>>> been
> >> >>>> the case: when Baron Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympics in the
> >> >>>> 1890s,
> >> >>>> he assembled a hodgepodge of princes, barons, counts and lords to
> >> >>>> coordinate the games. Eventually the I.O.C. opened its hallowed
> >> >>>> halls
> >> >>>> to
> >> >>>> wealthy business leaders and former Olympians. Not until 1981 were
> >> >>>> women
> >> >>>> allowed in.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Even today, royalty make up a disproportionate share of the body;
> >> among
> >> >>>> the 105 I.O.C.
> >> >>>> members<
> >> http://www.olympic.org/content/the-ioc/the-ioc-institution1/ioc-members-list/
> >> >
> >> >>>> are
> >> >>>> the likes of Princess Nora of Liechtenstein, Crown Prince Frederik
> >> >>>> of
> >> >>>> Denmark and Prince Nawaf Faisal Fahd Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. The
> >> >>>> United
> >> >>>> States has only three representatives, two of them former Olympic
> >> >>>> athletes.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Then there are the excessive demands that the I.O.C. makes on host
> >> >>>> cities. For instance, the host cities have had to change their laws
> >> >>>> to
> >> >>>> comply with the Olympic
> >> >>>> Charter<http://www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf>,
> >> >>>> which states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious
> >> >>>> or
> >> >>>> racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other
> >> >>>> areas.” When Vancouver, British Columbia, hosted the Winter Games in
> >> >>>> 2010,
> >> >>>> the city passed a bylaw that outlawed signs and banners that did not
> >> >>>> “celebrate” the Olympics. Placards that criticized the Olympics were
> >> >>>> forbidden, and the law even empowered Canadian authorities to remove
> >> >>>> such
> >> >>>> signs from private property.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> The I.O.C. also makes host cities police Olympics-related
> >> >>>> intellectual
> >> >>>> property rights. So Parliament adopted the London Olympic Games and
> >> >>>> Paralympic Games Act of
> >> >>>> 2006<http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/12/contents>,
> >> >>>> which defines as a trademark infringement the commercial use of
> >> >>>> words
> >> >>>> like
> >> >>>> “games,” “2012” and “London” in proximity.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Such monomaniacal brand micromanagement points to another problem:
> >> >>>> the
> >> >>>> I.O.C. has turned the Olympics into a commercial bonanza. In London,
> >> >>>> more
> >> >>>> than 250 miles of V.I.P. traffic lanes are reserved not just for
> >> >>>> athletes
> >> >>>> and I.O.C. luminaries but also for corporate sponsors. Even the
> >> >>>> signature
> >> >>>> torch relay has been commercialized: the I.O.C. and its corporate
> >> >>>> partners
> >> >>>> snapped up 10 percent of the torchbearer slots for I.O.C.
> >> >>>> stakeholders
> >> >>>> and
> >> >>>> members of the commercial sponsors’ information technology and
> >> >>>> marketing
> >> >>>> staffs. Michael R. Payne, a former marketing director for the
> >> >>>> committee,
> >> >>>> has called the Olympics “the world’s longest commercial.”
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Most worrisome, perhaps, is that the I.O.C. creates perverse
> >> incentives
> >> >>>> for security officials in host cities to overspend and to militarize
> >> >>>> public
> >> >>>> space. The I.O.C. tends to look kindly on bids that assure security,
> >> >>>> and
> >> >>>> host cities too often use the games as a once-in-a-lifetime
> >> opportunity
> >> >>>> to
> >> >>>> stock police warehouses with the best weapons money can buy.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Visitors to London, where the games are scheduled to run from July
> >> >>>> 27
> >> >>>> to
> >> >>>> Aug. 12, would be forgiven for thinking they had dropped in on a
> >> >>>> military
> >> >>>> hardware convention. Helicopters, fighter jets and bomb-disposal
> >> >>>> units
> >> >>>> will
> >> >>>> be at the ready. About 13,500 British military personnel will be on
> >> >>>> patrol
> >> >>>> — 4,000 more than are currently serving in Afghanistan. Security
> >> >>>> officials
> >> >>>> have acquired Starstreak and Rapier surface-to-air missiles. Even
> >> >>>> the
> >> >>>> Olympic mascots look like two-legged surveillance cameras.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Let us be clear: the concern about ensuring a terror-free Olympics
> >> >>>> is
> >> >>>> tragically warranted. In 1972, members of the Palestinian militant
> >> >>>> group
> >> >>>> Black September killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the
> >> >>>> Olympics
> >> >>>> in
> >> >>>> Munich — after which the I.O.C. president notoriously insisted that
> >> >>>> “the
> >> >>>> games must go on” — and in 1996, a bomb at the Atlanta Olympics
> >> >>>> killed
> >> >>>> a
> >> >>>> spectator and injured more than 100 other people. Yet there is such
> >> >>>> a
> >> >>>> thing
> >> >>>> as excess — and surveillance and weaponry are not a panacea.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Security measures can also be counterproductive: London residents
> >> >>>> who
> >> >>>> learned that the Ministry of Defense was attaching missile launchers
> >> to
> >> >>>> the
> >> >>>> roofs of their apartment buildings can’t be blamed for wondering if
> >> >>>> they’ve
> >> >>>> unwillingly become a prime target for terrorists. And, symbolically,
> >> at
> >> >>>> a
> >> >>>> certain point it gets hard to square the image of the militarized
> >> state
> >> >>>> with the Olympic ideals of peace and understanding.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> What can be done? The I.O.C. has acknowledged that the escalating
> >> scale
> >> >>>> of the games — “gigantism” — is a real issue. Competitions drenched
> >> >>>> in
> >> >>>> privilege, like the equestrian events, should be ditched (with
> >> apologies
> >> >>>> to
> >> >>>> Ann Romney’s horse Rafalca, who will be competing in dressage in
> >> >>>> London).
> >> >>>> Pseudo-historical events like Greco-Roman wrestling, concocted in
> >> >>>> the
> >> >>>> 19th
> >> >>>> century, could also go. Events with high start-up costs could be
> >> >>>> swapped
> >> >>>> for those requiring fewer resources. Why not bring back tug-of-war
> >> >>>> (a
> >> >>>> hotly
> >> >>>> contested event in the early 20th century) and add more running
> >> events,
> >> >>>> like trail running and cross-country?
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Governance is another challenge. After the bribery scandal
> >> >>>> surrounding
> >> >>>> the selection of Salt Lake City to host the 2002 Winter Olympics,
> >> >>>> and
> >> >>>> under
> >> >>>> pressure from Congress, the I.O.C. created an ethics commission to
> >> >>>> monitor
> >> >>>> the bid process — but it reports to the I.O.C.’s executive board,
> >> which
> >> >>>> still has the final say.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Other measures worth considering are to streamline committee
> >> membership
> >> >>>> and to provide greater representation for the international sports
> >> >>>> federations that administer athletic competitions — though either
> >> >>>> approach
> >> >>>> would continue to pose accountability problems.
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> In these bleak economic times, the world could use a little athletic
> >> >>>> transcendence. Sadly, the arrogance and aloofness of the
> >> >>>> organization
> >> >>>> behind the spectacle are all too ordinary.
> >> >>>> **
> >> >>>> Jules
> >> >>>> Boykoff<
> >> http://www.pacificu.edu/as/politics/faculty/jules-boykoff.cfm/>,
> >> >>>> an associate professor of political science at Pacific University,
> >> >>>> is
> >> >>>> writing a book on dissent and the Olympics. Alan
> >> >>>> Tomlinson<http://alantomlinson.typepad.com/> is
> >> >>>> a professor of leisure studies at the University of Brighton.
> >> >>>> ****
> >> >>>> ******
> >> >>>> **
> >> >>>>    MORE IN OPINION (2 OF 19 ARTICLES) Op-Ed Columnist: Doughnuts
> >> >>>> Defeating
> >> >>>> Poverty<
> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/opinion/doughnuts-defeating-poverty.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fopinion%2Findex.jsonp
> >> >
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>> Read More
> >> >>>> »<
> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/opinion/doughnuts-defeating-poverty.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fopinion%2Findex.jsonp
> >> >
> >> >>>> Close
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>> --
> >> >>> Alain Berranger, B.Eng, MBA
> >> >>> Member, Board of Directors, CECI,
> >> >>> http://www.ceci.ca<
> >> http://www.ceci.ca/en/about-ceci/team/board-of-directors/>
> >> >>> Executive-in-residence, Schulich School of Business,
> >> >>> www.schulich.yorku.ca
> >> >>> Treasurer, Global Knowledge Partnership Foundation,
> >> >>> www.gkpfoundation.org
> >> >>> NA representative, Chasquinet Foundation, www.chasquinet.org
> >> >>> Chair, NPOC, NCSG, ICANN, http://npoc.org/
> >> >>> O:+1 514 484 7824; M:+1 514 704 7824
> >> >>> Skype: alain.berranger
> >> >>>
> >> >>>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> --
> >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >> Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
> >> >> WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
> >> >>  http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
> >> >>  VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
> >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >> -
> >> >>
> >> >
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> > Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
> > WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
> >  http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
> >  VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org
> > --------------------------------------------------------------
> > -
> >
> 