[NCUC-DISCUSS] Reuters reports new cooperative formed to take over management of .ORG

[DANIEL NANGHAKA]

I agree with you - Milton

On Wed, Jan 8, 2020, 8:42 PM Mueller, Milton L <milton at gatech.edu> wrote:

> Oh, this is such hypocrisy. So Andrew McLaughlin, Mike Roberts and Esther
> Dyson (who totally dissed the noncommercial constituency when they held
> positions of power in ICANN are now coming to the rescue of the
> noncommercial community by altruistically offering to take over an asset
> worth $1 billion.
>
>
>
> Those people are _*not*_ our friends.
>
>
>
> This is an example of why we need to be careful how we react to this
> proposed sale. This is just turning into a land grab, by which certain
> interests (e.g. Wikimedia Foundation) are seeking to exploit the
> controversy to take over ORG for themselves.
>
>
>
> Dr. Milton L Mueller
>
> Georgia Institute of Technology
>
> School of Public Policy
>
> [image: IGP_logo_gold block]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* Ncuc-discuss <ncuc-discuss-bounces at lists.ncuc.org> *On Behalf Of *Wisdom
> Donkor
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 8, 2020 5:28 AM
> *To:* NCUC-discuss <ncuc-discuss at lists.ncuc.org>
> *Subject:* [NCUC-DISCUSS] Reuters reports new cooperative formed to take
> over management of .ORG
>
>
>
> In this 7 January 2020 article
> <https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/07/reuters-america-internet-nonprofit-leaders-fight-deal-to-sell-control-of-org-domain.html?__source=sharebar%7Ctwitter&par=sharebar> we
> learn that, "*prominent internet executives told Reuters they have
> created a nonprofit cooperative they are offering as an alternative owner
> of .org.*"
>
>
>
> This would appear to me to pose an existential threat to ISOC, as this
> nonprofit cooperative - whose membership appears to me to have more
> political muscle than ISOC has - is not proposing to buy PIR from ISOC, but
> to instead have the .ORG Registry Agreement assigned to it by ICANN.
>
>
>
> The full article is here, and I have extracted some relevant quotes below:
> https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/07/reuters-america-internet-nonprofit-leaders-fight-deal-to-sell-control-of-org-domain.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar
>
>
>
> *“What offended me about the Ethos Capital deal and the way it unfolded is
> that it seems to have completely betrayed this concept of stewardship,”
> said Andrew McLaughlin, who oversaw the transfer of internet governance
> from the U.S. Commerce Department to ICANN, completed in 2016.*
>
>
>
> *Maher and others said the idea of the new cooperative is not to offer a
> competing financial bid for .org, which brings in roughly $100 million in
> revenue from domain sales. Instead, they hope that the unusual new entity,
> formally a California Consumer Cooperative Corporation, can manage the
> domain for security and stability and make sure it does not become a tool
> for censorship.*
>
>
>
> *... The initial seven directors of the cooperative include former
> founding ICANN President Michael Roberts, MacArthur Foundation
> philanthropist Jeff Ubois and Bill Woodcock, whose Packet Clearing House
> now runs the technical aspects of the .org system under contract.*
>
>
>
> *The new group has briefed members of the U.S. Congress and hopes to
> prompt the Internet Society to reconsider the sale. But its best shot at
> stopping the pending sale lies with ICANN, which can veto any change in
> ownership out of concern for the security, reliability or stability of the
> .org domain.*
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
>
>
> *WISDOM DONKOR*
>
> President & CEO
>
> Africa Open Data and Internet Research Foundation
>
> P.O. Box CT 2439, Cantonments, Accra | www.aodirf.org  /
> www.afrigeocon.org
>
> Tel: +233 20 812 8851
>
> Skype: wisdom_dk | Facebook: kwasi wisdom |  Twitter: @wisdom_dk
>
> __________________________________________________
>
> Specialization:
>
> E-government Network Infrastructure and E-application, Internet
> Governance,  Open Data policies platforms & Community Development, Cyber
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