<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">I have just posted this to the ISOC Policy List.<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">From: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">George Sadowsky <<a href="mailto:george.sadowsky@gmail.com" class="">george.sadowsky@gmail.com</a>><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class=""><b class="">Trying to improve residual value from the outcome of the .org wars</b><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Date: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">March 1, 2020 at 11:05:51 PM EST<br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">To: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">ISOC Internet Policy <<a href="mailto:internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org" class="">internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org</a>><br class=""></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" class=""><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);" class=""><b class="">Cc: </b></span><span style="font-family: -webkit-system-font, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, sans-serif;" class="">Dainow Brandt <<a href="mailto:bd@thinkmetrics.com" class="">bd@thinkmetrics.com</a>>, Richard Hill <<a href="mailto:rhill@hill-a.ch" class="">rhill@hill-a.ch</a>><br class=""></span></div><br class=""><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">[For reasons of time and length, this is a more non-nuanced post than I would really like to have made.]<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""> I feel very sympathetic to what Brandt has written below. We are indeed in a mess, partially self-inflicted, and it has caused the greatest rupture ever in ISOC-member-community relations. However I do disagree with what I think is a major implication of his narrative; I think that we can and should be involved and try to do better.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Here's how I see the situation. The sale is either going to go through or it is not going to go through; for the purpose of this discussion I am not taking a stand on that. Either way we have a significant mess to clean up, to the extent that it is possible to do so. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If the sale goes through, I want to ensure to the best of my ability that what makes .org special is preserved. In this case, perception shapes reality; if a lot of people believe that .org is an important institution in the domain name world and a haven for not-for-profits and is not 'just another registry,' then it is so on the strength of those beliefs. This seems to be the case, so that preserving as much of that environment and culture becomes very important. Another issue that we will be faced with is how to preserve the best that ISOC has to offer and not let this incident cripple an organization that has been so important i the past and has the potential to continue its good work. The fracture with a signifiant part of the membership is serious, but we shouldn't let it have existential consequences. There's too much good there to save.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">If the sale doesn't go through, then ISOC will still want to divest itself of PIR dnd therefore of .org. If divestiture is certain, and based upon current rhetoric it appears to be, then ISOC will need strong guidance to ensure that there is a process and an end result that are both generally acceptable to the community overall. There will also remain a lot of healing between organization and membership that will have to be tended to.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">In either case, there's a lot of work to be done, and in either case, there's a lot of value in working to achieve the best possible result rather than just letting competitive and commercial forces take their own routes and present us with what will be essentially an organizational train wreck.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">It astonishes me that the opposing sides (if one can describe the situation in that manner) have never yet come forward to engage in serious discussion regarding alternatives that might be more acceptable all around than what we are heading to now, and it was in the spirit of forcing that to happen that I proposed a meeting to brainstorm alternatives outside of the boxes that the two sides in which the two sides exist. I view most all of the current verbal haranguing as 'talking at each other' rather than 'talking with each other.' Progress depends upon doing the latter rather than the former. Some of the people on this list seem to understand that, but others appear not to.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I have indications that Ethos understands this much better today than earlier when funding for an exploratory discussion dried up. I regard this as a positive sign. I ask members of this list, contributors and lurkers, if any of them feel that talking with the parties involved in the sale, in a non-confrontational manner, not to negotiate but to brainstorm makes sense and whether they would accept it. If you see no other alternatives but to fight the sale to the end and/or to demonize certain parties, then don't bother to reply. But if you believe that no matter what the current prognosis, there's both room and necessity to contribute to make the end state as good as possible for the actors and especially for the .org community, them I'd very much like to hear from you. We may be able to do better, possibly much better, than the train wreck that is quite possible and that will affect our entire community negatively. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We would like to revive the idea of such a brainstorming. There is absolutely no guarantee of success; these actions may help, or they may not. But if we stay isolated in our silos of choice and don't try, we'll never know, and what a shame that would be. </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">I am attaching an informal description of the proposed first meeting for your reference.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">George </div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><div class=""><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</span><br style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">George Sadowsky Residence tel: +1.301.968</span><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">.4325</span></div><div class=""><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">8300 Burdette Road, Apt B-472 Mobile: +1.202.415.1933</span><br style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class="">Bethesda MD 20817-2831 USA Skype: sadowsky </span><br style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><a href="mailto:george.sadowsky@gmail.com" class="">george.sadowsky@gmail.com</a> <a href="http://www.georgesadowsky.org/" class="">http://www.georgesadowsky.org/</a> </span><br style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""></div><div class=""><span style="orphans: 2; widows: 2;" class=""><br class=""></span></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></body></html>