[Chapter-delegates] It's in the wild..

Mon Mar 26 03:07:00 PDT 2012

Siva wrote:
> But some of the external press
> coverage happens to be in the nature of a categorical assertion that the
> Internet Society has done something very wrong, that something has gone
> wrong with the Internet Society, and there is one report after another,
some
> of which perhaps designed to add up to a reversal of this decision either
by
> ISOC or by Paul.
>

What is it they say about bad publicity? This appointment certainly seems
to have done plenty to raise general awareness of ISOC, and identified us
as a general guardian of Internet freedom.

Elena Zvarici < elena.zvarici at isoc.ro >
> wrote:
>
>
> More about Paul Beringer's appointment now on Slashdot:
>
>
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/03/23/2324224/isoc-hires-mpaa-executive-paul-beringer#comments
>

Difficult to take seriously a story that doesn't even get his name right.
And there isn't an serious criticism in the comments, except for Richard
Sexton raising old specters from the 90s.

My own response, to concerns raised on the PHO list, is below

As you may know (it's in my sig) I'm a VP at the Internet Society's NY
> Chapter.
> Our chapter is not only a pillar of free culture advocacy, but also
> harbors a nest of open infrastructure activists. There are as much
> concerns about Verizon as the MPAA. As soon as Brigner's appointment
> was announced our President David Solomonoff wrote publicly voicing
> his concerns.
> https://elists.isoc.org/pipermail/chapter-delegates/2012-March/009569.html

>
> It appears that everyone that actually knows the man seems to have a
> high opinion of him, and the DC Chapter seem solidly in support.

>
> Responses in the thread include this one:
>  On Thu, Mar 22, 2012 at 1:39 AM, Steve Crocker <steve at shinkuro.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > David
> >
> > Let me add to Jason's and Lynn's support of Paul.  I'm one of the
> co-authors of the white paper arguing against COICA/PIPA/SOPA, and I spent
> a LOT of time in meetings with legislators, policy people in the
> administration, and industry people pushing hard against the DNS blocking
> portion of those bills.  This brought me in contact with Paul.  He worked
> actively over the past few months to organize constructive dialog with the
> MPAA.  Despite having spent a year with the MPAA, he's one of the good
> guys.  I think the better point of view is that he brings knowledge of how
> "those guys" think and he is not at all captured by them.
> >
> > Steve
> >

>
> and

>
> On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 11:52 AM, Walda Roseman <roseman at isoc.org> wrote:
> >
> > Dear David,
> >
> > Thank you for your deep commitment to ISOC's principles and positions.
>  It's
> > something that we recognize and truly appreciate.  We had anticipated
> that
> > Paul's brief time with MPAA could raise some concerns, so we have
> thoroughly
> > vetted Paul with regard to both his personal and professional beliefs.  I
> > can assure you that his views on value of the open Internet, as well as
> > SOPA, fully align with those of the Internet Society and, indeed, it is
> in
> > some large part because of this that he has chosen to come work for us.
>  I
> > might add that before Paul exited MPAA, he succeeded in backing the
> > organization off of DNS blocking.  As part of our vetting process, we
> also
> > turned to members of ISOC Washington, DC to get their views, as well as
> to a
> > number of others who have worked with and known him.  You will notice the
> > enthusiastic reviews that he has received from Mike Nelson and others
> about
> > the value that he can bring to ISOC generally and the North American
> region
> > more specifically.  The views in the press release are just a small
> sampling
> > of the support Paul has received from others who firmly support our
> > principles.   David, if you still have lingering concerns, might I
> suggest
> > that you speak with Mike or others who have asked us to make their views
> > known in the notice that we sent around on his hiring? I would hope that
> you
> > would also feel comfortable speaking directly with Paul.   I truly
> believe
> > that you'll find that Paul will be a very effective member of the ISOC
> > community.
> >
> > With kind regards,
> >
> > Walda
> (Walda is ISOC's COO )

>
> and

>
>  On Wed, Mar 21, 2012 at 2:45 PM, Lynn St.Amour <st.amour at isoc.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> > On Mar 21, 2012, at 11:26 AM, Livingood, Jason wrote:
> >
> >
> > > I really hope you give Paul a chance to show you what he can do. He
> worked
> > > for the MPAA for just one year. COICA, SOPA, and PIPA were in the works
> > > for significantly longer than that so I seriously doubt Paul had any
> hand
> > > in crafting those policy positions. Working on issues of copyright and
> > > blocking is important to ISOC and having someone with close knowledge
> of
> > > that seems to me to be valuable.
> > >
> > > His full CV is at http://www.linkedin.com/in/paulbrigner which says
> to me
> > > there is a lot he brings to the table.
> > >
> > > - Jason
> > >
> >
> > Jason,
> >
> > Indeed and thank you.  And David, thank you for your obvious concern for
> ISOC and our MIssion.  I won't jump in now as much of what I would say has
> already been said, but I am confident Paul will be a great asset and an
> ally.
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > Lynn
> >
> (Lynn is ISOC's President, Jason is a Trustee and works at Comcast)
>

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