[Chapter-delegates] ANNOUNCEMENT: Cisco Commits More Than US$2 Million to Support Open Internet Standards Development

Wed Jul 24 12:38:56 PDT 2013

Eric and Alejandro

Thanks for your clarifications and thoughts, and Veni, for his questions.  

I was speaking as an organizer about the need for diversification -- as a way to avoid capture and to being too dependent on an easy source of funds (in this case PIR).  Making an effort to raise funds and to encourage participation is very healthy.

Thus, the fact that IRS requirements are also involved is fairly irrelevant. The purpose of the IRS rules is that, if you want to the benefit (in the US) of your donations being deductible and of the organization's not being taxable on revenues linked to its charitable purposes, you must raise diversified funds (i.e., be "public").  So the fact that ISOC is working to meet IRS requirements for having a diversified funding source only means that it has an additional reason (perhaps a bit of a hammer) to do what it should be doing anyway.

John More

On Jul 24, 2013, at 3:20 PM, "Dr. Alejandro Pisanty Baruch" <apisan at unam.mx> wrote:

> John,
> 
> indeed diversification is vital, and ISOC while blessed with a stable source of funding through PIR's contribution has continously to fight for additional contributions. A healthy effect of the tax and accounting rules that keep organizations clean in the US, by not allowing more than a given fraction of their funds to come from a single source (which could easily become a sort of fiscal laundering.) 
> 
> Kudos to ISOC Board, leadership, management and staff who negotiated this agreement with Cisco. 
> 
> It also has the very important effect to show Cisco committed to the Internet's very core in parallel with, or despite, playing some ITU games. It makes it less easy for Dr. Touré to show that particular head on the tip of a lance.
> 
> Plus, regionally we are backing an effort by Latin American and Caribbean (and some Iberic) IETFers to increase substantive participation in the IETF. It is picking up and one can only applaud funds being channeled to an even stronger, more stable and resilient IETF. The IETF is taking the unprecedented step of holding a meeting in Buenos Aires next year, some exception to the rule of only holding meetings where there is a strong presence already. 
> 
> I hope we can all make this work.
> 
> Yours,
> 
> Alejandro Pisanty
> 
>  
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
>      Dr. Alejandro Pisanty
> Facultad de Química UNAM
> Av. Universidad 3000, 04510 Mexico DF Mexico
>  
> +52-1-5541444475 FROM ABROAD
> 
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> .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 
> 
> Desde: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org [chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] en nombre de John More [morej1 at mac.com]
> Enviado el: miércoles, 24 de julio de 2013 13:33
> Hasta: Eric Burger
> CC: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org Delegates Chapter
> Asunto: Re: [Chapter-delegates] ANNOUNCEMENT: Cisco Commits More Than US$2 Million to Support Open Internet Standards Development
> 
> +1
> 
> Diversification of funding is very important for any effective NGO.
> 
> John More
> 
> On Jul 24, 2013, at 11:40 AM, Eric Burger <eburger at standardstrack.com> wrote:
> 
>> <sarcasm on>
>> Oh -- I get it -- you would rather ISOC reduce Chapter support to pay for the IETF. That must be preferable to finding multiple sponsors willing to fund the IETF so ISOC can focus on Chapters and programs.
>> <sarcasm off>
>> 
>> Really - this is an awesome announcement. Cisco is committing around $350,000/year on a multiyear commitment. Along with Cisco, Juniper announced a similar commitment at the last IETF plenary. My understanding is others are willing to commit to the open standards process. Moreover, this commitment makes us less dependent on any one source of funding.
>> 
>> ISOC does have enough funds to cover the IETF expenses that are not already covered by IETF revenues and sponsorship. The budget and audited financial statements are public: the IETF is the second largest source of funds for ISOC.
>> 
>> So, while ISOC has the funds to cover the IETF, it is even better to have even more funds to cover other important programs, like seeding Chapters, governmental outreach, IXP build-out, human capital capacity building, and keeping the Internet Open and Free for Everyone. (NOT an exclusive list)
>> 
>> On Jul 23, 2013, at 2:19 PM, Veni Markovski <veni at veni.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Wow!
>>> Does that mean the ISOC budget is not enough to cover the expenses of the IETF? I have some memories from the time I was on the Board, that the IETF functioning was a priority for ISOC. I find it either difficult to understand, or worrisome, that the IETF needs more money, or that ISOC is not providing enough.
>>> Wende, can you elaborate a little bit more?
>>> 
>>> v.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 07/23/2013 14:11, Wende Cover wrote:
>>>> Cisco Commits More Than US$2 Million to Support Open Internet Standards Development
>>>>  
>>>> IETF defines the standards for the global network that connects more than 2 billion people
>>>>  
>>>> [Washington, D.C. and Geneva, Switzerland] – 23 July 2013 – The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), the Internet's premier standards organization, and Cisco, the worldwide leader in information technology, today announced an agreement to provide up to US$2.2 million in support for the IETF's work and meetings through 2019.
>>>>  
>>>> The IETF brings together leading Internet engineers and technologists from around the world to develop standards that form the foundation of the global Internet and enable yet unimagined products and services. The IETF developed the standards for capabilities such as internationalized domain names, email, and instant messaging. Since its first meeting was held on January 16, 1986 in San Diego, California, the IETF has published more than 4500 documents that describe standards for the fundamental technologies and widely used services on today's global Internet.
>>>>  
>>>> The IETF is open to any interested individual and seeks broad participation from across the globe. While the work of the IETF mainly takes place online to reduce barriers to participation and to maximize contributions from around the world, its meetings bring together over 1000 participants. Cisco's commitment of more than US$2 million will provide support for both in-person meetings and remote participation technology to enable even broader participation in the IETF.
>>>>  
>>>> "The IETF is focused on developing timely, relevant, and technically excellent open standards that provide a platform for the continued growth and evolution of the global Internet," said Jari Arkko, Chair of the IETF. "Unique among standards organizations, the IETF invites all interested parties to participate, and makes every draft and final standards available online without charge. Cisco's support will help to further expand participation in the IETF by encouraging involvement in meetings in-person and through collaboration technology built on IETF-developed standards."
>>>>  
>>>> The Internet Society is the administrative home of the IETF. With its commitment, Cisco is recognized as the Internet Society’s newest Corporate Partner. Corporate Partnership is a special program developed by the Internet Society to recognize organizations that have provided support that warrants the highest level of value and recognition, and a customized method for mapping a longer-term strategy across multiple areas of support.
>>>>  
>>>> "We welcome Cisco's expanding commitment to the IETF as it reflects the strategic importance that open Internet standards represent for continued economic and social development around the world," said Lynn St. Amour, President and CEO of the Internet Society.
>>>>  
>>>> About the Internet Engineering Task Force
>>>> The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the Internet’s premier technical standards body. It gathers a large open international community of network designers, engineers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. The IETF seeks broad participation. The work of the IETF takes place online, largely through email lists, reducing barriers to participation and maximizing contributions from around the world. IETF Working Groups (WGs) are organized by topic into several areas (e.g., routing, transport, security, etc.).
>>>>  
>>>> For more information, see: http://www.ietf.org/
>>>>  
>>>> About the Internet Society
>>>> The Internet Society is the trusted independent source for Internet information and thought leadership from around the world. With its principled vision and substantial technological foundation, the Internet Society promotes open dialogue on Internet policy, technology, and future development among users, companies, governments, and other organizations. Working with its members and Chapters around the world, the Internet Society enables the continued evolution and growth of the Internet for everyone. For more information, see:http://www.internetsociety.org
>>>>  
>>>> Contact:
>>>> Greg Wood
>>>> wood at isoc.org
>>>> +1703-625-3917
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> 
>>> Best, 
>>> Veni Markovski
>>> http://www.veni.com
>>> https://www.facebook.com/venimarkovski
>>> https://twitter.com/veni
>>> 
>>> The opinions expressed above are those of the 
>>> author, not of any organizations, associated 
>>> with or related to him in any given way. 
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>> 
>> _______________________________________________
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>> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
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> 
> 

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