[Chapter-delegates] Follow-up: Serious considerations to dissolve the Cambodia ISOC Chapter
Chantra Be
chantra.be at gmail.com
Mon Sep 23 01:45:55 PDT 2013
Dear Chapter Representatives,
Dear ISOC central and Asia-Pacific leaders and staff,
This mail is written after long considerations in the Executive Committee
of the ISOC Cambodia Chapter, discussed together with the members of our
Advisory Board.
It is to propose – unless real and practical alternatives are identified
within the following month – to call a meeting of all members of our
Chapter for the purpose of taking a vote to dissolve the ISOC Cambodia
Chapter.
We are looking forward to responses from all concerned recipients of
this mail.
The reasons for considering this serious step can be summarized under
the following three headings:
1. Structural Constraints
2. Experiences
3. Impressions
1. Structural Constraints
The Cambodia Chapter of the Internet Society started to function in
2010, since 2011 under revised Bylaws - designed according to advice from
ISOC international, before voted upon by our membership, which say among
others:
* Article I. - Name
2. The Chapter shall be established as a non-profit organization under
the laws of Cambodia.*
The Executive Committee of the ISOC Cambodia Chapter tried to implement
the requirement in Number 2 above, by contacting the relevant section of
the Ministry of the Interior. It turned out that the legal setting up of a
non-profit organization would require to follow specific regulations in
which a physical office (not only a point of communication) has to be
established and operated.
Our efforts to receive financial assistance from ISOC international (an
organization with a budget self-described as “In 2011, ISOC projects that
total revenues will exceed $30 million for the first time”) were turned
down, as the priorities set there do not include institutional support for
Chapters. The advice to do substantive local fund raising would have
required in our situation to be an established organization already.
Without such assistance, we do not see it possible to set up and
operate an office for the ISOC Cambodia Chapter according to the legal
national registration framework.
2. Experiences (with some quotes from the past)
When, in August 2012, Ms. Duangthip Chomprang, the ISOC Manager for
Regional Affairs (Asia) from the Asia Pacific Regional Office, announced to
visit Cambodia, we welcomed this as an opportunity to discuss our situation
with her. Unfortunately, she refused to have a meeting with our chapter to
discuss our problems. In response the following mail was sent to her and to
the other ISOC regional staff in Singapore, after due deliberations with
our Advisory Board and Executive Committee:
-------- Original Message --------
Subject Message from our Advisory Board and the Executive Committee
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2012 15:40:15 +0700
From: President of ISOC Cambodia <president at isoc-kh.org>
To: Duangthip Chomprang <chomprang at isoc.org>, Rajnesh Singh <
singh at isoc.org>
CC: Ong Pisey <treasurer at isoc-kh.org>
* Dear Thip,
After having received your mail, rejecting our request to serious
discuss the crisis for our Chapter, created as a result of the general
situation and legal requirements in Cambodia in the meeting, and the
refusal to ISOC staff to positively pay attention to our situation, we do
not think it would be appropriate to cooperate, as a Chapter, with
organizing a meeting for your 1 - 2.5 hours event, for which you would like
to invite the Members of the Cambodia Chapter and other non-Chapter
members. To discuss fundamental problems within ISOC, affecting the whole
membership, only among officers, as you suggest (which has been tried in
vain by email so far) would not be in line with our history to promote and
practice open communication – high values regularly lifted up among the
goals of the Internet Society world wide and in its slogan: the Internet is
for everyone.
The situation and this response has been shared and discussed with the
Members of the Advisory Board of our Chapter and is unanimously supported.
Norbert Klein
President, ISOC-KH*
The five members of our Advisory Board at that time were (reflecting
the stipulation of our Bylaws “The Advisory Board of five members, from
important sections of the ISOC Cambodia Chapter membership”):
the Head of the IT in Education Section in the Ministry of Education
the Editor in Chief of a leading Cambodian daily newspaper, who is
at the same time President of the Club of Cambodian Journalists
the President and CEO of a major broadband providing ISP
a senior staff member in the office of the Council of Ministers of
the Government of Cambodia, and
one student.
Nevertheless, I and the former president of the ISOC Cambodia Chapter
participated in the meeting which Ms. Duangthip Chomprang organized to
present her PowerPoint slides about the Internet Society. There was even
one with a headline related to human rights concerns – but the rest of this
page of this slide was blank, and she quickly explained that such issues
are not dealt with here, because they are new for ISOC.
Our Chapter never received any sign that Mr. Rajnesh Singh, the ISOC
Regional Bureau Director for Asia-Pacific – nor other ISOC personnel - were
concerned how to find a solution for the dilemma we were facing. Actually,
during the years of our existence as a Chapter, we never received any mail
whatsoever from the ISOC Regional Bureau Director Asia-Pacific, except for
circular announcements.
Subsequently, mail to the ISOC Manager for Regional Affairs (Asia) did
not receive any response.
This attitude of ISOC Regional Staff, refusing to discuss with us our
problems, resulted already in the September 2012 Annual General Meeting in
disappointment and restricted expectations towards the ISOC international
setup.
When ISOC staff is discussing "standard performance" of Chapters, how
is "standard performance" defined and measured? Only for Chapters? Is it
standard performance that a Regional Officer announces and brings
non-members to a "Meet and greet" (who say that two hours ago they did not
know what the Internet Society is), but the Regional Officer encourages
them to become members - OK - and to stand as candidate two weeks later for
Chapter leadership? - Is it standard procedure that I learn from a mailing
list that the Regional Office is "working within the government to provide
more support and knowledge" – we do not know until now what this is. Who is
monitoring performance over what?
When the Cambodian government mandated internet cafe owners to set up
surveillance cameras in their shops and register the names of all customers
-
http://thediplomat.com/asean-beat/2012/12/27/cambodias-war-on-internet-cafes–
in 2012, and later declared almost all Internet cafes in the capital
city
to be illegal as they were closer than 500 m to any school
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5062&Itemid=207
and
https://www.google.com/search?q=Penh+%22500+meter%22+internet+cafe+school&lr=&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=DHktUsr4M4fRkgXZt4CgBQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=564#facrc=_&imgrc=vHrInVRwY-NCdM%3A%3BB07fhLsihMLmKM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flivinginpp.files.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F12%252F874-map-internetbuffer_zoom-1.jpg%253Fw%253D459%2526h%253D600%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Falfredmeier.me%252F2012%252F12%252F15%252Fcomplete-ban-on-internet-cafes-in-central-phnom-penh%252F%3B459%3B600
- a number of legally established NGOs raised their voices together,
addressing such actions of the authorities; the ISOC Cambodia Chapter was
not part of it, as we are – legally speaking – a non entity. And surely
this would also not have helped the “local fundraising” which ISOC staff
outside of our situation had recommended
3. Impressions (again with some quotes from the past from the
Chapter-Delegates List)
During the following months a process of discussion for a revision of
the bylaws of ISOC international was going on, reflected also on the
Chapter Delegates List. During this process, a number of other ISOC Chapter
representatives were hoping for a revision which would give a clearer
position to the Chapters – as “members” of ISOC with a substantial
representation on the ISOC Board of Trustees - so that members concerns
would have an institutional voice in ISOC decision making (former voices
from the Chapters List: “...the Board does not yet understand that the
primary role of many Chapters locally and in other contexts is as
participants in Civil Society. From that point of view a 50:50
representation on the Board of Chapters on the one hand and the industry on
the other hand would be more appropriate - and would I believe be applauded
internationally”). – “There is still no overarching statement... as to the
objectives of the ISOC. This would be useful, particularly if it clearly
specified the civil society dimension of the work of the Internet Society”
- that such a hope was considered to be not important for formalistic
reasons by ISOC central staff shows exactly the reason, why there is such a
wide discrepancy to the expectations of Chapters in certain societies.
The greetings on the ISOC Portal: “Join - Join today and help shape the
future of the internet” create assumptions which are not substantiated in
the ISOC structures.
The results of the ISOC bylaws revision show again a top down
structure, where the Chapters of ISOC are not Members of ISOC, but are
under the oversight of ISOC international, and ISOC international continues
to regulate chapter affairs (a possible area of tension or conflict
“...might be good to point out that in some countries such a document might
as well go against national laws, in the best case, or be considered as an
attempt to spread foreign influence in the country {which, again in some
cases, might be illegal}”), including the possibility to suspend a Chapter,
while ISOC international does not seem to have a similar procedure of
suspending an Organizational Members from industry, in case their position
might be in conflict with fundamental values of the Internet Society.
In spite of the ISOC slogan “The Internet is for everyone” it's setup
does not show this orientation clearly. When a member enters the Member
Login on the ISOC portal here:
https://portal.isoc.org/EBusiness/Home.aspx
(is it for “business” that one enters?) one is greeted with
“Make a Contribution”
“Contributions are fully tax-deductible!”
“Donate”
In how many of the countries where there are ISOC members is this true
– contributions to ISOC are tax-deductible?
That there is a wide difference of opinions about the nature of ISOC
became obvious time and again on the Chapter-Delegates list; I quote just
some examples:
Some ISOC old time members took “strong exception to an infographic” or
said “my jaw dropped when I saw this” infographic, originating from the
World Economic Forum about “The Future of the Internet,” which had been
recommended for distribution and wide use by ISOC leadership. - The problem
is not that there are different opinions; the problem is that it seems that
such fundamental differences of opinion do not have an appropriate platform
for discussion towards a broader or even common understanding.
Who is ISOC when the Chapters are not Members? “...there are NOT two
parties. There is one: the Internet Society.” - “But what we have got....
is an exceedingly one-sided dispute resolution policy! In this context, who
is ISOC? Clearly, the employed staff have no mandate or authorization to
exercise powers over Chapters. So, who is going to do these things: 'place
... in a probationary state', etc.”
At a former time it was stated on the Chapter-delegates List: “So as
the paper is today: why should any chapter want to sign it? Would you sign
a contract that only holds obligations but rather no benefits? Even not if
you would be willing to fulfill the obligations! Or is the benefit in being
a chapter as such? In using the name 'Internet Society' (as the Internet
Society of China does)? Rather not - we are membership organization and any
subgroup of members can probably organize themselves as e.g. 'Open ISOC
Members Circle, Miami West' or so. - So if ISOC expects a commitment from
its chapters it should commit something in turn.”
Conclusion
Given this situation of not having a “listening ear” in ISOC and
responses from ISOC international or regional for our concerns, we suggest
to our members to start the dissolution of the ISOC Cambodia Chapter – and
to do it in an ordinary way according to the Bylaws:
* Article XII. - Dissolution of the Chapter
1. Dissolution of this Chapter by consent of the members shall consist
of unanimous agreement of all its officers together with a majority vote at
a meeting which has been publicized in advance to all members of the
Chapter for the purpose of taking this vote.
*
We would therefore call for such a meeting to discuss the dissolution
of our Chapter, or not to do so in case practical and timely ways would
show up within one months from sending out this mail. Such a meeting shall
be convened as follows:
Location: #8, St. 352, BKK1, Phnom Penh (Open Institute new office)
Date and Time: October 26, 2013 at 2:00PM
We regret to see no other way but to suggest these steps.
At the same time I would like to state that the use of the Internet in
our country has bee increasing considerably, and in all of these, members
of our Chapter are involved:
There are over 1,100,000 Facebook users,
BarCamps - http://barcamp.org/w/page/405173/TheRulesOfBarCamp -
have not only been held annually since 2008 in the capital city of Phnom
Penh with hundreds of participants every time, but also in six provincial
centers during the last and the present years,
a self-organized Hackerspace center -
http://hackerspaces.org/wiki- is in operation since some years
providing a space for hard- and software
learning and exchange,
Last year, our Chapter invited the top leadership of all ISPs and
all Mobile Phone Providers in Cambodia, in response to communications with
the Asia Pacific Network Information Center -http://www.apnic.net - to a
meeting with the APNIC Director on IPv6. Recently, the Director General of
the Ministry of Post informed us that subsequent discussions with APNIC
will lead to establish IPv6 systems in Cambodia in 2014.
Recently, after informal operations for two years with local
enthusiasm and international support towards its establishment, “Open
Development Cambodia” - www.opendevelopmentcambodia.net - an online hub
compiling freely available data to help consolidate access to up-to-date
information and maps about land usage, land concessions and other
critically important information related to the economic and political
developments of the country. It was established as a non-profit
organization under the laws of Cambodia. Both I and our former Chapter
president were involved in these efforts, and we were now invited to be on
their Board of Directors.
I mention these examples to indicate that the communication society in
Cambodia is very active. No coordinating body exists in the country for
questions of human rights and communication freedom. We regret that our
efforts to establish an ISOC Chapter did not receive the necessary
institutional support.
Be Chantra
Secretary, ISOC Cambodia Chapter
chantra.be at gmail.com
**
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