[Chapter-delegates] Follow-up: Serious considerations to dissolve the Cambodia ISOC Chapter

Baburam Aryal babu at isoc.org.np
Mon Sep 23 21:55:03 PDT 2013


Dear All
This is serious issue one of Chapter is considering dissolution. As a
chapter leader, I never expect such situation.

Last year when I was there in Cambodia and had a brief meeting with the
then Chapter President Norbert and discussed the chapter's plight and
relation with HQ or Regional Office.

In Nepal
We had also similar situation here in Nepal. When you incorporate any NGO,
you have to register at local administration office and must identify where
your office would be located? We also need recommendation of Ward office of
Municipality and District Development Committee. Local Administration also
seek character certificate of proposed committee members from Police. Once
you register, you have to register at local office of inland revenue office
for PAN. For pan, you have to have a contract with a landlord where your
office is registered and 6 months house rent tax has to be paid in advance
to the government.

Is this possible to run with out registering?
Simply, No. When you have to negotiate or deal with the government at
various stages, that time you are not recognized. Yeah, you can occupy
street, but not represent at formal places.

ISOC Activities in Local Jurisdiction
I'm also with the opinion and we have discussed this issue in committee
many times and committee is with the same opinion that any ISOC involvement
most be notified to the local chapter whether they have any official visit
or granting any fund to individual member. This keeps a good rapport among
HQ and its members.

What we did?
When we were recognized in 2007, we acted as loose network only. We
encountered with some problem and rejuvenated in 2008. Since the
rejuvenation to August 2012 ISOC Nepal's office remained at my office. We
submitted that the same house as address and asked my landlord to give a
contract on behalf of ISOC Nepal as well. I was General Secretary when we
officially founded ISOC Nepal and registered at local administration.
Still, ISOC Nepal Office is combined at my office however ISOC Nepal bears
the cost it occupies. We have a staff as well. We are able to bear this as
we had got few research opportunities and other activities [NOT FROM ISOC
HQ].

Suggestion,
If office space is only the cause for the dissolution, any one member can
come forward and adopt similar model what we experienced. Once you start,
then you will get support from the stakeholder. It is not necessarily to be
much dependent to ISOC HQ. As Internet Society Nepal, we have indipendent
status in Nepal and will remain even if ISOC HQ scraps its affiliation.
According to our local law, now no one can register Internet Society Nepal
even if HQ pours any sum. I mean, we need to act Independently in some
extent.

We need Cambodia Chapter
Cambodia is special chapter for the cause of ISOC. I had first hand
experience how people are afraid to speak and express. Existence of ISOC
Cambodia will help people to exercise FOE.

Thank you very much.


On Tue, Sep 24, 2013 at 8:45 AM, Veni Markovski <veni at veni.com> wrote:

>  I don't quite follow why it has to be an NGO?
> There are articles in the Civic code, which makes it possible to have an
> entity, without legally registering it. I am sure that such provisions
> exist in other laws (may be not all over the globe). To become a chapter
> does not require to be a registered in court non-profit.
>
> Right?
>
>
>
> On 09/23/13 22:56, info at isoc.org.ec wrote:
>
> Several Chapters face the same kind of problems. We need work with support
> of several volunteers and partners because simply to have an office is not
> only to have a place.. It means to have people, pay taxes, social security
> for employees and legal representatives, accounting people, plus office
> equipment and much much more. Even If you share some space office you need
> a contract and so. Because of this, HQ made this very flexible and one way
> is not to be a formal NGO. Maybe this can work changing the bylaws
>
>  Carlos Vera
>
> Internet Society Ecuador
> www.isoc.org.ec
> Síguenos @isocec
>
> El 23/09/2013, a las 3:45, Chantra Be <chantra.be at gmail.com> escribió:
>
>   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
>
>  _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>
>
> --
>
> Best,
> Veni Markovskihttp://www.veni.comhttps://www.facebook.com/venimarkovskihttps://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.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> As an Internet Society Chapter Officer you are automatically subscribed
> to this list, which is regularly synchronized with the Internet Society
> Chapter Portal (AMS): https://portal.isoc.org
>



-- 
Advocate Babu Ram Aryal
President,
Internet Society [ISOC] Nepal Chapter
Anamnagar, Kathmandu
Nepal

Cell: +977-9851048401
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