[Chapter-delegates] Request that board member Sunday discuss forming a group to review the chapter proposals

[Gonzalo Camarillo]

Hi Dave,

after the Open Forum Session I got a few emails from you. Thanks for all
the input! I could not respond to all of them because I was chairing the
AGM and had to pay attention to the sessions.

I believe you now have *both* the resolutions we passed and the document
prepared by staff (which was discussed with the board and modified
accordingly during the process) about the chapter AC's last two
recommendations.

I am told some of you had not received all the material above when we
approved in on May 24th because of an issue related to authorization at
box.com. Please, make sure that in the future you get that type of
material when the board approves it (I usually send it to Avri right
away and have staff distribute it using the regular channels as well).

As I mentioned during the AGM (when the video is made available, please
check the sessions with Raul and Avri), the resolutions are an
invitation to discuss. Avri and I (and maybe more board members) are
going to be meeting in Prague during the IETF to keep the channels open,
as usual.

Cheers,

Gonzalo


On 04/06/2017 8:25 AM, Dave Burstein wrote:
> Gonzalo and folk
> 
> As most of you know, last spring a proposal was made to allocate 3% of
> the ISOC budget for the chapters to spend on their activities. Depending
> on the allocation formula, that would be $15,000-$50,000 per active
> chapter. Careful review to avoid fraud was included.
> 
> I believe the majority of the board was supportive and one board member
> said he was confident things would be approved after the chapters
> committee developed a concrete proposal. Instead, staff has chosen
> another path. 
> 
> It's time for those on the board to set policy. The staff proposal
> ignores the primary points and instead suggests spending $500,000 on
> branding is the best way to help the chapters. The staff proposal will
> soon be public, I'm told. The differences will be very clear. 
> 
> The elephant in the room, of course, is that most ISOC chapters are in
> the Global South, as is most of the board. Almost all policies are made
> by senior staff, almost all in the Global North and strongly supportive
> of the "DC Consensus." I can provide several clear examples of ISOC
> opposing Group of 77 proposals strongly supported by the African and
> Asians because they would lower the price of Internet access.
> (Previously discussed at ISOC events.)
> 
> I spend time on ISOC because I think we can deliver concrete progress on
> the Internet for All. I don't think I'm alone in believing our $30M PIR
> subsidy can be far more effectively used. I believe the chapters will
> demonstrative that, if they had support. 
> 
> Frankly, the people on the ground in Africa I've met have a far clearer
> understanding of what's needed than D.C. lawyers and economists. I'm on
> a U.S. State Department committee, and I'm amazed how in DC ideology
> takes precedence over knowledge. We can and should bring the public
> interest issues to the forefront. We haven't. 
> 
> So I request the board members informally begin looking closely at the
> chapters proposal, with a possibility of forming a group to show respect
> for the opinions of the chapters.
> 
> The rest is commentary. I've been up almost 24 hours working on this and
> am fading. If my comments are unclear, please request clarification from
> me or the members of the chapter committee. 
> 
> I'll be making concrete proposals after I get some sleep and catch up on
> the technology reporting I do for a living. In particular, we should
> change the symbolic meaning of some old charter rules and actively reach
> out to those not well represented. 
> 
> In particular, nearly 1/3rd of the Internet is now Chinese. Both Africa
> and India will soon have more Internet users than the U.S. 
> 
> Any global policy is likely ineffective unless a way is found to
> incorporate this missing third of the Internet in decisions. 
> 
> How can ISOC build those bridges? Many of us, including Bob Kahn and
> Vint Cerf, have been personally working on this
> 
> Ideas needed.
> 
> Dave Burstein
> -- 
> Editor, Fast Net News, 5GW News, Net Policy News and DSL Prime
> Author with Jennie Bourne  DSL (Wiley) and Web Video: Making It Great,
> Getting It Noticed (Peachpit)