[Chapter-delegates] [Bod] Fwd: Questions for the Board of Trustees

[Dave Burstein]

Andrew, Gonzalo
Thank you for opening the discussion.
Starting to be less secretive can be an important way to reclaim our
reputation. A Google News search will show how strong opinion is. We don't
look good.

I don't think most ISOC members know that the deal can easily be stopped.
Until the State of Pennsylvania (PIR) approves the transfer of the PIR
assets to a profit-making company. No matter how many $1,000/hour lawyers*
are trying to find loopholes, U.S. non-profit law (or the IRS) could easily
block the deal.

I'm far more interested in other issues in ISOC, but there are two relevant
and easy questions you can answer.

The official statement says the money will go into an endowment. Standard
endowments maintain their principal and only disburse more than the income
under special or emergency. To match the $30M/year subsidy we get from .org
at a 5% return implies the net prices after taxes and fees would have to be
$600 million. As far as I know, that would be one of the highest fees paid
to buy a non-profit and dwarfs anything previous at ICANN & domains.

*What will be the rules of the endowment? In particular, will it generally
disburse endowment income, more, or less? *The most prudent policy is to
maintain the value of the endowment after inflation, which generally means
disbursing less than the annual income.

*Second, who will manage the finances of the foundation? *IANAL. ISOC is
the founder of PIR and limited in how it can profit from its sale. What
role will ISOC members play in selecting a new board, if required.

I'm here because I believe in the Internet for everyone. With the $30M
subsidy ISOC has had from .org, we can and should be the most important
advocate for Internet users and the billions who cannot currently afford
the Internet. I don't know if the prospective endowment will be $200
million. $600 million-plus implied by the official statement, or over $1B
as some in the press believe.


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On Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 10:14 PM avri <avri at doria.org> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> As I am attending the IETF in Singapore, I plan to attend in person.
>
> avri
>
>
>
> On Nov 20, 2019 at 10:46, <Greg Shatan <greg at isoc-ny.org>> wrote:
>
> This just in.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
> From: Andrew Sullivan via Chapter-delegates <
> chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
> Date: Tue, Nov 19, 2019 at 9:40 PM
> Subject: [Chapter-delegates] Questions for the Board of Trustees
> To: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
>
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> As you know, the Board meets this weekend to consider the Action Plan
> for 2020 and the budget.
>
> In recognition of the concerns this community has raised about
> consulation with chapters, the Board is going to set aside some time
> during the meeting to consider questions from chapters around the way
> the organization is working.  It will also be possible, of course, to
> ask questions about the current contemplated PIR transaction, but if
> there is information that I have not already shared it is entirely
> unlikely the Board will be in a position to share any of it either.
> This is in addition to any of the ususal interactions the Board has
> with the Chapter AC.
>
> If you have questions that are appropriate for the Board to answer on
> the topic of how the organization is operating or consulting with the
> community, this would be a good time to get them answered on the
> record.  I will capture any answers and post them back to here, so
> that people do not have to call in to the Board meeting at an
> inconvenient time (though of course we will be streaming the meeting
> as usual.
>
> To ask your question, just post it in this thread.  Please _do_ post
> it in this thread, however, or I won't see it & it won't get reflected
> in the questions asked this weekend.
>
> The sooner you can ask your question, the more likely the Board will
> have the information it needs to answer you.
>
> This is being posted to the chapter-delegates list only, in
> recognition of the important role chapters play in our organization.
> I am aware that not all chapter members are on this list (indeed, most
> are not), but this is the best way I can think to do this on short
> notice and make sure everything is collected in one place, so please
> try to use your chapter mechanisms to talk to your members if you
> think there are issues that might be concerning them and that this is
> a good opportunity to use for that.
>
> Best regards,
>
> A
>
> --
> Andrew Sullivan
> President & CEO, Internet Society
> sullivan at isoc.org
> +1 416 731 1261
> _______________________________________________
> 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://admin.internetsociety.org/622619/User/Login
> View the Internet Society Code of Conduct:
> https://www.internetsociety.org/become-a-member/code-of-conduct/
>
> --
> Greg Shatan
> greg at isoc-ny.org
> President, ISOC-NY
> *"The Internet is for everyone"*
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bod mailing list
> Bod at lists.isoc-ny.org
> http://lists.isoc-ny.org/listinfo.cgi/bod-isoc-ny.org
>
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