[Chapter-delegates] ISOC open letter

[Andrew Sullivan]

Hi,

On Tue, May 18, 2021 at 02:27:16PM -0400, Veni Markovski via Chapter-delegates wrote:

>May be a separate page, where such communication is being kept?

There is some work going on to adjust how we publish things through the web pages, so don't be too surprised to see adjustments in areas like this in the future.  People may have noticed that there are designated funds in the 2021 budget that are aimed at implementation of the content strategy; that's part of what it's about.

>Ah, OK, good to know that they sign on behalf of the organization.

We have a staff process that identifies when and how that happens, yes.

>Well, that's where you can count on the chapters to let you know

Indeed, one of the central strengths of the way we are organized, I have always thought, is the Chapters system.  There are many organizations that oppose the Internet for their own reasons.  Some of them want control or want to ensure political opposition has no voice, and those organizations often can literally print money because they are governments.  Others just want to own it all, and are some of the best-capitalized corporations in the history of the world.  Against those who want to turn the Internet into a tightly-controlled, centrally-managed utility we have our relatively small numbers and miniscule budget; and of course, we (still) have the advantages that the Internet gives all humanity.  But we need to ensure we work together against these long odds to build, promote, and defend the real Internet, or we'll lose it.  That would be a terrible thing, and so we need very much to make sure that Chapters are alert to these challenges and work with us to try to make sure the Internet way is the way people (including governments) pick.  That way, everyone gains.

>This was way back, and we got support by Vint Cerf and Don Heath (then
>President & CEO); the intervention helped us a lot; today's ISOC is
>quite different.

Yes, I definitely cannot comment on what the Internet Society did in that period.  I'm not even sure where I'd find the records of such decisions, if they exist (many of them won't, because they'd be past our document retention policy age).

Best regards,

A


-- 
Andrew Sullivan
President & CEO, Internet Society
sullivan at isoc.org
+1 416 731 1261