[Chapter-delegates] What should ISOC's future goals be? How can we work toward achieving them as ISOC Chapters?

[Andrew Sullivan]

Hi,

On Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 03:52:44PM -0400, Veni Markovski via Chapter-delegates wrote:
>One piece that needs to be put in perspective - you are using the word 
>"lobbying", and need to say that it has different meaning in different 
>countries, and while some countries have laws, regulating lobbying 
>governmental officials, Congress, etc., (e.g. the USA), other don't 
>(e.g. Bulgaria). So, conclusions, based on the US experience, won't 
>necessarily be valid in Bulgaria and vice versa.

For us, the rules about lobbying by us are _the most restrictive_ of the laws of the US and the country where we are acting.  For the US, and therefore for us since we are governed by US law, "lobbying" is a carefully-defined term that applies worldwide to certain interactions with governments.  Paying other people to undertake an action that would be lobbying if our own staff did it is also lobbying, so that's why this needs care.

>Likewise, we can't talk about "the chapters"

I agree with the wide variety you identify among chapters.  But we can definitely talk about "the chapters" in the straightforward sense that they are all independent legal entities not under the direct control of the DC corporation "The Internet Society".  That fact imposes certain legal obligations upon us regardless of the practical ways that we happen to be working as one.

>am missing someone. In any case, none of our suggestions were used by 
>the organization, which is a pity, as it would have solved a lot of 
>the issues ISOC had to confront in the years after that. So, if people 
>don't respond to the current thread, it might be that they don't want 
>to spend the time over and over again?

That is of course possible, and I'm sorry to hear that the organization overall did not respond to recommendations you made, but I regret I'm really not in a position to comment on something that happened some time before I came into this job.  If you have a reference to such recommendations (were they received by the board as ChAC recommendations or something?) I'd be happy to review them.

Best regards,

A

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