[Chapter-delegates] ISOC's regional engagement

[Andrew Sullivan]

Hi,

On Thu, Sep 21, 2023 at 02:36:34PM +0200, 48796 via Chapter-delegates wrote:
>
> 1- Doing whatever it takes to keep the 501(c)(3) designation in the USA. (= + member donations, from the public)
>

Yes, this is what we are pursuing.

> 2- Managing a trend/risk to lose the 501(c)(3) designation and prepare for it. (adapting to trends/risks)
>

This would be an extremely bad outcome.  There are enormous benefits to an enterprise such as ours from being classified as a public charity, and losing that status therefore must not happen.  Neither the board nor I believe that our duties to the corporation would have been satisfied if such an event came to pass, so while we obviously always make disaster plans it is not something that one can manage toward.  Importantly, understand, the loss of status as a charity would mean we'd also lose the associated supporting organizations, one of which is PIR.  I presume I don't need to remind anyone of why that would be painful.

> 3- Move the organisation to another country (change the main legal registration of ISOC somewhere else), and leave in the USA a lighter and viable 501(c)(3) designated organization so that USA taxpayers can still get that tax discount, self-maintained by USA based netizens.
>

Unlike private companies, charities can't really just pick up and move.  You have to get permission from the state attorney-general where you are incorporated, and they may not give such permission.  Since PIR is a supporting organization, it needs to have a charity to support, so the Internet Society corporation in the US can't go away; which means this issue can only really be solved by improving the Internet Society's other income.

That is, as I've already suggested elsewhere in this thread, in any case a good thing.  We need more resources to fend off the attacks on the Internet, and not simply to be content with the ones we have.

Best regards,

A

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