I agree with Milton,

they ideal would be to have our own platform customized to our needs but
right now I strongly believe that our priorities are to focus on the issues, the
dialog/discussion we generate and the content we create.

Like it or not, data mining is a reality of today's Internet no matter what
platform, service or software you use.

As an old friend and colleague told me once:

               "If you want to protect your privacy, don't make it public"

Given that ICANN claims to be a bottom-up organization, during the last
ICANN meeting in Sydney I submitted a question for the Board asking
if they would be willing to consider providing some sort of financial
support to the "bottom".

My question was totally ignored and not answered even after the meeting,
when they said every question would sooner or later receive an answer.

As Avri mentioned, and I'm glad to have her on board and willing to help on
this front, there may be some other sources for funding to help us get
better organized, improve the tools and become more effective.

I'm sure that funding and additional support will come if we are able
to provide sound advice and give the non-commercial users a strong
voice within ICANN.

NING is not perfect, I don't pay attention to the ads, and combined with
the mailing list we have the essential tools to drive the discussion and
enable remote collaboration.

I'd say again, lets focus now on the issues, if we start hitting the nails
on the head sooner or later we'll have the resources to improve the
tools.

My .02
Jorge