This seems to be a big circle, a network.
Thanks for this information Ayden, you have a Sherlock Holmes spirit

2019-11-25 15:55 UTC+01:00, Ayden Férdeline <[log in to unmask]>:
> On the Contract for the Web, I think it is very telling that the Internet
> Society is not a signatory.
>
> Ayden
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> On Monday, 25 November 2019 07:06, Jean-Jacques Subrenat <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> I’m responding on this NCSG thread, but the sale of PIR by ISOC to a
>> private investment firm should be of concern to others, say in ALAC,
>> RALOs, NCUC, perhaps even the Boards of ICANN, PIR and ISOC.
>>
>> The transformation of .org and PIR would require some thorough
>> investigative journalism. Ayden has provided a rough timeline. At some
>> point, names and specific interests will need to be spelled out in
>> relation to the decisions which led to this textbook case of specific
>> interests overriding the public interest.
>>
>> On the other end of the scale, individuals, entitites and governments may
>> wish to support the ‘’Contract for the web’’ initiative by Tim Berners-Lee
>> and others, https://contractfortheweb.org/ . One can subscribe
>> - as an individual,
>> https://contractfortheweb.org/endorse-the-contract/endorse-as-an-individual/
>> - or on behalf of an organisation,
>> https://contractfortheweb.org/endorse-the-contract/endorse-on-behalf-of-an-organisation/
>>
>> In February 2018, in an article I wrote for WikiTribune, I advocated
>> exactly that kind of compact between Internet industries, public
>> authorities and global users. These were my concluding lines:
>>
>> ''There is a need for global standards among today’s actors, not only in
>> business and trade terms, but for the wider public interest. Sovereign
>> states should exercise their authority to better regulate, investigate and
>> correct. Governments often consult the private sector, but mainly on
>> business aspects. A few months after his election, President Trump set up
>> an advisory council of top US business leaders, which was [disbanded less
>> than a year
>> later](https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-business-advisory-council-to-disband-1502904005):
>> its purpose was limited to making the US economy more competitive, and had
>> no broader remit.
>>
>> The World Economic Forum ([WEF](https://www.weforum.org/)) brings together
>> in Davos leaders from finance, industry, government, civil society and the
>> media, providing a platform on a wide range of subjects, but as a forum it
>> is not prescriptive, nor is it accountable. Now is an appropriate time for
>> global corporations like Google and Tencent, Facebook and Alibaba, to set
>> up a comprehensive list of best practices for the new era. Some sort of
>> structured, transparent, accountable and global Advisory council, with an
>> opting-in mechanism for corporations, governments and civil society
>> entities, could provide useful advice in setting up global ethical
>> standards across its membership. Social media have come under closer
>> scrutiny because of the way their networks may be used by terrorist
>> organisations, or by foreign powers to influence local politics as [in the
>> 2016 U.S. presidential
>> election](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/30/facebook-russia-fake-accounts-126-million)
>> or in the U.K. [referendum on
>> Brexit](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/world/europe/russia-brexit-twitter-facebook.html).
>>
>> A first task for such a council would be to identify areas where there are
>> widespread problems and malpractices (e.g. on privacy, on data
>> protection), and to promote best practices, whatever their origin. In the
>> 21st century, the strategies of state and non-state actors alike need to
>> take into account, more than ever, the global public interest.’'
>>
>> The full article, ‘’Global non-state global actors'' can be read here,
>> https://www.wikitribune.com/wt/news/article/48999/ .
>>
>> Jean-Jacques Subrenat.
>>
>> Le 25 novembre 2019 à 04:53:05, Ayden Férdeline ([log in to unmask]) a
>> écrit:
>>
>>> Dear all,
>>>
>>> There have been so many different emails and articles floating around
>>> about the ISOC sale of PIR to a new, two-person investment firm with only
>>> one investment, it’s hard to piece together exactly what has happened and
>>> when. I have put together a timeline based upon what I have read, and I’m
>>> sharing it here in case you find it helpful. I think it raises more
>>> questions than answers, though…
>>>
>>> 2003
>>>
>>> Andrew Sullivan is working at Affilias when it was then the vendor that
>>> supported the award of .ORG to ISOC
>>>
>>> 2012
>>>
>>> Robert Beckstrom resigns as ICANN CEO, and ICANN COO Akram Atallah takes
>>> over as interim CEO before his childhood friend Fadi Chehadé joins as
>>> CEO.
>>>
>>> Under Chehadé, Atallah becomes president of ICANN’s Global Domains
>>> Division.
>>>
>>> 2016
>>>
>>> Chehadé leaves ICANN before his contract expired in order to start his
>>> own consulting firm and later joins Abry Partners. Abry has 3 partners,
>>> one of whom is Erik Brooks.
>>>
>>> May 2018
>>>
>>> ISOC suddenly appoints three new trustees to PIR.
>>>
>>> Brian Cute, PIR’s CEO of 7 years, resigns suddenly, with no explanation.
>>> One of the new trustees takes over as interim CEO.
>>>
>>> June 2018
>>>
>>> Andrew Sullivan is appointed CEO of ISOC, starting in September.
>>>
>>> September 2018
>>>
>>> Chehadé helped Abry close their acquisition of a majority stake in
>>> Donuts. Brooks took a board seat at Donuts.
>>>
>>> October 2018
>>>
>>> Donuts co-founder and chief counsel Jon Nevett steps down. Brooks
>>> replaced the Donuts CEO with Akram Atallah.
>>>
>>> December 2018
>>>
>>> Nevett becomes the new CEO of PIR, responsible for .ORG
>>>
>>> March 2019
>>>
>>> ICANN proposes removing price caps from .ORG registrations. It is unclear
>>> whether PIR requested this, whether ICANN offered it unsolicited, or if
>>> PIR worked behind the scenes to make this happen under the guise of
>>> contract harmonization.
>>>
>>> ICANN receives 3,300 comments uniformly opposed to the change and 6 in
>>> favor of removing price caps, and sides with the 0.2% minority.
>>>
>>> May 2019
>>>
>>> PIR responded to the comments with an open letter that said, “We are a
>>> mission-based non-profit, and would never betray the trust that you have
>>> put into .ORG and us.”
>>>
>>> On 7 May, Chehadé registered the domain for EthosCapital.com.
>>>
>>> On 13 May, ICANN decided to lift the price caps anyway.
>>>
>>> On 14 May, Ethos Capital was incorporated as a new investment firm
>>> founded by Brooks. Ethos Capital has two staff: Brooks and Nora
>>> Abusitta-Ouri, a former ICANN SVP who later worked for Chehadé and was
>>> also a classmate of Chehadé.
>>>
>>> November 2019
>>>
>>> Out of the blue, ISOC announced that Nevett and Sullivan had approved the
>>> acquisition of PIR by Ethos Capital for an unspecified amount.
>>>
>>> The only support for the deal that I have tracked has come from Vint
>>> Cerf, who for some reason appears to have access to non-public
>>> information about the deal (and was cited in ISOC’s press release as
>>> supporting the sale).
>>>
>>> Best wishes,
>>>
>>> Ayden Férdeline