Hi Alain,
Thank you for clarifying this for me.
I apologize if I am merely rehashing matters that
have already been addressed (I am somewhat
new to the list). From what I
understand, it is fairly common for groups such as this to assess membership
internally with an appeal process. That
appears to be the practice for other constituency groups:
http://www.ipconstituency.org/join-the-ipc/
http://www.ipconstituency.org/bylaws/
http://www.bizconst.org/responsibilities.htm
http://www.bizconst.org/charter.htm
I think this is to some extent unavoidable.
I note with some amusement that my own legal clinic (CIPPIC) would likely qualify
for both the IP and the Bus constituencies, given a very narrow interpretation, because, while we advocate
in the public interest, we are composed of copyright lawyers and do on occasion
consult with for-profit e-commerce organizations
where this will further the public interest. However, were we to do so, I think
it would pose serious challenges for a multi-stakeholder model such as that ICANN aspires to.
Best regards,
Tamir
From:
Alain Berranger [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: November 14, 2011 2:36 PM
To: Tamir Israel
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Question about NCUC
faq relating to membership
Tamir,
no objection at all... as an applied research grantmaking
practitioner in the past, as well as a retired evaluation
consultant for international
development agencies, I have seen the benefits of assessments being made on the
basis of facts (or evidence if you prefer) which I define as objectively
verifiable by an independant and uninterested third party. I suggest that norm be followed for admitting members into our
constituencies and stakeholders' group.
Alain
On Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 2:03
PM, Tamir Israel
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi there,
I just wanted to clarify if you’re objection is to attempts at
assessing ‘real non-commercial’ in general, or to specific
line-drawing with respect to one application
(Olympic committee). If the objective is to ensure true representation of non-commercial interests, legal (or .org)
non-profit status is not enough, I
think. It would be far too easy to game, as any commercial interest can quite
easily set up a non-profit wing. In fact, it’s fairly common practice for
industry or business groups to set up non-profits precisely for the purpose of
advancing commercial interests. I can think of many examples.
The legal criteria for ‘non-profit’
relate to financial structuring, not
to ‘interests advanced’. There do not appear to be any requirements
for .org registration. Given this, I
think it is incumbent upon NCSG to do some sort of assessment to ensure that it remains representative
of non-commercial interests.
Best,
Tamir
From: NCSG-Discuss [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Alain Berranger
Sent: November 13, 2011 12:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Question about NCUC
faq relating to membership
Meanwhile, I think
we can only be taken seriously inside and outside ICANN and do meaningful work,
if we have hundred more if not thousands of NGO/NFP members... so arguing about
this NGO or this NFP being a "real non-commercial" seems
counterproductive to me!... You will surely agree with me that academics support evidence-based decisions and
the definition of an NGO/NFP is not rocket science neither...
--
Alain Berranger, B.Eng, MBA