Board of Trustees
Minutes of Meeting 32
16 March 2003, San Francisco, CA, USA
Author(s): G. Huston, C. Huitema
Date: 2003-03-16
Committee: BOT
Document: 03-32
Status: Unconfirmed
Maintainer: C. Huitema
Access: Unrestricted
Minutes taken by Christian Huitema.
The following members of the board of trustees attended the meeting in person:
Fred Baker
Brian Carpenter
Rosa Delgado
Barbara Fraser (by telephone)
Alan Greenberg (by telephone)
Latif Ladid
Veni Markovski (by telephone)
Kees Neggers
Glenn Ricart
Lynn St.Amour
Östen Frånberg
Erik Huizer (by telephone)
Toshio Miki
Wawa Ngenge
George Sadowsky
Philippe Courtot and
Don Heath were excused.
I. Chairmans Report
Fred Baker presents a prepared address, stating the CEO goals for ISOC
in 2003.
The first goals that
he sets for the CEO are financial. For the year ending December 31, 2003
ISOC's cash reserves should be no less than two months operating expenditures
(less past due accounts payable). ISOC's actual revenues should meet or
exceed the "Total Revenue" specified in the final version of
the budget accepted by the Board of Trustees of ISOC, and the surplus
exceeds the Total Surplus specified in the final version of
the budget accepted by the Board of Trustees of ISOC. The CEO should actively
seek and effectively involve a majority of members of the Board of Trustees
in fund-raising efforts in their area and region.
The second goals for
the CEO are organizational. The CEO should put in place and execute an
effective review mechanism for PIR. In conjunction with the VP of Conferences,
CEO will put forth, by September 2003, a budget and content plan to the
Board of Trustees concerning whether to have INET 2004, and, if so, the
parameters for its realization. In conjunction with the VPs of Conferences
and Chapters, the CEO effects ISOC participation in at least two regional
conferences in 2003. In conjunction with the VP for Public Policy, the
CEO puts an effective public policy initiative in place for ISOC.
Fred applauds the
CEO for making 2002 budget happen. The 2003 budget goals are clearly set
in the Budget, and the goal is clear: make this budget happen. There can
be potential changes if we bring in new projects. We will welcome significant
assistance from PIR, and fund-raising support from Board.
PIR took over from
verisign end of january. All came out pretty well. We need to wean the
business off direct ISOC involvement, and ISOC needs to understand the
"oversight" of PIR, which is required, but not well defined.
ISOC and PIR need to cooperate on various projects, but these are yet
to be defined.
The standards support
needs to continue, with the funding of the RFC Editor, IAB, and various
IETF projects. There is potential for direct support of meetings and research.
For the education
pillar, the year 2003 will have to be organized without an INET meeting,
focusing on regional involvement and chapters. In 2004, we will continue
with regional involvement and chapters, and we may perhaps organize an
INET conference in Barcelona. Education is an area were ISOC can naturally
expand. We need focus, but ISOC value proposition is primarily here.
We need to strengthen
and enhance the policy pillar, to be a useful resource capable of providing
advice to governments, and to engage in advocacy as appropriate. The policy
work needs to be coordinated with chapters.
II. Approval of the minutes of previous meetings
The minutes of the 30th and 31st board meetings are approved.
III. Confirmation of resolutions
Three motions were adopted by e-mail votes since the last board meeting.
The trustees unanimously confirm these three motions:
Resolution 03-1
Amendments of PIR articles of incorporation and By-laws
RESOLVED
that the amendments to the Public Interest Registry's (PIR) Articles
of Incorporation (attached) and By-laws (attached) be accepted to support
a 501(c)(3) designation.
Resolution 03-2
Approval of the Code of Conduct
RESOLVED
that the Board of Trustees approves the attached Code of Conduct for
Individual Members, and requests that it be drawn to the attention of
all present and future Individual Members.
Resolution 03-3
Confirmation of the nomination of new IAB members
RESOLVED
that the Board of Trustees confirm the slate of nominated IAB members:
Rob Austein, Sally Floyd, Geoff Huston, Patrik Faltstrom, Mark Handley,
Bernard Aboba, and Jun-ichiro Itojun Hagino.
IV.President report
Lynn St-Amour reports on the state and prospects of ISOC. She starts her
expose by setting the background: the resolution adopted by the board
June 2000 (00-14 ISOC) to structure ISOC according to the current pillar
model. After she was nominated CEO & President in March 2001, and
in accordance with this resolution, she has directed a drive for change
in 4 key areas: stabilize our financials in the short-term and strengthen
them in the long-term; strengthen and/or change the ISOC governance model;
increase activities in Standards, Public Policy, Education & Publications;
and clarify & strengthen value proposition for Org. & Ind. Members.
The strategic priorities
of ISOC were reaffirmed by the board in June 2001: Strengthen transparent
process & development of W/W open technical standards in the IETF;
Build on ISOCs history & structure, create & disseminate
high quality info. & education W/W, focused on technical developments
enabling resp. deployment and growth of net; Promote global development
& deployment of policies favoring open and equitable access to the
net.
The operational priorities
were 2002 established by the board in November 2001: Increase overall
financial stability to finance future initiatives in Standards, Public
Policy and Education; Implement a Membership and Chapter model that increases
ISOCs value to them, as well as our collective contributions to
the Internet community globally; Implement a Governance model which will
better support ISOC and better represent the interests of member groups;
Revamp and extend Publications plan in support of above.
The 2001 and 2002
budgets were focused on reestablishing financial stability. ISOC ended
2001 with a Surplus of $426K, exceeding the budget by $98K, and resulting
in a 53% reduction of ISOC Negative Net Asset, to $380K at the end of
2001. ISOC ended 2002 with a surplus of $86K, short of budgeted surplus
by $63K. The shortfall results of post-budget additions of INET02
and the .org bid. The org. member revenues fell $172K (10%) under the
budgets target, but the expenses were under budget by $134K (8%).
This reduced the Negative Net Asset at the end of 2002 by $86K to $294K
(23%). With the successful bid for .org, ISOC is now positioned for PIR
contributions and programs. The actual 2002 result is much better than
the deficit forecast in November, due to donation from Philippe Courtot
and Qualys, reimbursement of some .Org bid expenses by PIR, a slight reduction
in the final INET expenses, and also a reduction of some lawyer expenses.
Barbara suggests that finances be discussed later; Christian points out
that year on year comparisons would be clearer if INET expenses and revenues
were clearly separated from the other activities.
The organization members
contributions have been affected by the fate of the internet and telecommunication
industries. The historical figures show the revenue peaking slightly above
$2M in 2000, and declining since then. If we do not include the Platinum
program, which was in many respects exceptional, the organization members
contributions peaked at $1.5M in 2000, and trend towards $1.3M to $1.5M.
The new governance
model now in year 2 of a 3 year process. The new model is largely accepted,
although there is still discomfort in a minority of individual members.
The board was successfully restructured. Key governance processes were
established, including the adoption of a Conflict of Interest policy,
and the documentation of the Duties and Obligations of Trustees. The second
year of the new election process (2003) is underway and going smoothly.
The changes also affected
the Individual Members and Chapters. The first changes were implemented
in 2002, with positive results already seen. In January 2002 we implemented
the Free Global Membership model with central and expanded role for Chapters.
This has resulted in significant membership growth, tripling in 15 months
and on track for a different (greater) magnitude of organization. The
structural improvements are progressing well. We developed a Code of Conduct
as unifying element for members. For its second year (2003) the process
is on plan and showing good results: improving IM and Chapter processes;
developing value propositions for IMs and role of Chapters; significant
activity underway defining purpose and structure of regional councils,
evaluating council for A/P as well as Europe.
We currently have
just under 15,000 individual members. In response to a question regarding
the precision of the membership count, Lynn presents the process used
fro maintaining the database. ISOC sends e-mail nearly every week to individual
members. If e-mail to a member bounces repeatedly, the member is deleted
from database. This is proof that the list is not artificially inflated.
The reorganization
of the public policy pillar is almost completed. Mike Nelson was appointed
new VP of Public Policy to build on the solid base left by David Maher.
A Public Policy statement of direction was developed, and is being reviewed.
We are now in process of building resource structure to support our Public
Policy efforts, e.g. evaluating the addition of Regional VPs, establishing
Chapter Councils, A statement requesting support from members will be
sent the 3rd week of March 03. Mike Nelson will present these activities
in his report.
The Education pillar
is developing, thank to a $100K donation from Qualys and Philippe Courtot,
a 1M SEK donation from Sida for AfNog, and a grant of $100K from PIR to
develop education activites. The Qualys grant allowed ISOC to leverage
past NTW materials while expanding into IPv6, IPSec, security, etc. New
projects are under evaluation. More detail will be provided in the VP
- Education report
For the Standards
pillar, ISOC is working closely with the IETF on security projects, member
briefings and long term support model. Discussions are underway with US
Cybersecurity Office and EUs 6th Framework Program for funding of
education/research initiatives on Internet security. Six member briefings
were published last year. We are studying long-term support models for
the IETF, as all aspects of its financing are under pressure: RFC Editor
(ISOC), IETF meetings, IETF secretariat costs.
New publications were
introduced. We developed the publications section of ISOCs web site,
with the Internet Report (thanks to Geoff Huston & Telstra), Member
Briefings, ISP Article (Geoff Huston), an Invited Authors
section, and Articles of Interest, i.e. reprints from IEEE ComSoc, IPJ,
etc. We have an agreement with G. Huston et al to write ISOC Official
History. The Public Policy/Publications Committee is a very helpful resource
and a huge help.
The .Org bid was successful.
By December 02, all contracts were successfully negotiated with
ICANN and Afilias. ISOC provided significant support to .org start-up,
giving them a turn key operation and allowing a successful, crisis-free
transition. We successfully negotiated reimbursement for costs incurred
by ISOC for said support ($190K - salaries & PIR expenses). The .Org
operations very successfully transitioned in January 03; it was
completely transparent, no impact on end users. The verisign $5M endowment
was agreed and transferred in January03. In summary, this was an
exceptionally successful new endeavor for ISOC; especially, public stature
of ISOC was significantly enhanced.
We have established
a clear separation of responsibilities for the management of the .Org
domain. PIR manages the registry, set policy, develop/introduce products,
and is in charge of registrar relations, marketing/communications, Advisory
Council, etc. ISOC is in charge of program development. & marketing
outreach as we have established reputation and channels; our history of
technical clue, non-commercial familiarity, channels,
responsible participation in net policy and user practices was the
key differentiator in our bid. Afilias is the back-end service provider.
ISOCs 2003 budget
assumed a net contribution from PIR (after deducting direct expenses)
of approx. $170K to cover outreach and oversight fees. PIR has committed
to giving an initial $200K to ISOC for our Standards activities and $100K
for Education, so the budget goal is secure with net contribution of $200K.
Future projects are being prepared for review with PIR. We still need
to finalize the process regarding project support and ISOCs role,
and to agree how ISOC recoups costs such as Board support, oversight,
use of channels,etc. These discussions will be facilitated with the recent
appointment of a President for PIR - Ed Viltz.
V. Financial report
Lynn presents the financial report.
The 2002 P&L can
be summarized as follow. The P&L Budgeted surplus was $149K, the actual
is $86K, a shortfall of $63K. The shortfall is the result of post-budget
additions of INET02 and .ORG. The traditional org. revenues are
behind budget by $28K - a good performance given economic conditions.
Platinum revenues are behind budget by $144K, mostly due to the unexpected
loss of one Platinum member early in the year. The program revenue decline
is offset by IM 2001 deferred revenues. Expenses were better than budget
by $134K, largely due to RFC Editor under-spending; the program expense
reduction offset by INET02 and G&A. In short, we had less expenses,
less revenues, and a hard year.
The balance sheet
improved in 2002. As a result of the surplus achieved, the negative net
asset was reduced by $86K to $294K (23% reduction). Cash & Cash equivalents
equal $193K at year end and cash available for operations was 6 weeks
- higher than on average throughout year. Accounts payable = $307K and
are composed of RFC Editor payments and INET02 as we were waiting
final reconciliation. INET02 was paid 1/03, RFC Editor to be paid
3/03.
The 2002 revenue still
show $99K revenue from individual members; these are revenues deferred
from 2001. Today, the total revenue from higher level individual members
is about $13K. If we were only spending recurring revenues, we would have
deficit of more than 80K. We should discuss later whether chapters should
fund the IM pillar; there is no formal proposal.
Barbara asks for clarification
on the PIR expenses. Lynn answers that these expenses sum up to a total
of $190K, which includes 128K in direct salary expenses; the difference
comes from ancillary expenses.
Lynn continues with
the discussion of the 2003 budget. The cost savings in the budget amount
to $126K, better than the $100K targeted, and execution is on track, with
all contracts signed. Organizations revenues are a challenging target;
todays running rate is $0.9M vs. a budget of $1.3M. Lynn reminds
the board that, in order to account for attrition and calendar effects,
this means we need to bring in approx. $900K in new org. member revenues.
The Platinum revenue are expected to meet budget. The implication of our
project role for PIR still to be determined, but the budgeted net contribution
looks secure. The expenses are on track. In summary, the budget is very
aggressive especially given the world conditions. Lynn is actively pursuing
other revenue streams to lessen dependence upon org. revenues.
Brian proposes a motion to thanks to Qualys and Sida; George seconds. The vote to approve is unanimous.
Resolution 03-4 Expression of gratitude to Qualys and Sida
RESOLVED
that the Board records its gratitude to both Qualys and Sida for their
recent decisions to make substantial donations to ISOC.
Ed Viltz asks whether
there is a commitment to have PIR activities mostly through ISOC? Fred
answers that this was the idea, but not necessarily only ISOC. For David
Maher, it is very clear that a significant amount of activity will be
carried through ISOC.
VI.Education pillars update
As Randy Bush could not be present, the report is presented by Zita Wenzel.
The vision statement
for the educational pillar is: We leverage successful network education
and train the trainers in situ and encourage cross-country
technology transfer while educating policy makers about options and consequences
and all countries about standards and new technologies directions.
The goals are: to maximize decentralized, distributed network education;
to train local networkers, particularly in less advantaged regions, and
develop trainers; to educate public policy makers around the world potentially
so they help, rather than hinder, prudent and secure Internet diffusion
and development; to educate and guide all economies economies by presenting
standards and technology advisories.
The current activities
are enabled by Qualys funding for workshop courseware development (adding
IPv6 and IPSEC to the current material), and Sida funding of ~$100K for
ANW/NTW, which will support in-country workshops. The courseware is developed
in cooperation with the University of Oregon. Several Network Technology
Workshops are planned: AfNOG 3 8-13 June 2003 in Kampala, Uganda; WALC
2003; and a Thailand Regional Training Center.
Zita observes that
both Randy and her have "other hats" that help them identify
new opportunities. Latif suggests to work with the Japanese IPv6 promotion
council. Fred observes that the DoC announced that they are doing an initiative
with UNDP for sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal) -- see press release. Rosa
congratulates Randy & Zita, and ask about language support in Uganda;
Zita answers that there will be courses in both French & English,
support for both language important for reaching French speaking Africa.
Rosa would like briefing on big issues, for use by UN agencies, i.e. a
larger audience than just ISOC.
VII. Report of the Nomination Committee
Kees reports that the nomination committee is on track, and now in the
petition period. No petition has been received yet. The report is on ISOCs
web page.
Brian asks the state
of the IETF process. Fred answers that the IAB is considering 3 nominations,
but there is no decision yet.
VIII. Report of the Election Committee
Alan reports that the committee work is just starting. He is worried that
lack of petition indicates lack of interest. There is a problem in the
current process: lack of automation would result in a lot more activity;
web voting is not yet available, they are looking for program. Worse case
would be a manual election process; otherwise the committee is in good
shape.
Lynn will work on
automation issue. Alan observes that ISOCs webmaster has no time
for election activity; in any case, enabling web voting requirtes just
a few hours of work by a skilled person. Fred asks Alan to coordinate
with Lynn.
IX. PIR Review
David Maher, who chairs the PIR board, introduces PIRs new CEO,
Ed Viltz.
Ed starts his presentation
by thanking the ISOC board for making PIR a reality. PIR has already passed
several milestones: the contract to manage the .org TLD was awarded October
14, 2002, and signed by ICANN December 3; the first full time employee
was hired December 16; PIR assumed responsibility for .org January 1,
2003; PIR transitioned 2,663,320 .org domains January 25, with no outages
experienced by domain registrants; the second employee, the President
and CEO begins February 28. PIR has staffed 20 of 21 slots in the advisory
board, with representatives from Africa, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North
America, and South America. They want the advisory board to give advice
on policy issues that affect community. One open seat will be confirmed
tomorrow.
The PIR customers
are the registrars. There are huge economies of scale in the registrar
business, which implies consolidation: the 20 largest of 110 registrars
account for 90% names. .Org is the 5th largest domain, with 2.4M domains
registered; the other fast growing domains are .de and .uk.
The original revenue
projections were very low. PIR plans now $7.2M in new registrations and
$9M in renewals in 2003, plus a $833K grant, for a total revenue of $17M.
The operation cost should be split between back end function contracted
to Afilias for $11M, and PIR expenses of $1.5M. In 2003, about $3.2M will
be affected to taxes and reserves, and $1.1M will be available for program
contributions; a larger amount will be available if PIR manages to obtain
a tax exempt status. The need to build reserves will diminish in 2004,
allowing probably for a doubling of program contributions in 2004.
Ed presents himself
as a businessman, and his immediate priorities are: develop operating
procedures; secure 501c(3) tax status; kick off first Advisory Council
meeting; convert from RRP to EPP, thin to thick; implement a Redemption
Grace Period; determine roll out process of IDNs; enhance the web site
as a resource for non-profit organizations; and schedule development and
introduction of new products/services.
Fred asks whether
implementing the IDN standard should be a higher priority? Ed observes
that the standard is brand new. Brian points out a serious need for applications
using IDN standard, why not fund some public domain implementations?
Wawa asks whether
there would be a way to help chapters. Rosa asks if there is a plan to
provide priority to non profit orgs? Ed answers that this is absolutely
the plan, and will ask the advisory council for guidance on practical
policies.
X. Public Policy
Mike Nelson presents the public policy report, starting with his own background
and understanding of ISOC.
The rapid changes
in technology, e.g. web services, create a need to inform policy process.
Isoc should focus on its strength: access to Internet technical leaders,
understanding of IETF standards, global perspective, knowledge of new
technologies, and connections, especially in the developing world. ISOC
should focus on technology, not law or economics; isoc has not much credibility
on law or finances, but has real credibility on technology. Mike plans
to send a letter to all ISOC members, highlighting Public Policy efforts,
in order to define broad themes, solicit advice, and recruit volunteers.
The high level goals
of our policy effort should be organized around five positive themes,
five abilities that we must ensure: ability to connect, i.e preserve end-to-end;
ability to Speak, i.e. oppose censorship; ability to innovate, i.e. open
standards; ability to share, i.e. ensure fair use; and ability to Choose,
i.e. foster competition. These themes can be declined in concrete examples:
opposition to censorship -- ability to speak; digital divide -- ability
to choose (competition drives down prices); opposition to new database
protection legislation -- ability to share; promotion of ipv6 -- ability
to innovate; opposition to Panama's restrictions on voice over ip -- ability
to connect and ability to choose; opposition to provisions requiring ISP
to retain user data in council of Europe cyber-crime treaty -- ability
to speak; accessibility for the disabled -- ability to connect; opposition
to encryption controls -- ability to innovate and ability of speech; promotion
of new wireless technologies (e.g. 802.11) -- ability to connect and ability
to innovate; and opposition to legislation dictating drm standards --
ability to share.
For Mike, having clearly
articulated policy priorities is important. Corporation more likely to
join if they see clear actions by ISOC, and this will also attract more
individual membership. Mike quotes Tim O'Reilly, who predicted that ISOC
could be the Sierra Club for the internet.
Mike regrets the relative
lack of impact of previous white papers: there was no "echo effect".
He suggests to organize this by presenting issues to debate, organizing
a survey of ISOC members opinions on key issues, such as for example Instant
Messaging interoperability, spectrum for 802.11, international cost-sharing?
He would like to conduct surveys on a monthly basis.
Another idea is to
organize a Policy Help Desk for key policy advisors, which
would provide them with access to isoc experts for quick answers. This
could be completed by an Internet policy portal, and by providing
more white papers to chapters and members.
Fred: suggest that
the help desk coordinates with IETF and IAB. Mike agrees,
but insists on the need for quick reactions: the problem of policy maker
is to get information quickly, otherwise there is a tendency to rely on
closest lobbyist.
Fred mentions discussion
between Margaret Wasserman and the US government, regarding the transition
to ipv6.
Brian commends the
positive tone of the report, even if we in fact have to oppose some unfortunate
policy initiatives.
Mike ends his presentation
with a plea for help. He needs information about priorities, early warning
about policy fires, and also identification of key policy players and
key experts.
Rosa congratulates
Mike on a fantastic work! Here concerns are, do we have enough resource?
do we need to organize volunteers on a regional basis? Mike answers that
we need indeed all the help we can get; the real issue is not developing
the policy, but rather making it known.
Glenn is glad to have
Mike on board. The proposal looks like an internet bill of rights! Do
you want anything on WSIS? Mike answers that there are lots of concern
with WSIS, it is very un-focused, the agenda is so undefined that it is
unlikely the UN goal of having head of state attend will be met. Mike
circulated a wish list, got some feed back. We should focus on specific
actions that can actually have an impact.
Glenn asks whether
INET 2004 will have an impact? Mike answers that INET 2002 actually had
an impact, because of outreach when building the program. INET is important
for keeping a high profile for ISOC. INET 2002 did raise ISOC's profile,
because of the press we got.
For Alan the role
of competition should be discussed, as it has a tendency to leave some
sites unequipped. Mike answers that competition alone will not necessarily
equip the unequipped; we need new technologies; but we also see the negative
impact of tariffs in many developing countries.
The survey look like
a heavy content analysis load; can it be presented as opinion? Also, who
will man the help desk? looks like lots of work for volunteers. Mike answers
that we will need a lot of organization...
XI. ECC update
Jim Galvin, presents an update on the ECC issue, prepared with Veni Markovski
and Lynn St. Amour. The ECC organizers have proposed Bylaws/MOU for a
legal entity; ABSL in Luxembourg. This is a detailed, complex document,
which is not unexpected but is difficult to evaluate. ISOC has proposed
Bylaws/MOU that both formally recognizes the ECC and establishes the basis
for our relationship. These are aligned with our Chapter Model to ease
its review and understanding.
An issue is the legal
status of the planned ECC. The organizers apparently want a legal entity,
in order to have access to EU funding; they reject Geneva and ISOC-US
as not being European enough. ISOC proposed that form follows
function, and that we first examine the projects that justify a legal
entity, such as ISOC representation in the European ICANN RALO, or ISOC
representation in the .EU TLD registry. It is unclear that these proposed
activities actually require a public entity.
Jim, Veni and Lynn
request that the Board affirms the position they have been representing
with respect to a legal entity. As there are also some very contradictory
opinions floated in the chapters, Jim, Veni and Lynn suggest that we conduct
an explicit, proactive poll of all the current ECC members to determine
exactly what each of their positions is with respect to both our MOU and
the ECC MOU. This will be done by sending a mail to ECC list, but also
sending a letter to each president of each chapter.
For Glenn, ISOC should
be seen as an enabler; we need to actually speak with each chapter president.
Brian observes that if we need to participate to EU call for proposals,
we should have the proper organization. Jim replies that the real question
is not whether they need a legal entity, but what for. Latif recommends
that we do not expose our problem to the outside world, as this shows
lack of maturity in handling chapters. For Fred, we don't want to have
a long discussion followed by a lengthy conclusion
XII. Individual membership
Jim Galvin presents the report of the Individual Membership committee,
which was composed of himself, Terry Weigler who handles individual members
at ISOC, five trustees (Alan Greenberg, Barbara Fraser, Brian E Carpenter,
Veni Markovski, and Wawa Ngenge), and five individual members (Jean-Claude
Guédon, William F. Slater, III, Christian de Larrinaga, Tommi Karttaavi,
and Anthony S. Lee).
The committee finds
that ISOC member database is an essential issue. The current system relies
substantially on manual support; with a good system almost any membership
model would be workable. The new database should allow web management
of Members, Chapters, and Staff, and should Includes accepting payments
online in the future; if should have group management features, automatic
data entry verification feature, automated response features, better reporting
capabilities, and more automation in general. The committee recommends
that the board undertakes to have a detailed RFP issued to investigate
both in-house software solutions and outsourced service solutions to manage
the membership database. They recognize there will be a real cost associated
with a solution, and do not have a good sense of that actual cost, which
makes it difficult to evaluate. This needs to be a priority. A free membership
category can not be cost-effectively supported with the labor intensive
system we have today; we cannot act on a membership model without knowing
what it will cost.
The committee has
started to study how we could introduce various types of individual memberships,
e.g. global members, chapter members, patrons, and professional. The global
membership would be free, while the other type of members would participate
in the election of trustees. The board members discussed various elements
of this proposal, e.g. the need that a given member vote at most once,
the possible redundancy between election of trustees by chapters and by
individual members, and the need to contain and possibly reduce the size
of the board. Jim concludes that the committee will continue working.
Fred observes that we need a concrete proposal, and cannot resolve the
issue now.
XIII. Inet 2004
Veni Markovski presents the results of the committee charged with investigating
the organization of INET 2004. The only proposal available is to organize
a conference in Barcelona, in conjunction with the Internet Global Congress,
with focus on single topic, for example security. The conference will
be self financed.
Rosa supports the
proposal; believes that having a single security topic is good, and believes
that Barcelona is attractive location for Spanish speaking members of
ISOC in Latin America.
Veni states that the
local organizers are very motivated, that the major of Barcelona will
be involved... and that we have no other option. His suggestion for the
conference title is: "a secure internet in an open world".
Mike Nelson objects
that the main selling point of ISOC 2002 was breadth of conference. The
keyword seems narrow. A single topic will radically reduce number of sponsors.
For Brian, a single theme is more important than single topic. For Mike,
a single track makes sense, single topic does not.
Brian insists that
we need an MOU with the organizers as soon as possible.
For Richard Perlman,
we should not go forward if board members do not individually support
the conference, e.g. by not claiming free admission. There is no way to
get something for nothing, ISOC should invest in the conference, or it
will not be successful.
George believes that
INET are great, but there is an issue with Barcelona. A one track conference
will have limited attendance; will be perceived as a failure. A real INET
should have many tracks! Don't go for it if we don't have the right model.
We should instead affiliate with an existing regional conference
Christian recalls
the conclusions of his report, i.e. that a single track is very important.
Veni has sent an e-mail
describing the conference. We need to close the program this month. We
have enough local sponsors, no big concern for industry sponsors.
Erik supports a single
track as porposed in Christians repart, and supports Brian's multiple
topics in a single track. We should go for invitation talk mostly, and
ISOC should indeed invest, as Richard suggests. He looks at Barcelona
as the only possible alternative.
Brian proposes a motion,
that the board approves Barcelona in principle, and delegate the final
decisions to the Executive Committee. Glenn observes that we need a budget,
and Lynn adds that we need an MOU. Kees asks why not just get a final
proposal and proceed with an electronic vote of the board? For Brian,
this would not be expedient. Veni insists that the Spanish organizers
need a decision before the end of the month; Fred agrees, but observes
that we need plan. George would rather involve the full board than delegate;
Richard also intervenes and outlines the need of actual board involvement.
However Brian points out that with the current procedure, a full board
discussion can add up to 3 months of delay. Brian initial motion is amended,
is seconded by Latif. 11 trustees vote yes, 0 vote no, Wawa and George
abstain. The motion is adopted.
Resolution 03-5
In favor of organizing INET 2004 in Barcelona
RESOLVED
that the Board is generally in favor of an INET 2004 conference, but
wants the executive committee to come back with a precise recommendation
(for or against) after working with Veni within two weeks.
Fred commits to an
executive-committee conference call next week to consider Venis
proposal.
The meeting is adjourned
at 12:40 pm PST.
Summary of resolutions
Resolution 03-1 Amendments of PIR articles of incorporation and By-laws
RESOLVED that
the amendments to the Public Interest Registry's (PIR) Articles of Incorporation
(attached) and By-laws (attached) be accepted to support a 501(c)(3)
designation.
Resolution 03-2 Approval of the Code of Conduct
RESOLVED
that the Board of Trustees approves the attached Code of Conduct for
Individual Members, and requests that it be drawn to the attention of
all present and future Individual Members.
Resolution 03-3 Confirmation of the nomination of new IAB members
RESOLVED
that the Board of Trustees confirm the slate of nominated IAB members:
Rob Austein, Sally Floyd, Geoff Huston, Patrik Faltstrom, Mark Handley,
Bernard Aboba, and Jun-ichiro Itojun Hagino.
Resolution 03-4 Expression of gratitude to Qualys and Sida
RESOLVED
that the Board records its gratitude to both Qualys and Sida for their
recent decisions to make substantial donations to ISOC.
Resolution 03-5 In favor of organizing INET 2004 in Barcelona
RESOLVED
that the Board is generally in favor of an INET 2004 conference, but
wants the executive committee to come back with a precise recommendation
(for or against) after working with Veni within two weeks.
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