The Future of the Internet and .ORG for Associations
The commercialization of the internet continues, but what does that mean for associations when it comes to the domain they use most? The .ORG addresses our associations use may soon be owned by a for-profit company – and nonprofits, NGOs, and now regulatory officials around the world are in an uproar.
In this interview, we talk about how it all works, the questions that have been answered and those questions that haven’t, and what it means for the future of the internet and associations.
Lots of questions were answered, like:
What is the concern all about?
What is the CCOR trying to do?
What can be done to try to block the sale?
Can everything just go back to the way it was?
How do data privacy and GDPR compliance play into all of this?
What is ICANN's role?
I think nonprofits need to understand regardless of whether you have a policy or advocacy mission or not, you are the gatekeeper of your community. And that means you need to be part of this. – Amy Sample Ward
And here was what one guest said toward the end of the interview:
Yeah, I think the positive nature of this conversation is so critical. Instead of having a conversation about whether or not private equity is good, or bad, or should own .org, we could be having a conversation about, if you had $100 million a year, how would you make the internet a better world for civil society and nonprofits? If you had a revenue stream worth a billion dollars, how could we change the world for the better? What an amazing question that is to ask, right? And I just hope that ICANN has the courage to ask it.
I hope you have time to take a look at the transcript or listen (or watch) the interview. I really do think this is one of the most important conversations we can have as association leaders today.
- KiKi
[Link to transcript:
Guests
Jacob Malthouse (@jacobmalthouse). Jacob is a SaveDotOrg advisor, dot-eco domain founder, Former UNEP & ICANN. Jacob Malthouse is co-founder of the .ECO domain. In 2007, he conceived of .ECO as an Internet domain run by the global environmental community for the greater good. He's been reporting on this story from the beginning.
Amy Sample Ward (@amyrsward). Amy is NTEN’s CEO and leading the charge with SaveDotOrg. Her prior experience in direct service, policy, philanthropy, and capacity-building organizations has also fueled her aspirations to create meaningful, inclusive, and compassionate community engagement and educational opportunities for all organizations.
Bill Woodcock (@woodyatpch). Bill is the executive director of Packet Clearing House and part of a group of Internet pioneers and philanthropists who filed incorporation papers for the Cooperative Corporation of .ORG Registrants (also called CCOR) in California as a non-profit under cooperative corporation law. This The Cooperative explicitly pledges support for the open Internet community. This is one alternative being offered rather than Ethos Capital's bid.
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