Meeting - Feb 19 2008

ISOC-NY held a public meeting on Feb 19 2008 at NYU.

Attendees

• David Solomonoff
• Joseph Shraibman
• Joly MacFie
• Danny Younger
• Evan Korth
• Dovlet Saparli
• Gene Gaines (by phone)

Minutes

1. ISOC-DC - Gene Gaines spoke about collaboration between ISOC-DC and ISOC-NY.

1. Website - It is agreed that ISOC-NY will assist ISOC-DC in creating a new website.
2. Meetings - Methods of collaboration on meetings, including ISOC's Marratech server, will be explored.
3. Events - Limited inter-chapter webcasting of conferences, of which there are plenty in DC, is a possibility.
4. Scholarships - Gene suggests arranging 'scholarships' (i.e. free passes) for chapter members to attend conferences, including the IETF meeting in Philadelphia in March.

Follow-up - use Marratech to facilitate website collaboration with ISOC-DC.

2. North American Chapters Noting the newly formed Philadelphia Chapter, and recent contact from the Colorado Chapter - the possibility of forming a North American Co-ordinating Chapter along the European lines was discussed. The consensus was that a formal structure is not needed at this time, but inter-chapter communication and activities should be actively pursued.

3. ICANN

1. Registrants Danny related his recent efforts to encourage the formation of a Registrants Advisory Committee for ICANN. He considers that none of the existing structures purely look out for the interests of this important group of stakeholders.
2. JPA Danny noted that he intends to attend the DOC's mid-term review of the ICANN JPA on Feb 28. There was discussion of ISOC's submitted comments. Danny suggests that there is general consensus (not shared by the ICANN board) that ICANN needs to do more before it is seen to be robust enough to stand alone, particularly by the US politicians that will have the ultimate say. He doesn't see possible global efforts to initiate alternative roots as much of a threat.
3. IDN's Danny noted that this is still an area with much detail to be thrashed out, particularly as to which countries are going to manage certain language-based registries.
4. Fusu Danny notes that a stock exchange for domain names has been established. http://www.fusu.com/

4. Elections The following nominations were accepted:

1. President: David Solomonoff
2. Vice President (Executive): Evan Korth
3. Secretary: Joly MacFie
4. Treasurer: Joseph Shraibman
5. Board Member: Danny Younger

Further candidates:

1. Veni Markovski will hopefully be interested in continuing to serve on the board, but he sent regrets for not being able to attend tonight.
2. Dave Fletcher has been nominated by Geoffrey Barker. He is unable to attend tonight. Acceptance will be confirmed by David.

Several offices remain open including asst. secretary, asst. treasurer, and board chairman, plus we could do with a few more board members. Students and members of the commercial community are welcome.

4. Finance.

1. Our bank account has been transferred from North Fork to Washington Mutual.
2. Joseph notes that annual dues are $25.
3. We have, eventually, received $23.75 as a result of a $25 donation by Veni via the Facebook cause last August.

5. Events. Evan has access to a space on NYU that will hold 190 people. We need suggestions as to topics/speakers.

1. . Joseph suggests 'The structure of ICANN'.
2. . David suggests consumer issues be addressed. Danny suggests Beau Brendler of Consumer Reports Web Watch bio
3. . Evan plans, as a component of a class called 'Computers & Society', a series of presentations in the fall on the topic of how technology affects the electoral process in the USA. It is agreed that ISOC-NY will be a sponsor. Evan needs money to guarantee top-level speakers during election 'prime-time'.
4. . Danny suggests Tom Lowenhaudt on the topic of his .nyc domain proposal.

Follow-up: Contact Beau Brendler, Tom Lowenhaudt. Apply for a grant for Evan's series from ISOC.

6. ISXUbuntu
This project has languished due to technical and personal problems. David has now come across a similar, and more extensive, project 'Incognito' While he hasn't given up yet, he may be forced to conclude that it is a waste of resources to continue with the project, and we'd be better off adapting Incognito. We have $3000 ISOC grant money on hand. He notes that this was earmarked for distribution purposes, not for the project itself.

7. ICANN participation

1. David notes that, by all accounts, there is no problem with the chapter being a member of both the NCUC and ICANN At-Large structures.
2. We are yet to formally to apply for organizational membership of At-Large.
3. Danny has stepped down from his role as our representative to the NCUC.

There was discussion of who might succeed Danny as our ICANN point person. Veni, the only other active member with sufficient expertise, is considered, as an ICANN employee, non-eligible. Joly suggests we form an ICANN Special Interest Group, and try and recruit students at local law schools & NYU.
Follow-up: Form, and recruit members for, an ICANN Special Interest Group.

8. Website The following features are to be added to the website.

1. Calendar.
2. Job Postings RSS widget

There was some discussion as to methods on the latter. Joly's suggestion was that there be a moderated mail address 'jobs@isoc-ny.org' for input.

9. OneWebDay
Joly noted that he attended the initial planning meeting of OneWebDay New York. The event will take place on Mon September 22nd. A permit for Washington Sq Park has been applied for. Joly was able to arrange for chair Susan Crawford to address an ISOC chapter meeting at the ICANN conference in New Delhi in Feb. Evan is also actively involved.