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I shan't be able to come. I went to the schmooze at Cybersmith's. Internet.org has a structure about which they are still a bit coy, in my opinion, but I don't see that as necessarily an insuperable obstacle to our joining. As I understand it, they have a Board of Directors, who are currently self- appointed (that's the only way to get anything started cf: Constitutional Convention of the United States, Philadelphia, 1789). In the future they will all be elected by the Board of Management. The Board of Management is partly composed (the majority, I think) of representatives from the constituent groups (exactly one from each group), and also includes persons appointed by the Board of Management itself (i.e co-opted), and possibly of persons appointed by the Board of Directors (I'm not certain about this last). I'm not sure if there are any term limits, or what they are. Internet.org is a Trade Association, so it's tax free, and dues can be taken as a business expense, but cannot be taken as charitable donations. The reporting requirements and restrictions are less onerous for Trade Associations than for Charities. All funds must be physically under Internet.org's control (i.e. in its bank account), but they propose to keep track of distinct sub-accounts for each member group. Similarly, all property will legally be vested in the central organization, but it will be physically controlled by the group that buys it, except for the small number of items that the Board of Management decides it would be good to buy to share the use of among all (or at least, several of) the groups. Secession: in the event of a group deciding that the organization is not for it, and leaving, they would like to give to the group any property (and funds?) that it obtained for its own use, but the legalities of that need research, and they're looking into them. The idea is that the Board of Management will run the organization, and the Board of Directors will ratify its actions, but it is the latter who will be legally responsible for the organization's actions. This seems a bit strange to me, and could be self-contradictory. Are the purviews of the two boards distinguished and spelled out in any specific fashion, or is this just an earnest hope and intent? I don't know, and noone but me seemed to want to pursue these aspects of it. Were our hosts the Board of Directors, or the Board of Management? I don't know. The focus of the founders appears to be on the uses of Internet technology, rather than its development. We're somewhere in the middle, but I feel, speaking for myself, closer to business than academia, so based on what I know now I'd be reasonably comfortable to join it, particularly if I understood how it was really going to be run. I'd not, myself, met any of the directors before, except Gerry, and they all struck me as sensible and nice people, which is always a very big positive factor. One question, which only occurred to me afterwards, is: could our group affiliate with any other groups as well, if it wanted to? Would we even want to? The idea of having someone take care of the legalities, insurance, book-keeping, etc for $150/year seems like a deal that it would be hard to match! See you all in two weeks I hope =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Richard J. Royston AOI International Division richard at aoi.ultranet.com Triple I Corporation (508) 937-5400 x218 voice 847 Rogers Street #1-LRC (508) 453-5731 fax Lowell, MA 01852
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