Re: newIANA (was Fram behind closed doors via opaque channels)

[Karl Auerbach <karl@cavebear.com>]

> However I am a pragmatist and I think most of us here are pragmatists.
> We all agree that it is *above all* important to have technical
> continuity and leave the technical staff of the IANA in peace to
> do their work. There is, given the time available before September 30,
> only one way to achieve this: a non-profit corporation in California.

Please do not pre-judge the legal structure or fall into the belief that
the word "non-profit" is a talisman that one waves and all kinds of good
things automatically happen.

There are many reasons why other legal forms, perhaps in other states of
the US may prove vastly superior to a California non-profit corporation.
(For example, a California non-profit public benefit corporation has been
suggested as a superior alternative.  And there are reasons to consider
a for-profit structure.)

In Reston we found that this was an issue that transcended most of our
knowledge; we recognized the need to call upon people with specialized
expertise in this area.

We also realized that the choice of legal form tended to channel the ways
in which we can structure the powers of the new entity.

As a result of the Reston meeting I am organizing a group of legal experts
to try to come up with some suggestions on the narrow question of legal
form and site of incorporation.  These will, of course, be merely
suggestions.  (I'm not an expert in this area myself; it's my intention to
be essentially a facilitator and translator between Internet-ese and
legal-ese.)

The hard work will, of course, hanging all the policies and detailed
structures onto whatever legal skeletal form is used.

		--karl--