[bc-gnso] Updated BC Members List and Contacts List

[George Kirikos <icann@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks,

I asked in May that the BC Members list be updated and that an
up-to-date contacts list be sent out (the last one was ages ago):

http://forum.icann.org/lists/bc-gnso/msg00019.html

and we were told at the time that they would be updated "after the
completion of the invoicing cycle." Initial invoices were due April
21, 2009, yet it is now August 12, 2009.

Now that the BC mailing list is public and unmoderated, the
Secretariat has far fewer duties to perform, yet this task remains
undone (and the compensation of the secretariat has not been reduced!)
According to Section 4.2 of the BC charter, it's the duty of the
officers to "oversee the work" of a secretariat, yet this appears to
not have been done successfully.

Looking at the charter, the duties of the secretariat are:

1) web site hosting, design and updating
2) an e-mail list of members
3) membership fee administration and financial reporting
4) co-ordination of physical and telephone meetings

I estimate #4 takes less than 10 hours per year, given the few number
of telephone meetings that take place (which really only take minutes
to setup using internet conference call systems), and could be easily
assigned to BC members. Given the move to an unmoderated and public
mailing list managed by the GNSO, #2 essentially takes no time,
perhaps 3 hours/year at most (to add/delete people to the mailing
list, basically sending an email to Glen, or doing it via the
automated system), and once again could easily be assigned to BC
members.

As for webhosting, we're fortunate to be able to find a relevant
comparable, given that CADNA's Form 990 statement for 2007 is public,
see:

http://www.loffs.com/images/cadna-form990.pdf

According to that statement, CADNA spent $3,825 (dollars, not Euros,
see page 2, line 43) on web expenses. I think anyone taking a look at
www.cadna.org and comparing it to www.bizconst.org would note that
CADNA's site is professional, well-designed, and far superior to the
BC's website. It's clear we would get a much bigger bang for our buck
by outsourcing the website maintenance of the BC to an organization
such as the one maintaining CADNA's website.

The remaining task is simply collecting money from members! I think
this is outrageous, that the main duties of the Secretariat at this
point, taking into account the above analysis, is to collect money
from BC members, and then pay himself with our own money for that
"work."

This has gone on far too long. Since Philip Sheppard is a director of
the Secretariat, he must obviously recuse himself from discussions due
to the obvious conflict of interest. Can Mike Rodenbaugh and Zahid
Jamil, our other officers, explain how and why the above situation has
persisted for so long? Are the officers doing the best they can to
manage the finances of this organization, given that I estimate it
would cost at most $7,500/yr (if not far less) to perform all the
duties of the Secretariat, and indeed could be close to zero if the
GNSO performed some of these duties under the toolkit that has been
discussed, and under the GNSO web site improvement project that our
member Chris Chaplow has been representing us on:

http://forum.icann.org/lists/bc-gnso/msg00245.html

which would include a content management system to allow members to
maintain/update websites.

So, in conclusion:

1) Where is the updated BC members list and contacts list?
2) Why are the BC officers continuing to squander the money of the BC
members on an overcompensated and underworked Secretariat?

The time for change and improvement is now.

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
416-588-0269
http://www.leap.com/