RE: [npoc-voice] NPOC to testify before the US Senate Commerce Committee

["Hansen, Anjali" <AHansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There was a great editorial in the Washington Post:  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/whats-the-rush/2011/12/09/gIQA5Ms9nO_story.html

I was asked to testify on behalf of the Council of Better Business Bureaus for 
this Wednesday's hearing on new gTLDs before the House Committee on Energy and 
Commerce's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.  I will raise many of 
the same concerns as Angela.  In addition, I'd like to respond to the criticism 
in a press report:  
http://www.domainpulse.com/2011/12/09/icann-critics-complain-over-new-gtlds-to-senate-but-little-any-can-do/.
  It states that the "Williams is a stooge for the part of the intellectual 
property lobby that is vociferously opposing the introduction of new gTLDs, and 
as Kieren McCarthy recently pointed 
out<http://news.dot-nxt.com/2011/12/06/ip-lobby-ymca>, the YMCA has never been 
involved in ICANN's activities until the Dakar meeting in October this year."  
They will be able to say the same thing about us and I want to offensively 
raise the issue that we are only now getting involved.

I would appreciate any advice on that issue.  My thoughts are that our 
organization, like many nonprofits, are not high tech industry groups in the 
business of registry and registrar operations to justify following ICANN 
policies closely.  We don't have thousands of dollars to jet set all over the 
world to attend ICANN meetings.  ICANN only this past Spring publicly announced 
the TLD expansion plan.

Let me know other thoughts.  My testimony is due today and I'm finalizing it 
within the next couple of hours.

Many thanks.

Anjali


Anjali Karina Hansen | Attorney

Tel: 703-247-9340
Fax: 703-276-0634
Email: ahansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:ahansen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
www.bbb.org<http://www.bbb.org/> | Start With Trust

Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc.
4200 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 800
Arlington, VA  22203

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From: owner-npoc-voice@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-npoc-voice@xxxxxxxxx] On Behalf 
Of Alain Berranger
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2011 1:57 PM
To: Amber Sterling
Cc: npoc-voice@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [npoc-voice] NPOC to testify before the US Senate Commerce 
Committee

Thanks Amber and thanks to Angela,

I think this speaks well for the large global NGOs raising their funds in the 
OECD and emerging countries. We will need to develop a position for the 
multitude of small NGOs in the developing world.
I know NPOC wishes to speak for all NGOs.

Best, Alain
On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 4:51 PM, Amber Sterling 
<asterling@xxxxxxxx<mailto:asterling@xxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Hi All,

Very exciting news!  On Friday afternoon, NPOC was invited to testify before 
the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation 
regarding ICANN's new gTLD program.  The hearing is scheduled for Thursday, 
December 8, at 10:00 a.m. ET.  The hearing will be held in the Russell Senate 
Office Building (Room 253), but will also be webcast live.  For more 
information, please visit the Commerce Committee 
website<http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Hearings&ContentRecord_id=22f4a71e-93e9-4711-acec-3ed7f52277cc&ContentType_id=14f995b9-dfa5-407a-9d35-56cc7152a7ed&Group_id=b06c39af-e033-4cba-9221-de668ca1978a>.

The YMCA has graciously offered to take point and Angela Williams, General 
Counsel of the YMCA of the USA, has graciously agreed to provide such testimony 
on behalf of the YMCA and NPOC members.  I would like to thank Angela Williams, 
Michael Carson, Debbie Hughes, and Judy Branzelle in particular for their hard 
work drafting over the weekend!

The testimony Angela will be giving on Thursday is attached and focuses on the 
economic impact not-for-profit organizations will face if the new gTLD program 
proceeds unchanged.  This testimony is quite similar in content and tone to 
previously issued NPOC statements.

Please let me know as soon as possible if there is anything in the testimony 
that your organization finds objectionable.  Otherwise, with the short notice 
of the hearing we unfortunately do not have time to further wordsmith/refine.

If you are able, NPOC encourages you or a representative from your organization 
to consider attending the Senate hearing in person.
Kind regards,
Amber

Amber Sterling
Senior Intellectual Property Specialist
Association of American Medical Colleges
2450 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20037
(P) 202-862-6139<tel:202-862-6139>
(F) 202-828-0659<tel:202-828-0659>




--
Alain Berranger, B.Eng, MBA
Member, Board of Directors, CECI, 
http://www.ceci.ca<http://www.ceci.ca/en/about-ceci/team/board-of-directors/>
Executive-in-residence, Schulich School of Business, 
www.schulich.yorku.ca<http://www.schulich.yorku.ca>
NA representative, Chasquinet Foundation, 
www.chasquinet.org<http://www.chasquinet.org>
interim Vice Chair, NPOC, NCSG, ICANN, http://npoc.org/
O:+1 514 484 7824; M:+1 514 704 7824
Skype: alain.berranger