ISOC's financial ability to run .org a serious concern

["Aleck Johnson" <asjunk@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

ICANN’s recent recommendation to assign control of the .org domain to the 
Internet Society is, I’m sure, well intentioned.  ISOC’s mere existence as 
an organization representing individuals and organizations using the 
Internet, founded by some of the Internet’s early luminaries, is a powerful 
statement for the common good and the future of the Internet as an open, 
humane medium.

However, ISOC in practice has varied rather widely from ISOC in promise, and 
while the ideals of the organization are sound, the organization itself is 
not.  For example, in the past few months, ISOC has revamped its governance 
structure and stripped its individual members of their right to participate 
in electing the Board of Directors.  Moreover, ISOC has proven itself unable 
to manage its own financial affairs, accruing significant debt that, in 
their own auditor’s words, “raise a substantial doubt about the Internet 
Society’s ability to continue as a going concern” (see 
http://www.isoc.org/dotorg/bid/AppendixA.html#A1).

In response to a question I raised on the ICANN discussion boards, ISOC 
replied that they were financially able to cover the costs of administering 
.org regardless of whether or not they received the endowment from Verisign 
(see http://forum.icann.org/cgi-bin/rpgmessage.cgi?org;3D505E92000001CE).  
This clearly is NOT true – ISOC’s own financial audits reveal that the 
organization is virtually bankrupt and does not have the assets to undertake 
a significant project like running a TLD.  Additionally, ISOC’s proposed 
back-end technology provider, Afilias, seems to lack the financial stability 
to ensure the continued integrity of the .org domain (see 
http://www.isoc.org/dotorg/bid/AppendixA.html#A2).

ISOC is not alone.  Other bidders have also recently experienced financial 
difficulties.  I still strongly question why the financial stability of the 
new operator is not a primary criterion in this process; the continued 
stability of the .org domain needs to be the top priority in determining the 
new administrator, and that stability demands that the operator be on firm 
financial ground.

While I am a strong proponent of running the .org domain in such a fashion 
that it can continue to serve the public interest and promote the values 
that nonprofit groups across the world espouse, I strongly object to using 
.org as a crutch to fund ISOC.  None of the TLDs should be entrusted to 
organizations that are financially unsound.  There is simply too much at 
stake in controlling and administering the DNS system to risk it on an 
organization with shaky finances, no matter how well intentioned.  ISOC 
should not be entrusted with the administration of the .org domain.

Shelton Johnson

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