The ISOC Catalan Chapter regrets the ISOC Board’s decision to sell PIR (and the .org domain) and sees with deep concern the consequences. We request the Board to listen to the community, and to reconsider seriously the deal.
The Internet Society members consider the .org as an invaluable asset.
.org is not just another TLD
.org represents the essence of the ISOC's mission.
We cannot sell this asset. It seems the members of the Board, and some other members too, have prioritized short-term gains over long-term sustainability.
This is a reduced economic view of the asset and of the mission of the Internet Society.
In the short term, there are no signs that the exploitation of .org may fail to provide significant economic contribution to ISOC to support its activities.
Despite the patient task of the CEO and other Board members trying to explain their decision and giving response to the avalanche of messages expressing the opposition to the deal and their concern about the reputation consequences. The problem is patent: the Board must listen to the community.
Listening to the community means reconsidering the whole deal, and to act as true stewards of the values represented by the ISOC community.
PIR is a non-for-profit endeavour and a profitable and recognizable going concern. It cannot and it must not be sold to a privately managed investment fund.
.org is the essence of a global Internet and must be managed according to the principles devised for its inception.
The sale must be stopped.