[Membership] Re: [IFWP] ICANN Supporters BOYCOTT !!

[Ronda Hauben <ronda@panix.com>]

Bob Allisat <bob@fcn.net> wrote:

>http://www.icann.org/contributors.html ...
+
>+ The ICANN Board of Directors thanks the following contributors
>+ to the ICANN Startup Fund for their generosity:
>+
>+ Compaq Computer Corporation, $25,000
>+ IBM, $25,000
>+ MCI Worldcom, $25,000
>+ Netscape Communications Corporation, $15,000
>+ Paul D. Stauffer, $1,000
>+ Symantec, $15,000
>+ UUNET, $25,000

> Hmm... as suggested by an esteemed collegue perhaps this list is
> a nice start to some form of boycott. Add to that the good folks 
> behind the IAHC/CORE <http://www.corenic.org/number.htm> and we
> have quite the nice beginings of an anti-ICANN boycott/protest!

> Bob Allisat

And isn't UUNET owned by and part of MCI Worldcom?

So 
>+ MCI Worldcom, $25,000
+
>+ UUNET, $25,000

------------------------
MCI Worldcom  - $50,000

And at least in the 1980's IBM folks were on MCI Worldcom's Board
of directors. And in the privatization of the NSF Backbone,
IBM and MCI worked joined together on that and MCI ended up with
great benefit as a result (and one guesses that IBM did as well
or they wouldn't be back with their hands out for this takeover
of public property.)

Does anyone know the relationship between MCI and IBM?

So the MCI worldcom/IBM investment in grabbing control of the 
Internet as listed above is $75,000

And what about Microsoft's connection to all this? UUNET
is involved with Microsoft.

Are the other companies connected to each other or to MCI-Worldcom
as well?

It would be good to hear why they think it is in the public's
interest to give some private, irresponsible and hidden
entities control over the controlling functions of the Internet.

>+ Netscape Communications Corporation, $15,000

Didn't they encourage the U.S. government to bring an
anti trust suit against Microsoft?

And yet they are happy to take a much greater forcus
of power over the Internet and put it in hidden hands
that are likely to include Microsoft's?


Ronda



             Netizens: On the History and Impact
               of Usenet and the Internet
          http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/
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