RE: [atlarge-discuss] Membership fees

[<bruce@barelyadequate.info>]

This is my general response to this thread:

The subject of Membership Fees has always been devisive, and as the 22 posts
I just read prove, it still is!  :)

I agree with Danny Younger that we need to have dues of some form.  We must
be able to fund the actions of this organization.  But I sympathize with
Gilbert E. Lumantao's position: given the current economy, my in-laws in
Thailand would find it hard to pay even the single US dollar Gilbert noted!

The sliding-scale idea is interesting, but sure to cause arguments between
those who paid little and those who paid more. None the less, if we were to
implement a sliding scale, I would suggest tying it to the cost of something
ubiquitous, such as "ten times the average cost of a kilogram of rice in the
local economy."  That kilogram of rice has the same intrinsic value
everywhere as a food staple, but its cost varies widely from country to
country, equating to about US $20 here in Portland, but much less elsewhere.

Stephen Waters's idea to set up hardship application process is also
compelling, but unless we tied it's approval to some kind of evidence as to
the member's financial status, it could easily become a very abused process!
I can see it now: "Yeah!  I'm disadvantaged!  I only drive a Lexus, nor a
Porshe.  I deserve hardship consideration!"  And again, a salary level that
would be generous in some developing economies is barely a living wage here,
so the rules here would have to compensate as well.

I guess, when it comes down to it, I would most favor the combination of
sliding-scale dues and a hardship process, both implemented with the
safeguards I noted above.

Bruce Young
Portland, Oregon, USA
bruce@barelyadequate.info
http://www.barelyadequate.info
--------------------------------------------
Support democratic control of the Internet!
Go to http://www.icannatlarge.org and Join ICANN At Large!



| -----Original Message-----
| From: Joop Teernstra [mailto:terastra@terabytz.co.nz]
| Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 4:26 PM
| To: Stephen Waters; Sotiris Sotiropoulos
| Cc: gilbert.lumantao@lycos.com; gilbert.lumantao@mailcity.com;
| DannyYounger@cs.com; atlarge-discuss@lists.fitug.de; James S. Tyre;
| Richard Henderson
| Subject: Re: [atlarge-discuss] Membership fees
|
|
| At 09:20 a.m. 5/06/2003, Stephen Waters wrote:
| >If dues are required, we should have a hardship application
| process for
| >those of us in lowly brackets...
|
| Yes, that is the best solution; better than country-based fees.
| We do need membership fees, but especially active participants should
| always find an open door.
|
|
| -joop-
|
|
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------
| To unsubscribe, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-unsubscribe@lists.fitug.de
| For additional commands, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-help@lists.fitug.de
|
|
|


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-unsubscribe@lists.fitug.de
For additional commands, e-mail: atlarge-discuss-help@lists.fitug.de