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From a linked source [1]: > Vint Cerf, former Chairman of the Board of ICANN and founding President of the Internet Society, said in a statement: “When the Int

From a linked source [1]: > Vint Cerf, former Chairman of the Board of ICANN and founding President of the Internet Society, said in a statement: “When the Internet Society won the bid to operate the .ORG registry, it enabled a productive and sustainable future for the organisation. Public Interest Registry exercised its stewardship to the benefit of the registrants and the Internet Society’s mission. I am looking forward to supporting Ethos Capital and PIR in any way I can as they continue to expand the utility of the .ORG top-level domain in creative and socially responsible ways.” And then an outline of what "expand" might mean in that context: > Going forward, PIR and Ethos Capital are planning to launch several new initiatives aimed at promoting and supporting the .ORG Community, including: Establishing a Stewardship Council that will serve to uphold PIR’s core founding values and provide support through a variety of community programs; Launching a Community Enablement Fund to support the financing of current and additional initiatives undertaken by key Internet organisations; and Expanding a program to award .ORG prizes to promote the success and positive impact of non-profit organisations. Which is surely the most transparent flimflam imaginable and which anybody in the business world would interpret as doing absolutely nothing at all. /s I can't wait to see the fabulous prizes /s... [1] http://www.domainpulse.com/2019/11/14/pir-eyeing-growth-ethos-capital-takeover/ http://www.domainpulse.com/2019/11/14/pir-eyeing-growth-etho...

0x0 7y ago
What happened here? Did Vint Cerf become a villain?
- scandox 7y ago
  Well it's not about heroism or villainy. It's just imperfect humanity.
- nullc 7y ago
  The Matrix called it. :) Jokes aside, this sort of stuff is complicated. Seen from Vint Cerf's position it might sound legitimate. Certainly some form of reorganization which might collect more funding for development and maintenance of the internet in the public interest wouldn't by itself be bad on its face. It wouldn't be the first time some up-in-the-clouds authority had too much trust in their friends and colleagues that what they were up-to was actually kosher and, as a result, carelessly dispensed with the required ritual corporate-speak niceties only to suffer embarrassment later. You should also keep in mind that any time you see someone quoted in a press release there is a very high chance that the press release author wrote the quote. It's the norm to suggest copy and pass it over for approval. Some people have their staff accept boring pap like that from friendly organizations without ever seeing it themselves. I personally never let someone write a quote for me and I found that this turned me into a nuisance... but lots of people do (presumably they don't like being nuisances!). I think they deserve what they get for it, but understanding what might have happened can make it more explicable if not more excusable.
- ocdtrekkie 7y ago
  Vint Cerf doesn't exactly work for a non-profit organization. He's worked for Google since 2005.
- syshum 7y ago
  Power Corrupts, sometimes with out the people even knowing they have been corrupted Most of the time people do not see themselves as the villain, even those committing a fraud find all kinds of way to justify their actions
  - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
    Yes, like politicians that spend their careers compromising on every issue to keep in office, so they can press their serious issue they care about. And find a 20-year career has passed and they never did it. People live one day, one decision at a time. Without a clear 'mission statement' and a clear knowledge of the risk carried by each decision, we all tend to be very conservative. Which means, support the status quo for now in hope of better change in the future. Which might never come.
- nikolay 7y ago
  Not all people preserve their sanity with age...
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 7y ago
> and Expanding a program to award .ORG prizes to promote the success and positive impact of non-profit organisations. WTF? So, non-profits collect donations from people who want to support their respective missions, and now these scammers come along and want to use a monopoly to redistribute those donations based on what they think who the donations should go to, and then even want to be recognized for their "work" of forcing the redistribution of donations? If there is one thing the .org registry could do to "promote the success and positive impact of non-profit organisations", then that would be to optimize their business as much as possible and offer the cheapest domain registrations on the market, so that non-profits can keep as much of their money as possible to spend on their core mission. Even these bullshit "promises" would still be blatant corruption, you really have to wonder how much of a moron Vint Cerf is for not seeing that.
rasz 7y ago
The "Privacy may actually be an anomaly", defender of Google's Project Maven, Google/Verizon "Wireless services are exempt from Net Neutrality" deal Vint Cerf?

0x0 7y ago

What happened here? Did Vint Cerf become a villain?

scandox 7y ago
Well it's not about heroism or villainy. It's just imperfect humanity.
nullc 7y ago
The Matrix called it. :) Jokes aside, this sort of stuff is complicated. Seen from Vint Cerf's position it might sound legitimate. Certainly some form of reorganization which might collect more funding for development and maintenance of the internet in the public interest wouldn't by itself be bad on its face. It wouldn't be the first time some up-in-the-clouds authority had too much trust in their friends and colleagues that what they were up-to was actually kosher and, as a result, carelessly dispensed with the required ritual corporate-speak niceties only to suffer embarrassment later. You should also keep in mind that any time you see someone quoted in a press release there is a very high chance that the press release author wrote the quote. It's the norm to suggest copy and pass it over for approval. Some people have their staff accept boring pap like that from friendly organizations without ever seeing it themselves. I personally never let someone write a quote for me and I found that this turned me into a nuisance... but lots of people do (presumably they don't like being nuisances!). I think they deserve what they get for it, but understanding what might have happened can make it more explicable if not more excusable.
ocdtrekkie 7y ago
Vint Cerf doesn't exactly work for a non-profit organization. He's worked for Google since 2005.
syshum 7y ago
Power Corrupts, sometimes with out the people even knowing they have been corrupted Most of the time people do not see themselves as the villain, even those committing a fraud find all kinds of way to justify their actions
- JoeAltmaier 7y ago
  Yes, like politicians that spend their careers compromising on every issue to keep in office, so they can press their serious issue they care about. And find a 20-year career has passed and they never did it. People live one day, one decision at a time. Without a clear 'mission statement' and a clear knowledge of the risk carried by each decision, we all tend to be very conservative. Which means, support the status quo for now in hope of better change in the future. Which might never come.
nikolay 7y ago
Not all people preserve their sanity with age...

zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 7y ago

> and Expanding a program to award .ORG prizes to promote the success and positive impact of non-profit organisations. WTF? So, non-profits collect donations from people who want to support their respective missions, and now these scammers come along and want to use a monopoly to redistribute those donations based on what they think who the donations should go to, and then even want to be recognized for their "work" of forcing the redistribution of donations? If there is one thing the .org registry could do to "promote the success and positive impact of non-profit organisations", then that would be to optimize their business as much as possible and offer the cheapest domain registrations on the market, so that non-profits can keep as much of their money as possible to spend on their core mission. Even these bullshit "promises" would still be blatant corruption, you really have to wonder how much of a moron Vint Cerf is for not seeing that.

rasz 7y ago

The "Privacy may actually be an anomaly", defender of Google's Project Maven, Google/Verizon "Wireless services are exempt from Net Neutrality" deal Vint Cerf?