> OK, I am getting pretty tired by this catfight. Jim, we don't need
> second hand commentary about what policies may or may not be effective
> in UK. A Director there has given first hand information.
Ivan is a non-executive director of Nominet. What I said was based upon
a long conversation with the managing director.
> What we need more than almost anything for you to get together a dozen
> people in the UK, and in Europe, and write papers opposing specific
> sections of the Green Paper. And hand-deliver them to your ministers,
> or at least their staff -- this week!
We had a meeting with the UK Department of Trade and Industry on this
issue -- last week. I furnished the European Commission with a
draft reply the week before. Both the UK and the Commission appear
likely to endorse large parts of our proposal.
I have been asked by a variety of people in government and industry to
send them a draft reply. I have been authorized by ISPA UK to do so
immediately and I will by this weekend.
> Don't try to rewrite the GP, just pick a section and critique it to hell.
We will reply to the entire text of the Green Paper.
> Don't try to do this on your own. Make sure you have a group, so that
> you have several signatures on your paper. That is much more effective!
We have a group. We have several. ISPA UK is a trade association
with over 80 members. It is widely respected in the UK. We just
had our second Parliamentary Advisory Forum which met at the Houses
of Parliament. Several MPs, MEPs, and members of the House of Lords
were in attendance. The meeting was oversubscribed by 20%.
We also have EuroISPA. This is an association of the Internet trade
associations of Europe. We have ten member associations covering all
the larger members of the European Union. We have conference coming
up which will be held at the European Parliament. Our opinions are
respected at the European Commission.
> Stop squabbling with your allies. Make new allies. Organize!
We organized quite some time ago. May I suggest that rather than
exhorting us to do so, you follow our example.
-- Jim Dixon VBCnet GB Ltd http://www.vbc.net tel +44 117 929 1316 fax +44 117 927 2015