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Topic: Fees/Costs
Last updated on 17 January 1999 by Molly Shaffer
Van Houweling, committee staff
Question Outline
4.0 FEES/COSTS
4.1 Should members pay (annual subscription,
buy shares?) (Greg Crew, Dec. 26) If not, what consideration
will create binding obligations?
4.2 How will fees be collected?
4.3 Should fees be uniform or graduated? (Diane
Cabell, Dec. 26)
4.4 Are there securities laws or other issues
that arise as a result of charging fees? (Mike Weinberg, Jan. 1)
4.5 What is the cost to ICANN of the proposed
membership and voting structures? (Mike Weinberg, Jan. 1)
Comments
4.0 FEES/COSTS
4.1 Should members pay (annual subscription,
buy shares?) (Greg Crew, Dec. 26) If not, what consideration
will create binding obligations?
-
No fees, but encourage voluntary contributions? (Greg Crew, Dec.
30)
-
California Nonprofit Corporation law provides: "Subject to the articles
or bylaws, memberships may be issued by a corporation for no consideration
or for such consideration as is determined by the board." (Cal. Corp.
Code sec. 5311)
-
The membership fee should be nominal, say, not more than 5 dollars. (Joop
Teernstra, Jan. 14, 1999)
-
For individual members -- the fee should cover the costs of being a member,
i.e. there should be no subsidy. (Karl Auerbach, Jan. 17)
4.2 How will fees be collected?
-
If fees are applied, it must be efficient to collect them. E.g., by credit
card, min. about $100. This would be considered discriminatory for many
people. (Greg Crew, Dec. 30)
4.3 Should fees be uniform or graduated?
(Diane Cabell, Dec. 26)
-
To cater for different economic capacity, set fees relative to means?
(Greg Crew, Dec. 30)
-
Introduce classes of membership; 1. Fee based, and 2. Non-fee based? (Greg
Crew, Dec. 30)
-
There have been some people who have suggested a fee structure that varies
depending on the economic ability of the individual to pay. This
makes sense, but there are risks of appearing paternalistic and condescending
if one bases it on attributes, like where the member lives, rather than
on the particular circumstances of the individual.
-
To resolve that, perhaps we just need a flat, but minimalist fee structure,
but encourage those who can pay more to do just that. (Karl Auerbach,
Jan. 17)
-
Many of us little guys won't pay much more that $5-10 US, at least until
such time as the organization has proven its metal, if not its merit.
(Syl, Jan. 17)
4.4 Are there securities laws or other issues
that arise as a result of charging fees? (Mike Weinberg, Jan. 1)
4.5 What is the cost to ICANN of the proposed
membership and voting structures? (Miike Weinberg, Jan. 1)
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