Re: [Wg-apnic-fees] Results of APNIC fee structure vote (fwd)

["Che-Hoo CHENG" <chcheng@ieee.org>]

Dear Nick,

Thanks for your comment.

It has been an "established" general practice for a long time for
membership to vote for major changes of membership fee structure.  EC
did make some minor changes from time to time.  You can check the
previous votings / meeting minutes in the last 10 years or so.  You
can also refer to
http://www.apnic.net/meetings/23/archive/presentations/fees-pres-cheng-history.pdf
for the summary of the history.

> Was the vote, a vote of no confidence in the Executive Council by the
> membership (in particular those at the meeting), or (as I suspect) the vote
> is invalid because it's the EC's role to set the dues in accordance with the
> By-Laws?

Neither one was the case.  Anyway, APNIC EC and APNIC Secretariat will
meet soon to discuss about the way forward.  I think the point that
you raised will be discussed for sure.

Best regards,

Che-Hoo
an APNIC EC member

On 9/17/07, Nick Hannaford <nick.hannaford@telstra.net> wrote:
> Paul,
>
> I'm a bit confused why this proposal went to a membership vote with the
> endorsement by the Executive Council. Surely if the EC supported this fee
> change as proposed by KPMG, then the EC has the power to make the changes to
> the fee structure without a membership vote.
>
> By-Laws for APNIC: http://www.apnic.net/docs/corpdocs/Bylaws.htm
>
> Section 4, last sentence:
> "Members shall pay dues as established by the Executive Council from time to
> time, and the payment of such dues shall be a condition precedent to
> effective Membership of APNIC"
>
> Was the vote, a vote of no confidence in the Executive Council by the
> membership (in particular those at the meeting), or (as I suspect) the vote
> is invalid because it's the EC's role to set the dues in accordance with the
> By-Laws?
>
> I suppose the major point of confusion is what exactly did this vote mean in
> the context of the APNIC By-Laws?
>
>
> For the record: I publicly endorsed the EC's proposal via the mailing list,
> and voted for it on-line.
>
>
> Kind regards
> Nick Hannaford
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wg-apnic-fees-bounces@apnic.net
> [mailto:wg-apnic-fees-bounces@apnic.net] On Behalf Of Paul Wilson
> Sent: Monday, 17 September 2007 10:09 AM
> To: wg-apnic-fees@lists.apnic.net
> Subject: [Wg-apnic-fees] Results of APNIC fee structure vote (fwd)
>
>
> Dear APNIC members,
>
> I would like to inform you of the outcome of the Membership vote on the
> APNIC fee structure, which was concluded during APNIC 24 in New Delhi last
> week. The results from the online and onsite polls, as announced by the
> election scrutineers, were as follows:
>
>                Yes         No
>    Online      278         62
>    Onsite      242        512
>    Total       520        574
>
> As a result, the proposed fee structure revision was therefore rejected by
> the APNIC Membership, with a margin of 54 out of a total of 1094 votes.
>
> During APNIC 24 there were several sessions in which this proposal, the fee
> structure more generally, and APNIC financial results were discussed.
> These included the Fee Structure Working Group, the National Internet
> Registry Special Interest Group, and the APNIC Members Meeting.  Full
> details including presentations and meeting transcripts can be found online
> here:
>
>    http://www.apnic.net/meetings/24/
>
>
> The APNIC EC will consider the result of this vote, along with related
> matters such as the current APNIC financial position and the influence of
> major fluctuations in the USD exchange rate, within the next few weeks.
> As reported at APNIC 24, the current financial situation is volatile, and
> the fee proposal put by the EC to the membership was not made lightly.
>
> The EC will continue its search for suitable measures that can ensure that
> APNIC operates within the necessary parameters of financial predictability
> and stability. We hope we can continue to count on your understanding and
> your continued support for APNIC through this period.
>
> If you would like to participate in discussions about this issue, please
> join the Fee Structure Working Group, whose mailing list is available at:
>
>    http://mailman.apnic.net/mailman/listinfo/wg-apnic-fees
>
>
> With best regards,
>
>
> _____________________________________________________________________
> Paul Wilson, Director-General, APNIC                     dg@apnic.net
> http://www.apnic.net                         ph/fx +61 7 3858 3100/99
>
>
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