Roberto, First of all, it would be a shame to see you go. You are a trusted and respected member of the Internet Governance community and someone that I personally admire. I hope you reconsider. Regardless, to answer your concerns, I'd present a counterpoint that is along the same lines of your argument. The project is becoming more commercially viable, and we shouldn't be scared of that, because this is how we have gotten some results up to this point. We have tried many times over the years to appeal to people's good sense and conscience about linguist diversity, and it always end up falling on deaf ears. We have come to an implicit conclusion that stakeholders need to be convinced that there is a real business opportunity here, so that they invest resources into UA expecting some form of return. It may be a less pure approach, but honestly, I think that we are still here for the same reason: we care about linguistic diversity, equity, and preservation. In that sense, nothing really changed. What does change is the economic interest behind decisions. The more the UASG's decisions impact budgets and money allocation, the more scrutiny and transparency its community needs. Let me state the obvious: the UASG has always lacked greatly in this department. Like you implied, it was conceived as a band of rebels trying to change the Internet. Now we need to have greater conscience of our role as people who will affect the financial decisions of others, not only our own. Just some thoughts. Best, On 15 May 2024 18:07, Roberto Gaetano via UA-discuss wrote:

Dear all,

May I confirm that I have no intention to provide additional SOIs for any group or organization that is part of the ICANN ecosystem.

I understand that, as a consequence, I will be removed from the UASG mailing lists. I regret this because, to be fair, my contributions to UASG has been minimal, while I have learned a lot from all subscribers to UASG (can I say “members”?), in particular during the times of Don Hollander and Ram Mohan, but also to the more recent days.

I am under the impression that times have changed. Back then, most of us were pushing UA and devoting time to it because of an ideal of giving equal opportunities to people who were at a disadvantage because of their different language or script. Now, as I stated at the ICANN 79 Public Forum as well as at the UA Days in Belgrade, attention to UA has become mainstream. This is a “good thing”, I do not regret the past when there were even ICANN Board members who said that “eventually people will learn English language and script”. However, I see the symptoms of an increased commercial interest replacing the equalitarianism approach that started this process. It is part of the normal evolution: if we do not get the commercial interest to UA we do not go very far. But the question remains: how much should the commercial interests determine the strategies and priorities? I am a fan of the multi-stakeholder model, and share the vision that the multi-stakeholder model has to be global and equal, or it is not. A situation in which the UASG gets funding from ICANN but claims an independent managing structure, and underlines this with the obligation to fill in a form that looks more like the application to a trade association than to a volunteer community, is not a “good thing”and raises in my mind some questions about where we are heading.

The fact that the form itself has been developed in such a poor way as to not being compliant with what we claim to be the ultimate purpose of our community, i.e. Universal Acceptance, only adds insult to injury. Hence my decision not to fill it in.

I am sure that I will meet most of you in other fora in the future, looking forward to it.

Best regards, Roberto

...

On 13.05.2024, at 12:41, Seda Akbulut <seda.akbulut@icann.org> wrote:

Dear Roberto, all, Kindly please use the UASG SOI form as mentioned in the email below for continuing the membership at UASG.https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/725e244f1369423182ea1bf932df6962 We appreciate your understanding. Kind regards, Seda *From:*Roberto Gaetano <roberto_gaetano@hotmail.com> *Date:*13 May 2024 Monday at 13:31 *To:*Seda Akbulut <seda.akbulut@icann.org> *Cc:*Universal Acceptance <ua-discuss@icann.org> *Subject:*[Ext] Re: [UA-discuss] ACTION REQUIRED by May 15, 2024 For Continuation of Your UASG Membership Dear Seda Thanks for the remainder. Please find the pointer to my ICANN-compliant SOI. Roberto Gaetano SOI - ALAC - Global Site <https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=43983783> community.icann.org <https://community.icann.org/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=43983783>

favicon.ico <cid:3527766F-596D-4106-8AE9-8B60371614F7>

Best regards, Roberto

...

On 13.05.2024, at 11:48, Seda Akbulut via UA-discuss <ua-discuss@icann.org> wrote: Dear all, A friendly reminder about the 15 May 2024 deadline for submitting your SOI form as described in the email below. Kind regards, Seda *From:*Seda Akbulut <seda.akbulut@icann.org <mailto:seda.akbulut@icann.org>> *Date:*21 March 2024 Thursday at 13:04 *To:*"ua-discuss@icann.org <mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>" <ua-discuss@icann.org <mailto:ua-discuss@icann.org>> *Subject:*ACTION REQUIRED by May 15, 2024 For Continuation of Your UASG Membership Dear UASG members, We hope this email finds you well. As part of ICANN’s ongoing efforts to enhance transparency and accountability within the multistakeholder ecosystem, we are reaching out to verify your continued interest in receiving information from the UASG. To retain access to UASG mailing lists, you must submit your Statement of Interest (SOI) by 15 May, 2024. This practice is consistent with other groups of the ICANN community (e.g., seeSOIs for GNSO <https://community.icann.org/display/gnsosoi/New+SOIs>, or click “New SOIs” on the left menuhere <https://community.icann.org/display/gnsosoi>.) The SOI form is available athttps://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/725e244f1369423182ea1bf932df6962[app.smartsheet.com] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/app.smartsheet.com/b/form/725e244f1369423...>. If you are unable to complete your SOI by 15 May 2024 deadline, you will be unsubscribed from all UASG email lists. However, you can resubscribe at a later time by submitting your SOI. ICANN will publicly publish the received SOIs athttps://uasg.tech/member-area/[uasg.tech] <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/uasg.tech/member-area/__;!!PtGJab4!8692yI...>.

We sincerely appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter. Your participation is instrumental in building a more transparent and robust community. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us atinfo@uasg.tech <mailto:info@uasg.tech>. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to your valuable contributions. Best regards, UASG Leadership Team _______________________________________________ UA-discuss mailing list UA-discuss@icann.org <mailto:UA-discuss@icann.org> https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/ua-discuss <https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/ua-discuss> _______________________________________________ By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy <https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy>) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos <https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos>). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on.

_______________________________________________ UA-discuss mailing list UA-discuss@icann.org https://mm.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/ua-discuss _______________________________________________ By submitting your personal data, you consent to the processing of your personal data for purposes of subscribing to this mailing list accordance with the ICANN Privacy Policy (https://www.icann.org/privacy/policy) and the website Terms of Service (https://www.icann.org/privacy/tos). You can visit the Mailman link above to change your membership status or configuration, including unsubscribing, setting digest-style delivery or disabling delivery altogether (e.g., for a vacation), and so on. -- Mark W. Datysgeld Director at Governance Primer [governanceprimer.com <https://governanceprimer.com>] ICANN GNSO Councilor