---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Kelly Harris <harris@isoc.org> Date: Wed, Sep 18, 2013 at 9:44 PM Subject: [ISOC] More Information Regarding the ISOC Anti-spam Project To: "isoc-members-announce@elists.isoc.org" < isoc-members-announce@elists.isoc.org> Dear all, Please find below some additional information on the spam project. First a few words of background. The spam project was not in our budget for 2013, but as spam emerged as a contentious issue at WCIT we thought it would be good to show that there are solutions in place to deal with spam. As the issue emerged after we had finalised the 2013 budget it was clear at the outset that any activity would have to be funded through extra budgetary resources. We developed a concept for workshops to be held in developing regions and went out to potential donors to fund the project. There were many positive reactions and the governments and companies we approached agreed that it would be timely to go ahead with these workshops - one in Africa in cooperation with the ATU and the other one in Latin America in cooperation with CITEL - and bring the results to the IGF. One main session there will be devoted to issues such as spam. Despite the many positive reactions, funding proved more difficult than anticipated, as governments and most companies were in a similar budgetary situation and did not have that much spare cash to give away. When discussing the funding difficulties internally, there was great support and good will from the revenue team who agreed to help us to make this project happen. In these discussions, someone came up with the idea to try crowd funding to get the funds needed to bridge the gap. We agreed to try this out without discussing the modalities. With hindsight, this turned out to be a mistake. We should have communicated in advance what we are trying to achieve with the project -- that is to explain that solutions exist and to make sure that spam is no longer seen to be a major problem - and why to try out crowd funding. We tried to experiment with new ways of fund-raising and recognise that what was supposed to be a pilot project did not work out well. Please accept our apologies. We learned a lesson and will do things differently, should we try again to use crowd funding in the future. Good news is that the first spam workshop took place last week in Nairobi. Please find below a short report of the Naurobi workshop and a preview of the workshop that is to take place next month in Mendoza, Argentina. African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Spam Seminar for Policy Makers Nairobi, Kenya September 9, 2013 On September 9th the Internet Society organized a workshop on spam directed at informing policy makers throughout Africa on the process and partnerships needed to better address the unwanted email that is clogging their networks. Spam experts from around globe and from within Africa presented examples of how: some governments have draft legislation to define spam and establish enforcement criteria to address their issue with spam; industry associations such as MAAWG, LAP and ECO work in partnership with governments, ISPs, network operators and bulk mail distributors to develop best practices and codes of conduct to mitigate spam; and technical experts provided details on the tools and operational choices that can be used to limit the impact of spam on a network and end users. There were over 97 policy makers and network operators in attendance at this workshop. Details on the ATU event, including the presentations from the experts can be found at http://www.internetsociety.org/african-telecommunications-union-atu-combatin... . Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) Spam Seminar for Policy Makers Mendoza, Argentina October 7, 2013 On October 7th the Internet Society will be facilitating a workshop on spam directed at informing policy makers throughout Latin America on the process and partnerships needed to better address the unwanted email that is clogging their networks. The workshop will have Spam experts from around globe and from within South America present examples and details on how to address the growing issue of spam and what the industry and technical communities are doing in partnership with governments to mitigate spam. If you are interested in attending the event, details can be found at https://www.citel.oas.org/en/Pages/Next-Meetings.aspx You're participation, comments and constructive suggestions are welcomed. Best regards, Ted Mooney Senior Director, Membership & Services The Internet Society 1775 Wiehle Avenue Reston, VA 20190 USA Office: +1 703-439-2774 Cell: +1 301-980-6446 eMail: mooney@isoc.org _______________________________________________ To manage your ISOC subscriptions or unsubscribe, please log into the ISOC Member Portal: https://portal.isoc.org/ Then choose Interests & Subscriptions from the My Account menu. -- Barrack O. Otieno +254721325277 +254-20-2498789 Skype: barrack.otieno http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/