Re: [ga] NAIS Statement on At-Large Membership

[Sotiris Sotiropoulos <sotiris@hermesnetwork.com>]

Rob Courtney wrote:
> 
> * Scaled Fees: Any fees or dues should be carefully scaled to avoid
> raising the bar for membership so high that large numbers of
> interested individuals in lower-income countries are excluded. While
> imperfect, we suggest that fees be based on the World Bank's tiers of
> low-, lower-middle-, upper-middle-, and upper- income countries. For
> discussion purposes, we suggest a fee ranging from US$5 to US$20.
> 
> * Fee Exemption: The Least-Developed Countries (as classified by the
> UN) should be exempt from any fees. If there are concerns about
> dues-exempt registrations creating a potential unbounded cost and
> disparities within a region, a high "cap" could be created to set an
> upper limit on the number of free registrations available in any one
> country.

I think fee scaling is a bad idea which if implemented
could lead to serious abuse, possibly "bargain" capture
attempts.  I think the same fee should apply to all,
whether in the first, second, or third worlds, as there
are low-income people in the first world, and there are
high-income earners in the third-world etc.   

-- 
Sincerely,

Sotiris Sotiropoulos
	Hermes Network Inc.
	Toronto, Canada

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