[HamWAN PSDR] Grants

[Bryan Fields]

On 6/16/20 8:15 PM, Cory (NQ1E) wrote:
> The relationship between ARDC and the community was rocky even before the
> sale which was seen as a huge breach of trust.  However, it's clear that
> what was done cannot be undone, so holding a grudge is not very
> productive.  

This is not true, a court can do many things.  This hopefully would be during
the penalty phase of a criminal trial.

> Especially since we regrettably lost Brian Kantor who was
> likely the main decision maker.  

All people involved in the management of ARDC are guilty in this.  Losing one
person doesn't do away with the unclean hands of the other board members.

> I hope that going forward ARDC can be more
> transparent and try to earn our trust back over time.

It would be nice, but I think the only way this will happen is to remove ARDC
from the 44net space.  They could have easily been open with the community
from day one, they actively chose not to.  ARDC has operated in a very high
handed matter for years.  Lets not kid ourselves, Phil Karn and Brian Kantor
were huge impediments to amateur IP data networks for decades.  Now we have
Phil running things and a quite conflicted board of directors.

The argument was "we had to move NOW and in secret to get the best price for
the space".  If that was the case, why was it sold so cheaply?  Had they
waited, the price would have kept going up.  There could have been input from
the community, opinions sought from states attorneys, open and fair bidding
for the space, and a clear plan on how to setup the non-profit foundation.
 It's going to be decades until IPv4 space is not needed, nothing needed to be
rushed.

You can't reform it, ARDC needs to be razed and rebuilt using trust of the
community.  Look at the giving they have done to date, it's not benefiting any
users of the space, or hams in general.  The orgs they have given to are
guilty of taking ill-gotten funds just the same.

And hey don't take my words for ARDC being fucked, here's the direct quote
from the President (Phil) in speaking with me.

> I'm more than willing to push reset and have a more constructive
> discussion about how to proceed, but first I do have to make two things
> clear: 1) I don't think you have a leg to stand on to complain and 2) I
> would have expected a somewhat more positive response to an announcement
> that significant grants will now be available for many of the ham radio
> things that until now we've all had to fund out of our own pockets or by
> begging from other hams.

I'm not going to kiss his ring, but it would seem others will.

73's
-- 
Bryan Fields

727-409-1194 - Voice
http://bryanfields.net