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Today's Topics:
1. Presidential Actions (Stephen Loosley)
2. Re: email oligopolies (David)
3. Re: email oligopolies (Tom Worthington)
4. Re: email oligopolies (Marghanita da Cruz)
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Message: 1
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 2026 17:43:04 +1030
From: Stephen Loosley <[email protected]>
To: "link" <[email protected]>
Subject: [LINK] Presidential Actions
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Presidential Actions
Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions,
and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/withdrawing-the-united-states-from-international-organizations-conventions-and-treaties-that-are-contrary-to-the-interests-of-the-united-states/
Presidential Memoranda January 7, 2026
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of
the United States of America,
I hereby direct:
Section 1. Purpose. (a) On February 4, 2025, I issued Executive Order 14199
(Withdrawing the United States from and Ending Funding to Certain United
Nations Organizations and Reviewing United States Support to All International
Organizations).
That Executive Order directed the Secretary of State, in consultation with the
United States Representative to the United Nations, to conduct a review of all
international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a
member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions
and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which
organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the
United States. The Secretary of State has reported his findings as required by
Executive Order 14199.
(b) I have considered the Secretary of State?s report and, after deliberating
with my Cabinet, have determined that it is contrary to the interests of the
United States to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide
support to the organizations listed in section 2 of this memorandum.
(c) Consistent with Executive Order 14199 and pursuant to the authority vested
in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, I hereby direct all executive departments and agencies (agencies) to
take immediate steps to effectuate the withdrawal of the United States from the
organizations listed in section 2 of this memorandum as soon as possible.
For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or
funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law.
(d) My review of further findings of the Secretary of State remains ongoing.
Sec. 2. Organizations from Which the United States Shall Withdraw. (a)
Non-United Nations Organizations:
(i) 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact;
(ii) Colombo Plan Council;
(iii) Commission for Environmental Cooperation;
(iv) Education Cannot Wait;
(v) European Centre of Excellence for Countering
Hybrid Threats;
(vi) Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories;
(vii) Freedom Online Coalition;
(viii) Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund;
(ix) Global Counterterrorism Forum;
(x) Global Forum on Cyber Expertise;
(xi) Global Forum on Migration and Development;
(xii) Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research;
(xiii) Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable
Development;
(xiv) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
(xv) Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services;
(xvi) International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and
Restoration of Cultural Property;
(xvii) International Cotton Advisory Committee;
(xviii) International Development Law Organization;
(xix) International Energy Forum;
(xx) International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies;
(xxi) International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance;
(xxii) International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law;
(xxiii) International Lead and Zinc Study Group;
(xxiv) International Renewable Energy Agency;
(xxv) International Solar Alliance;
(xxvi) International Tropical Timber Organization;
(xxvii) International Union for Conservation of Nature;
(xxviii) Pan American Institute of Geography and History;
(xxix) Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation;
(xxx) Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery
against Ships in Asia;
(xxxi) Regional Cooperation Council;
(xxxii) Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century;
(xxxiii) Science and Technology Center in Ukraine;
(xxxiv) Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme; and
(xxxv) Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.
(b) United Nations (UN) Organizations:
(i) Department of Economic and Social Affairs;
(ii) UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) ? Economic Commission for
Africa;
(iii) ECOSOC ? Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean;
(iv) ECOSOC ? Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific;
(v) ECOSOC ? Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia;
(vi) International Law Commission;
(vii) International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals;
(viii) International Trade Centre;
(ix) Office of the Special Adviser on Africa;
(x) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary General for
Children in Armed Conflict;
(xi) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on
Sexual Violence in Conflict;
(xii) Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on
Violence Against Children;
(xiii) Peacebuilding Commission;
(xiv) Peacebuilding Fund;
(xv) Permanent Forum on People of African Descent;
(xvi) UN Alliance of Civilizations;
(xvii) UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation
and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries;
(xviii) UN Conference on Trade and Development;
(xix) UN Democracy Fund;
(xx) UN Energy;
(xxi) UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women;
(xxii) UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;
(xxiii) UN Human Settlements Programme;
(xxiv) UN Institute for Training and Research;
(xxv) UN Oceans;
(xxvi) UN Population Fund;
(xxvii) UN Register of Conventional Arms;
(xxviii) UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination;
(xxix) UN System Staff College;
(xxx) UN Water; and
(xxxi) UN University.
Sec. 3. Implementation Guidance. The Secretary of State shall provide
additional guidance as needed to agencies when implementing this memorandum.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this memorandum shall be
construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the
head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and
subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or
benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its
officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
(d) The Secretary of State is authorized and directed to publish this
memorandum in the Federal Register.
DONALD J. TRUMP
--
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Fri, 09 Jan 2026 18:46:18 +1100
From: David <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [LINK] email oligopolies
Message-ID: <2045194.56niFO833r@ulysses>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
On Friday, 9 January 2026 12:26:38 AEDT Roger Clarke wrote:
> On 9/1/2026 11:52, Kim Holburn via Privacy wrote:
>> I have realised that most people seem to have given up and are using gmail
>> or microsoft, who seem to have gobbled up all the free email services, or
>> protonmail. [...]
> I continue to use VentraIP for both web-sites and email. [...]
> They seem to use a wholesaler: s221.syd2.hostingplatform.net.au
I cancelled an account & domain-name registration with VentraIP not long ago
because the project I thought I might develop didn't eventuate, but they seem
OK. A note at the bottom of https://ventraip.com.au/ states that VentraIP is
part of the NexiGen Group, which is an Australian private company registered in
Victoria (and not to be confused with NextGen) - see https://nexigen.digital/
The IP address of VentraIP is 103.42.108.26 and NexiGen is 103.42.108.70, but
the address of my registered domain-name was in a different IP-domain
altogether. While all that is well & good, their user data could still be in a
cloud anywhere.
I think the only real solution is Federal Government action to (a) set up a
trusted, national public-key registry so end-to-end email encryption becomes
standard, and (b) educate citizens about keeping a local copy / backup /
database.
On Friday, 9 January 2026 17:49:14 AEDT Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
> Is that why Google AI is so bad.
I understand Google does an AI scan of every message with an @gmail originator
or recipient...!
_DavidL_
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2026 08:17:40 +1100
From: Tom Worthington <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [LINK] email oligopolies
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"; Format="flowed"
On 1/9/26 12:26, Roger Clarke wrote:
> Is fastmail still on the recommended list? ...
I use Fastmail.
--
Tom Worthington, P http://www.tomw.net.au
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Message: 4
Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2026 08:20:35 +1100
From: Marghanita da Cruz <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [LINK] email oligopolies
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
On 1/9/26 18:46, David wrote:
> On Friday, 9 January 2026 12:26:38 AEDT Roger Clarke wrote:
>
>> On 9/1/2026 11:52, Kim Holburn via Privacy wrote:
>>> I have realised that most people seem to have given up and are using
>>> gmail or microsoft, who seem to have gobbled up all the free email
>>> services, or protonmail. [...]
>> I continue to use VentraIP for both web-sites and email. [...]
>> They seem to use a wholesaler: s221.syd2.hostingplatform.net.au
> I cancelled an account & domain-name registration with VentraIP not
> long ago because the project I thought I might develop didn't
> eventuate, but they seem OK. A note at the bottom
> ofhttps://ventraip.com.au/ states that VentraIP is part of the NexiGen
> Group, which is an Australian private company registered in Victoria
> (and not to be confused with NextGen) - seehttps://nexigen.digital/
>
> The IP address of VentraIP is 103.42.108.26 and NexiGen is
> 103.42.108.70, but the address of my registered domain-name was in a
> different IP-domain altogether. While all that is well & good, their
> user data could still be in a cloud anywhere.
>
> I think the only real solution is Federal Government action to (a) set
> up a trusted, national public-key registry so end-to-end email
> encryption becomes standard, and (b) educate citizens about keeping a
> local copy / backup / database.
based on/requiring MS operating system - I think that is why the "ato
upgrade for GST BAS online reporting" failed on my linux laptop, way
back in 2000. Things may be better now, but I wasted a lot of time tying
to trouble shoot! How many of ato free and fast services need MS on
client's desktop. By the way, there is a company key:
> Use our self-service any time ? it?s easy, free and fast:
https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/contact-us/self-help-services
> On Friday, 9 January 2026 17:49:14 AEDT Marghanita da Cruz wrote:
>> Is that why Google AI is so bad.
> I understand Google does an AI scan of every message with an @gmail
> originator or recipient...!
>
> _DavidL_
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Link mailing list
> [email protected]
> https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
--
Marghanita da Cruz
Telephone: 0414-869202
Email:[email protected]
Website:http://ramin.com.au
------------------------------
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