Re: [hackers] Names and Domains
Neil and all, Neil, I have to ask you what's up? ... a couple of weeks ago we were the only ones that showed up for IRC meeting and had a good chance to talk ... you told me about this same issue of needing a server then ... I told you that if you could give me the specs, I would not only start looking for a host - paid or not - and, I would either pay for it, if need be, or contribute to the costs, depending on the amount of the ongoing charges ... with a set of specs in hand, that is something I am fully qualified to do for you ... I have only seen two references to this issue since then 1) where you polled everyone else concerning estimates for space and bandwidth requirements 2) and I saw an offer from someone else come in similar to mine stating a willingness to help identify a host and pay for hosting costs ... since I did not see any estimates of any kind coming in, to speed up the process of compiling estimates, I forwarded the actual numbers from my current site that - though coming from a different type of site build - I thought might be of some help ... especially, the stats for the large increase in volume I experienced after I was linked from the National site, as an imperfect, but existing set of guidelines ... I would have also been willing to poll other existing Dean websites to build some demographics for you by now ... But I have seen nothing come through to either of us who made the offer to provide what you ask for ... no spec sheets for the server needs, and no other estimates ... Now, tonight, Josh threw out the idea to use a clean, top level domain for your network, an issue I raised weeks ago though perhaps not as clearly ... and he wrote, 'If there's free country namespace nationwide, this could be a good option for our network users.' And, I agree, and this is something I have experience with ... more to the point I already own one that is clean and certified by the NIC and ready to go ... and I offered to hand it over to the group for use ... But, the only response I have gotten back is yours: 'Domains are easy to come by... we need to find some servers.' So, we come to the real issue, do you want help or not? ... if the point you are trying to get across is that I should just walk, feel free to just tell me that ... I have other things I am doing and I don't need to keep coming up against a brick wall if I can be of no help here ... there will be no hard feelings ... (I have also been working on the other project you suggested for me, to develop some themes, though it is outside my range of experience, and I am starting to get the hang of it.) What I know for certain is that if the group decides to accept the suggestion that Josh put forward tonight to use a top level domain, with state and city references - even if you register one tonight - you will be hard pressed to have it certified by the NIC in time to meet the deadlines that were promised and sent out to those who signed up at AmericansForDean ... because the requirements for establishing a top level domain - and the time requirements for having one ready for use - are considerably different from common domain registrations ... especially if you are going to try to establish some form of group or joint ownership of the domain ... transferring one that is already certified from sole to group ownership will also take some time; however, it would not hold up the project ... I have been impressed with what you all are attempting to do and the progress you are making recently, and I would like to make a contribution ... what I don't like is banging my head on a wall ... I would rather wish you well, and walk, if there is nothing I can do to help ... let me know ... Howard2 Domains are easy to come by. We need to find some servers. Anything supporting PHP and SQL will do. Hoefully we will find some grassroots organizations with hosts, but we, as shown by the current state of americansfordean.com, need reliable servers with bandwidth to survive a campaign. -Neil -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] aim: ndrumm3 http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/~ndrumm On Sat, 19 Jul 2003, Howard Vicini wrote: Josh all, I have sent this information before, but maybe you weren't thinking along these lines yet ... I already own www.dean4america.us and, as I have said, I registered it for just such a purpose ... I thought perhaps the '4' vs 'for' could become the subtle, distinguishing factor between volunteer vs official Dean sites ... er, nodes ... You are welcome to it, and I am willing to give up ownership to the group, as long as you are certain that you will put it to use. Howard2 - Original Message - From: Joshua Koenig [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 4:55 PM Subject: [hackers] Names and Domains Hey all, My hometown Meetup group in Eugene (lane county) somehow got the following domain for their activities: http
Re: [hackers] Names and Domains
First, thank you for taking a stab at themes. I hope all is going well for you and everone else in that area. Please let us know when you have something. Before anyone goes and buys things there are probably FEC rules. I think I saw something come over the list saying there was a $250 personal max, but don't quote me on that. Because of our unclear legal status we should be careful in that area. For now I think having each site find its own hosting is best. If a site is willing and has the resources we can put other area sites on their server. Our legal status should clear up soon so we can feel free to make definitive decisions on this. Having said that we should find places which will cooperate with us and individual sites for hosting. If we have a list of these ready we can get individual sites up quicker. I will start a page on the wiki under OpenDecisons for us to catalog these potential hosting providers and discuss issues. We will need a place to put our server which will house MetaDean. It looks like the current home of americansfordean.com isn't quite up to it. I should note that I have never run a high traffic website or bought hosting so I am not an expert on this issue. I can make a rough estimate for bandwidth or pocessor use, but I don't think any of us quite know how big this will get. As for domain names, I think that also is being limited by our ambiguous status. As far as I can tell we only really need one or two for top level stuff, which we have. Domains for individual sites can still go through fordean.net or we can get more for them. On the software side we are not quite ready, there is still much to do. On the legal side we still need to define ourselves. When these are ready I expect we will do what we can with our current servers. At some point we will probably have to move over to some other hosting provider or find something for some individual sites. Until then I think we need to work on the things at hand and be ready for rolling out these services quickly. This is ambitious project we need to take one step at a time while looking ahead and, most importantly, we need to keep moving. -Neil (sorry for the long posts, please consider responding off list if appropriate) -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] aim: ndrumm3 http://www.ews.uiuc.edu/~ndrumm
RE: [hackers] Names and Domains
There is not a $250 personal max. If you spend more than $250 of your own money on a campaign, independent of the official campaign, there is a special form you need to file with the FEC. Essentially, from what I have read, it boils down to three categories. 1) Official donations. This what gets contributed to Burlington. There is a limit of $2000/individual in the primary. You will be able to contribute another $2000 in the general election. 2) PAC Donations. This is to organizations that are working on behalf of specific issues. I don't know all the details on PAC donations, but if you get together with a bunch of friends and do more than $250 together on something, you may need to register as a PAC. 3) Individual expeditures. This has been discussed a bit over on the DeanMeetupHelp mailing list, which has a bunch of lawyers on it answering campaign finance questions (with the general disclaimer that it is for general guidance only etc) From their FAQ comes the following information: QUESTION 3: If an individual or an X for Dean group makes an independent expenditure (paying for a public communication that expressly advocates election of Dean or defeat of Bush or other candidates) then is there a requirement to make an FEC report? ANSWER: Expenditures that total less than $250 during a calendar year can be made without requiring a report. If the expenditures of an individual or group exceed $250 then an independent expenditure report (FEC Form 5) must be filed with the FEC. Any individual who has contributed more than than $200 in support of another individual or group's independent expenditure must be identified within the FEC Form 5. (See 2 U.S.C. ~ 434(c)(1), (c)(2)(C); 11 CFR 109.10(b), (e)(1)(vi)). Example 1: Volunteer Jane spends $250 for Dean for President posters. Because the total does not exceed $250, no report is required. Example 2: After spending $250 for Dean for President posters in June, Jane pays $100 for Defeat Bush posters in December. Because the calendar year total exceeds $250, Jane must file FEC Form 5. Example 3: Same facts as Example 2, except Bill gives Jane $225 in August to support Jane's poster efforts. Jane must fill out FEC form 5 since the $250 limit has been exceeded and Jane must identify Bill in the FEC Form 5 because Bill's contribution exceeds $200. and QUESTION 12: If in supporting Dean a volunteer uses his or own personal property, such as a home computer, software, e-mail account or fax machine, all previously acquired for purposes other than this campaign, is the volunteer making either an in-kind contribution to the Dean committee or an independent expenditure? ANSWER: A volunteer's use at home of his or her personal equipment, software, Internet access, e-mail accounts, etc. is covered by a home use exception. These activities are not in-kind contributions or independent expenditures. A volunteer's costs to register a domain name for a home-run website to support Dean is covered by this exception, as is a volunteer's downloading and use of Dean committee materials, even when the Dean committee gives the volunteer permission to do so. (See FEC Advisory Opinion No. 1999-17-- issued to none other than the Governor George W. Bush for President Exploratory Committee, Inc.!) There is a lot more to this subject and I would be willing to talk to whomever on more details if necessary. Aldon
Re: [hackers] Names and Domains
Before anyone goes and buys things there are probably FEC rules. I think I saw something come over the list saying there was a $250 personal max, but don't quote me on that. You can quote me on that. We need to be very careful about who spends how much or who donates what with what value. All of this will come to naught if Bushco is able to undo us on FEC technicalities. So far we're in the clear, but this question isn't going away. I hope to have some kind of solution before the end of July, but we'll have to sit tight and/or do things on a peacemeal basis for now. peace -josh
[hackers] Names and Domains
Josh all, I have sent this information before, but maybe you weren't thinking along these lines yet ... I already own www.dean4america.us and, as I have said, I registered it for just such a purpose ... I thought perhaps the '4' vs 'for' could become the subtle, distinguishing factor between volunteer vs official Dean sites ... er, nodes ... You are welcome to it, and I am willing to give up ownership to the group, as long as you are certain that you will put it to use. Howard2 - Original Message - From: Joshua Koenig [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 4:55 PM Subject: [hackers] Names and Domains Hey all, My hometown Meetup group in Eugene (lane county) somehow got the following domain for their activities: http://dean2004.lane.or.us/ I'll inquire. If there's free country namespace nationwide, this could be a good option for our network users. cheers -josh Politics is the art of controlling your environment. Participate! Elect Howard Dean President in 2004! http://www.outlandishjosh.com/politics/dean/
