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Dear ICA Members and Newsletter Subscribers:

What a week it has been. After I posted on Rick Schwartz board regarding my disappointment about the amount of financial support that Internet Commerce Association has received since the Snowe bill was introduced, a lot has happened. Until my post, I think that a lot of people were resting comfortably assuming that this battle was being fought and funded by others.

Michael Berkens’ Membership Dues/Donations Matching Program

Almost immediately, Michael Berkens responded by offering to match Membership Dues and Donations from new members and new donors capping at $10,000 and ending today. He promoted the offer on his blog, TheDomains.com. The offer was picked up by other blog and forum sites. We ended up bringing in 20 new members and total funds collected or pledged was $51,870. Most can be attributed to Berkens’ efforts. Thank you Michael Berkens. Please join ICA now if you are not a member.

Membership List Published

Continuing our efforts to foster best business practices in the domain name industry started when we announced ICA Member Code of Conduct, we published our membership list this week. This list represents companies and individuals in the domain investment and development industry who have stepped up and supported ICA by joining our association. These principled leaders of our industry have committed to abide by our eight-point member code of conduct. Members that join or renew their membership after February 27, 2008 will be listed here. If you joined before that date and want to be added to the list, reply to me and I will include you. Please remember our sponsors when you are looking for domain name services.

Marketing/Fundraising Work Group – Domain Donations

I am still seeking volunteers to help on this work group. Reply to me if you can help. We are still asking for donations of premium domains for the Moniker auction at TRAFFIC. This is a great way to support ICA and get a break on your taxes. For U.S. businesses and individuals donations are tax-deductible except for that percentage devoted to defined lobbying activities – based on current ICA activities, 80% of dues are deductible.

Florida Domainers to meet with Senator Nelson

I am organizing a group of Florida domain investors and developers and working with Phil Corwin to get a meeting with Senator Bill Nelson, a cosponsor of the Snowe bill. I have already contacted ICA members in Florida about this meeting, but we invite other Florida residents to join us. Reply to this email to be added to the list of people interested in meeting with Nelson. If you employ people in Florida in a domain business, we would especially like to for you to accompany us.

We are making progress in Washington and I will be publishing an update article soon about our work in opposition of the Snowe bill. Thank you to all who have helped by writing their Senators and contributing to ICA.

Best regards,
Michael Collins