Updates on the Quest for the Domain/Site Names

As I already reported on 14 August 2008, I have been attempting, since 12 August 2008 to get ahold of someone from Syndicat Internationale Werbemittel GmbH, in Munich, Germany, to grant to the Global Understanding Institute the domain of globalunderstanding.org. I say grant because, to be honest, I do not feel it appropriate to squat on unused domain names without intent to use it simply to try to get money from it. That is a form of arbitrage which, while I understand the market for it, I do not support personally.

(btw: In the sense of full disclosure, I do have an unusued domain or two which I still have registered to my name, and people once did contact me to get one assigned to them. I thought about it, we talked about it, yet we were unable to come to an agreement on how to transfer the domain. I have the private intent of resurrecting that domain name in due time. I see that as somewhat different than just “registering domains for the express intent to sell them off.”)

Yet most of all, I feel it an inappropriate use of organizational funds or private contributions for an educational and charitable humanitarian movement (which hopes to one day be a non-profit corporation upon approval by the appropriate government bodies). It would simply set the wrong tone at the outset of the organization.

While I gladly personally funded the setting up of everything else so far, I do not wish to personally pay for the “liberation” of a domain name. If Syndicat Internationale Werbemittel GmbH sees fit to relinquish their claim upon the domain and freely donates, grants and assigns it to the Global Understanding Institute, I would act as its administrative contact for now. I would then transfer it and grant it to the organization upon the filing of assets during the incorporation stage.

Here is the polite letter I wrote on 12 August 2008:

Guten tag!

I was forwarded to this email address by J—————.

I contacted you this morning as the domain administration for globalunderstanding.org. If I have reached the wrong firm, please let me know directly so that I may do more research and seek a more appropriate person. If Syndicat Internationale Werbemittel GmbH, of Muenchen, Germany, is indeed the administrator of this domain, and you are empowered to speak as to its disposition, then let me begin by introduction of myself and my purposes.

My name is Peter Corless. I am a concerned citizen of the world, seeking to found the Global Understanding Institute (GUI). The goal of the institute shall be to help model, monitor, analyze, and, where appropriate, to suggest recommendations for resolution and amelioration of global crises and conflicts. My goal is to found the organization as a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit public benefit corporation as per the United States Internal Revenue Service tax laws. If we are successful, it would become a global Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) much like the Red Cross movement.

A great deal of the vital work of the organization shall depend on Internet and Web communications.

I was wondering if you have present plans to actively use the domain, or, if not, if you wish to graciously and freely grant the domain name to me, as the organizing founder of this movement, in order to establish this new organization.

Please contact me presently when you receive this email, either by reply email or directly by phone call.

Vielen dank,

-Peter Corless.
1-650-906-3134 (mobile)
petercorless@mac.com
360 Chiquita Avenue #4
Mountain View, CA 94041

Since then, I have done my best to be polite yet persistent in calling. I called three times last week, and once tonight (20 August 2008). I was told the person I needed to speak to a) was in a meeting, b) did not have the email I sent, c) would get back to me if they wanted to, and d) was not in yet today.

Each time, I have tried to make clear the goals of the organization, and to emphasize that right now, there are people dying in crises and conflicts around the globe. I have somewhat half-jokingly said, “The fate of humanity rests in the hands of Munich.” In a way, it somewhat does.

The more people brush off my inquiries and say they are “too busy” to deal with the issues of our world, or the more they treat this as “business as usual” rather than an important and urgent issue facing us all, the more energies and efforts I will need to put into simply setting up the organization and not getting to, for instance, writing up corporate documents, attracting the Board of Advisors, working with technology professionals and businesses to create the prototype for the Global Model, and, of course, the less time I have to put into authoring Razumijen.

The more money I would have to pay into freeing up domain names, the less I would have in the bank to pay my own rent. Never mind the less I could contribute personally to spend on operations and programs.

I hope to hear back from Syndicat Internationale Werbemittel GmbH to the affirmative of my request. To simply, out of their generosity and sense of humanitarian contribution, grant the domain to this nascent organization. Yet I can understand also, objectively, if they just decide to hold on to it for the sake of money. Pure capitalism. No hard feelings. Just business.

Here is why I believe that business and science alone — secularism — do not hold the entire keys to the solution of the world’s problems. Because I am hoping they see the possible aesthetic value — the artistic beauty — the creative principle and the epic poetic value of freely relinquishing this domain for the sake of mankind. I am also hoping they have a good sense of humor. That even if they run across this article, they smile and say, “Yes! Let’s do it! This will be fun!” And because I have a spiritual side of my beliefs, I am privately praying they do so for the good of their fellow humans.

Speaking of faith, I still have faith that I can contact Karl John (possibly Karl Derek John), whose last known email was karl@ciclhk.net.

He’s the person who registered globalunderstanding.blogspot.com. I’d like to see if he is still interested in maintaining that, and participating in the movement, or if he’d grant access privileges to the blog so it can be rolled into a program of overall efforts. So far, his email bounced, but I think I got a good handle on how to get in touch with him.

This entire endeavor is going to take science, business, art, and good few leaps of faith to get rolling.

Workarounds are in place. Even if I cannot get the domain globalunderstanding.org for now, or for the forseeable future, at least I have globalunderstandinginstitute.org. And instead of globalunderstanding.blogspot.com, at least I have globalunderstandinginstitute.blogspot.com. Longer names. But oh well!

Onwards to adventure!

-Pete.