questions about OGC membership

[Jo Walsh]

dear all,

When I talked with Emmanuel Mondon from IONIC yesterday he quite
pressingly suggested that OSGeo should join the OGC, that would be a
better position than a selection of members being OGC members. 
Though CCGIS are rhodium sponsors, or what have you...

OGC membership - is it appropriate for OSGeo? One would not want to
pay, being a nonprofit - do they have provisions for nonprofit /
institutional members? What would involvement practically mean over
and above the existing high level of involvement from many members
of the OSGeo activity?

It could be of benefit to be in a position to influence the OGC, and
thus the ISO, more; the recent trend wherein the OGC metadata spec now
links directly to the "add to your shopping basket" page on the ISO
website is disconcerting. ebRIM sounds like it is basically a scandal,
though i need to read the spec before i have any right to say things
like that. If OSGeo has a voice of reason, can it be more effective?

cheers,


jo