Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 18:28:51 -0700 From: Jim Warren Subject: GovAccess.079: civnets, So.Cal civnets, gov-acc plan, censor, CFP'95 THE CENTER FOR CIVIC NETWORKING'S GOPHER From: Miles R Fidelman Sun Jul 10 19:42:49 1994 Check out our gopher server: at a unix prompt: gopher gopher.civic.net 2400 URL: gopher://gopher.civic.net:2400/ === Miles R. Fidelman mfidelman@civicnet.org 91 Baldwin St. Charlestown MA 02129 The Center for Civic Networking 617-241-9205 fax: 617-241-5064 ------------------------------ SAN DIEGO FREE-NET BEING PLANNMED >From pagre@weber.ucsd.edu Sat Oct 15 12:40:30 1994 From: Phil Agre You asked about civic nets in southern california. The main such thing in San Diego is the BBS of the San Diego Computer Society, whose sysop is Mike Stark . The president of SDCS is Gary Whiteside . Also someone down here says they're starting an NPTN Free-Net -- Current people involved in the San Diego Freenet effort: General Contact: Thor Brickman University of San Diego thor@valhalla.acusd.edu Board of Directors: Jack Pope Director of Academic Computing University of San Diego pope@teetot.acusd.edu Bart Thurber Professor University of San Diego thurber@teetot.acusd.edu Volunteer Technical Staff Steve Spear Systems Support University of San Diego spear@teetot.acusd.edu Jerry Stratton Systems Support University of San Diego jerry@teetot.acusd.edu ------------------------------ LOS ANGELES FREE-NET HAS BEEN OPERATIONAL SINCE SPRING Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 17:39:18 -0400 From: Peter Scott To: Multiple recipients of list HYTEL-L Subject: New File Los Angeles Free-Net Los Angeles Free-Net TELNET LAFN.ORG or 198.211.120.1 Select (2) for visitor Main Menu 1 Administration 2 The Post Office 3 Communications Center 4 Education Center 5 Community Center 6 Sanford Meisner Arts and Entertainment Center 7 Government Center 8 NPTN Information and Special Features 9 Health center 10 Center For Religion and Values 11 Help Desk The first node of the LA Free-net is located in the Women's Pavilion at the Tarzana Medical Center. There is a $10, non-refundable, first year registration fee. ------------------------------ PROPOSAL FOR PUBLIC ACCESS TO GOVT VIA MODERN TECHNOLOGY - AND A VOLUNTEER! >From fjb@frednet.com Thu Oct 13 18:43:27 1994 From: fjb@frednet.com (Fred J. Bourgeois) How about setting up a new mail-list to specifically address this issue? I just hacked up a few words, and I can probably set up a list-server here. I wouldn't mind coordinating the effort, and even getting some input from some of the elected people I know. REQUEST For PARTICIPATION Public Access to Government via MOdern Technology (PAGMOT) It is time for our government to enter the modern era of communications. Our elected representatives at all levels are too isolated from the citizenry they purport to represent. Many of these elected representatives do not even realize what is possible, through the use of items as simple as Facsimile machines, to more complex computer-based interaction that may easily and inexpensively be provided by Internet services, or even BBSs liberally scattered through all levels of our government. PAGMOT is a forum for the creation of a government "Fact Sheet" (PAGMOT-FS), which should be provided to every elected public servant at every level of government. The purpose of the PAGMOT-FS is to make these people aware of what is easily available, and what would be most useful to their constituency. The PAGMOT forum will initially be created as a mailing list, based on the server at pagmot@frednet.com. Anyone is invited to submit articles to the PAGMOT mailing list, which will be editted for brevity and clarity by Fred Bourgeois (fjb@bedrock.frednet.com) and then submitted to the general mailing list. The initial topics for discussion should focus on developing a very brief yet comprehensive PAGMOT-FS to be released by January 30, 1995. This initial release (PAGMOT-FS r1.0a) should include a "shopping list" of everything an elected person (or his/her staff) needs to know in order to set up each of the Communications Options presented in the FS. Additional topics for discussion should be directed at methods for delivering PAGMOT-FS to various elected representatives at all levels, in such a manner that we can be assured that it is receiving serious consideration. As such, elected representatives will also be invited to submit articles to the mailing list, with their suggestions as to how we might best gain their interest and active participation in this endeavor. The initial release of PAGMOT-FS is to get something out as quickly as possible, so that we may start seeing results as quickly as possible. Future issues shall be dediczted to providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on public access to government that we can provide. As such, we should also develop a schedule for future releases. --- BTW, the name (PAGMOT) was a real stretch! If you think of something better please, PLEASE let me know! This is all still words (no list-server set up here yet), but I would love to coordinate this idea -- it is something I have long believed that our government needs to do, and the only way to make it reality is to start with people in the community (computerwise) who already understand the technology. -fjb ------------------------------ FREE SPEECH COSTS A LOT Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 20:14:50 -0400 From: farber@central.cis.upenn.edu (David Farber) Subject: Manners vs. Freedom of speech From: tls@gate.net (Terry Steinford) Today's New York Times has an Editorial Notebook item discussing a situation at Santa Rosa Junior College in California where a falling out between two students that had dated has lead to a Federal lawsuit about single-sex only bulletin boards and posted comments "in line with what one finds on bathroom wall in bus terminals". The item concludes: "It was an article of faith that the information superhighway would transform workaday life into a quasi-utopian, state-of-the art experience. The information superhighway: say it three times, click your heels, and you would have any movie you wanted on demand, be examined by your doctor without leaving your bed of pain, find yourself on a planet that had become a cozy little virtual neighborhood. The clue was in mixed metaphor: You don't build a neighborhood on a superhighway, especially not the infobahn. "The promise of the virual neighborhood has proved far-fetched at best. How could it be otherwise when the communicants are faceless and voiceless, many writing under assumed names? Facelessness brings out the beast in people. As exhibit A, consider that the first verb cyberspace contributed to the language was "to flame," meaning to singe someone's eyebrows with an obsure or derogatory message. Flaming has become the on-line sport of choice; whole sectors of the Internet are given over to the most putrid insults. A curse muttered on the street disappears into the air. A flame echos on, to be read by millions. "The information superhighway may yet rise to its lofty promise. But as of now, its most pronounced accomplishment has been to chisel into stone trash that would better have been left to disappear." Any thoughts? [His request; not mine. Direct comments to Steinford; not to me, please - perhaps before some zealot proposes legislation to control inproper speech, simply because it is online. (You laugh? Recall that Sen. Exon amended the now-dead telecom bill to prohibit "indecent" speech.) --jim] ------------------------------ Call for Participation - CFP'95 The Fifth Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy Sponsored by the ACM SIGCOMM, SIGCAS, SIGSAC and Stanford Law School 28 - 31 March 1995 San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel, Burlingame, California INVITATION This is an invitation to submit session and topic proposals for inclusion in the program of the Fifth Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy. Proposals may be for individual talks, panel discussions, debates, or other presentations in appropriate formats. Proposed topics should be within the general scope of the conference, as outlined below. SCOPE The advance of computer and telecommunications technologies holds great promise for individuals and society. From convenience for consumers and efficiency in commerce to improved public health and safety and increased participation in democratic institutions, these technologies can fundamentally transform our lives. New computer and telecommunications technologies are bringing new meanings to our freedoms to speak, associate, be left alone, learn, and exercise political power. At the same time these technologies pose threats to the ideals of a just, free, and open society. Personal privacy is increasingly at risk from invasion by high-tech surveillance and eavesdropping. The myriad databases containing personal information maintained in the public and private sectors expose private life to constant scrutiny. Political, social, and economic fairness may hinge on ensuring equal access to these technologies, but how, at what cost, and who will pay? Technological advances also enable new forms of illegal activity, posing new problems for legal and law enforcement officials and challenging the very definitions of crime and civil liberties. But technologies used to combat these crimes can threaten the traditional barriers between the individual and the state. Even such fundamental notions as speech, assembly and property are being transformed by these technologies, throwing into question the basic Constitutional protections that have guarded them. Similarly, information knows no borders; as the scope of economies becomes global and as networked communities transcend international boundaries, ways must be found to reconcile competing political, social, and economic interests in the digital domain. The Fifth Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy will assemble experts, advocates and interested people from a broad spectrum of disciplines and backgrounds in a balanced public forum to explore and better understand how computer and telecommunications technologies are affecting freedom and privacy in society. Participants will include people from the fields of computer science, law, business, research, information, library science, health, public policy, government, law enforcement, public advocacy, and many others. Topics covered in previous CFP conferences include: Personal Information and Privacy Access to Government Information Computers in the Workplace Electronic Speech, Press and Assembly Governance of Cyberspace Role of Libraries on the Information Superhighway Law Enforcement and Civil Liberties Privacy and Cryptography Free Speech and the Public Communications Network We are also actively seeking proposals with respect to other possible topics on the general subject of computers, freedom and privacy. Some new topics we are considering include: Telecommuting: Liberation or Exploitation? Courtesy, and the Freedom to be Obnoxious Commercial Life on the Net How Does the Net Threaten Government Power? Universal Access to Network Services The Meaning of Freedom in the Computer Age Online Interaction and Communities Government-Mandated Databases PROPOSAL SUBMISSION All proposals should be accompanied by a position statement of at least one page, describing the proposed topic. Proposals for panel discussions, debates and other multi-person presentations should include a list of proposed participants and session chair. Proposals should be sent to: CFP'95 Proposals Stanford Law and Technology Policy Center Stanford Law School Stanford, California 94305-8610 or by email to: cfp95@forsythe.stanford.edu with the word "Proposal" in the subject line. Proposals should be submitted as soon as possible to allow thorough consideration for inclusion in the formal program. The deadline for submissions is 1 November 1994. STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION Full time students are invited to enter the student paper competition. Winners will receive a scholarship to attend the conference and present their papers. Papers should not exceed 2,500 words and should examine how computer and telecommunications technologies are affecting freedom and privacy in society. All papers should be submitted to Professor Gary T. Marx by 20 November 1994. Authors may submit their papers either by sending them as straight text via email to: Gary.Marx@colorado.edu or by sending six printed copies to: Professor Gary T. Marx University of Colorado Campus Box 327 Boulder, Colorado 80309-0327 Submitters should include the name of their institution, degree program, and a signed statement affirming that they are a full-time student at their institution and that the paper is an original, unpublished work of their own. INFORMATION For more information on the CFP'95 program and advance registration, as it becomes available, write to: CFP'95 Information Stanford Law and Technology Policy Center Stanford Law School Stanford, California 94305-8610 or send email to: cfp95@forsythe.stanford.edu with the word "Information" in the subject line. To discuss potential CFP'95 speakers, topics, and formats, and to receive additional CFP'95 information, subscribe to the CFP95 list. Send to majordomo@lists.stanford.edu a plain text message consisting of subscribe cfp95. THE ORGANIZERS General Chair -------------- Carey Heckman Stanford Law School Stanford Law & Technology Policy Center Stanford, CA 94305-8610 415-725-7788 (voice) 415-725-1861 (fax) ceh@leland.stanford.edu Program Committee --------------------- Sheri Alpert Internal Revenue Service Gary Bolles Interactive Week Kaye Caldwell Software Industry Coalition Judi Clark ManyMedia Roger Clarke Australian National University Esther Dyson EDventure Holdings Mike Godwin Electronic Frontier Foundation Nancy Green Stanford University Peter Harter National Public Telecomputing Network Lance J. Hoffman George Washington University Donald G. Ingraham Office of the District Attorney Alameda County, California Ellen Kirsh America OnLine Linda Knutson Library and Information Technology Association Bruce R. Koball Motion West Gary T. Marx University of Colorado Mitch Ratcliffe Digital Media Virginia Rezmierski University of Michigan Marc Rotenberg Electronic Privacy Information Center Deborah Runkle American Association for the Advancement of Science Barbara Simons USACM Oliver R. Smoot Computer Business Equipment Manufacturers Association Ross Stapleton-Gray Georgetown University Glenn Tenney Fantasia Systems Jeff Ubois Author and Consultant J. Kent Walker, Jr. U.S. Department of Justice Affiliations are listed for identification. ------------------------------ NAAHHH, IT'LL NEVER FLY, BUT ... :-) [As they say, the Constitution may not be perfect, but it's a helluva lot better than what the government's using right now. :-) --jim] >From owner-new-list@VM1.NODAK.EDU Fri Oct 14 12:59:58 1994 Sender: NEW-LIST - New List Announcements From: Constitution Party Subject: NEW: CONSTPARTY - Constitution Party News and Information CONSTPARTY via constparty-request@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu The following is an Invitation for you to participate in a new Electronic Mailing List sponsored by the Constitution Party. The CP was formed to protect the Constitution and to return our federal government to a Constitutionally-based government. The goals of this discussion list (CONSTPARTY) are to: (1) Facilitate open discourse on the ideas presented in the Constitution Party Platform. (2) List upcoming events sponsored by the Constitution Party. (3) Serve as a base for CP volunteers across the country to network. The goals listed above are by no means the only ones. They are simply a starting point from which we can branch out as we see appropriate. Ultimately, we want this list to be a forum where we can spread the word about our party and defending the Constitution of these united States of America. To subscribe to this e-mail list do the following: Send a message to constparty-request@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu Subject line should be left empty (it is ignored by the listserver) Text should read: subscribe yourname@your.address To submit messages to the list send to the following address: "constparty@tomahawk.welch.jhu.edu" FTP Archive ----------- We currently maintain an Anonymous FTP Archive for information regarding the CP as well as other relevant files. To download this information use FTP to connect to: ftp.earthlink.net Then change directory to: pub/users/constitution Owner: Constitution Party Mo' as it Is. --jim GovAccess is an email distribution-list of irregular postings, maintained by Jim Warren, columnist for MicroTimes, Government Technology, BoardWatch, etc. 345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/<# upon request> jwarren@well.com -or- jwarren@autodesk.com >> Permission herewith granted for unlimited reposting and recirculation.<< >> Past postings are at ftp.cpsr.org:/cpsr/states/california/govaccess << >> To add or drop the GovAccess list, email to jwarren@well.com . <<