CPSR Elections: June 2006

During June of 2006, CPSR will hold elections to fill between four and six at-large seats on its Board of Directors. These will all be for three-year terms.  This year, we are testing an evoting election and will document for our members its successes and pitfalls.  CPSR does not endorse the use of electronic voting without a paper audit trail for government elections, including municipal, state, and national elections. As a nonprofit organization with a small budget, however, we believe online voting is a cost-effective way to encourage the greatest number of our members to vote. Our choice reflects our belief that electronic voting without a paper trail should only be used in an extremely limited context. This limited context does not include political or government elections.

In order for us to email you information about participating in the election, we need an accurate and working email address.  If you have not been receiving the "CPSR Compiler" regularly, please email cpsr at cpsr dot org with a current email account.

This election is an important turning point for CPSR, with more than the usual number and officer positions expiring. Eight of the twelve sitting directors have terms expiring on June 30, 2006. Three of these are the President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. The 2006-07 board will  have the opportunity to chart a new course on various points. Please consider running, and please definitely do vote.

Send Nominations for CPSR Board by May 31: Nominations should be sent to cpsr (at) cpsr.org, with the subject "2006 Nomination", by 2300 UTC (4 p.m. Pacific Standard daylight time) on May 31, 2006.  To run for election, or vote, in CPSR's 2006 Board Elections you must be a member in good standing on May 31st, 2006.

For updated election announcements bookmark and check:
/board/elections/2006/

See the Complete Call for Nominations:
/board/elections/2006/cec

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CPSR Chapter and Working Group Officers, and Project Directors need to send their fiscal year-end reports to cpsr(a)cpsr.org  with June 30th account balances (if applicable) and activities since their last report, and anticipated activities for the near future.

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EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR

2006 PARTICIPATORY DESIGN CONFERENCE
EXPANDING BOUNDARIES IN DESIGN
Trento, Italy, August, 1-5, 2006
http://www.pdc2006.org

Sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

Participatory design (PD) is a diverse collection of principles and practices aimed at making technologies and social institutions more responsive to human needs. A central tenet of PD is the direct involvement of people in the co-design of the systems they use. The PD Conferences have been held every two years since 1990.

The theme of the 2006 conference, Expanding Boundaries in Design, focuses attention on the multiple contexts in which design takes place and on an expanding range of possible design outcomes. While participatory design principles and practices are most often applied to the design of technical systems and artefacts, increasingly there is both the need and the opportunity to focus PD approaches on other domains, such as physical environments, organizational practices, and IT-enabled services. Likewise, the contexts in which PD is practiced has grown to include teams of globally distributed designers and practitioners; actor networks that span organizational, expertise, cultural and linguistic difference; and activity areas beyond the workplace, such as domestic and leisure. Finally, PD has a significant role to play at various stages of design, from initial concept development, to system configuration, to implementation, to integration within the context of use, and ultimately to ongoing design in use. This year's theme recognizes that we have an opportunity to expand our community, our design focus and the sites for action by bringing the principles of informed participation and social good to an even wider audience.

The upcoming conference will bring together a multidisciplinary and international group of researchers, software developers, social scientists, designers, activists, practitioners, users, citizens, cultural workers and managers who adopt distinctively participatory approaches in the design of artefacts, systems, services, environments and technologies.

Interactive workshops:

Half day and full day sessions on topics that include methods, practices, and other areas of interest and that support an interactive format where active participation beyond presentation is solicited. Workshops will take place on August 1st and 2nd, before the start of the paper sessions. Workshop are inviting participants and submissions for a diverse set of session and contribution types.

Art installations:

Artists/designers working in the field of visual, installation, and performative arts have been invited to submit a project that explores how participant's interactions can become part of a piece of art or performance. This session will be held at MART - Museo d'arte contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto.

Early Registration ends June 15th.
Regular Registration ends July 20th

To participate in PDC 2006 workshops and other events, please visit the conference website: http://www.pdc2006.org

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CPSR/Japan's monthly casual meeting will be held somewhere in Tokyo.

The annual meeting will be held during June and July. It will focus on recent trial and cyber security policy debate in Japan. But any proposal is welcome.

Shinji Yamane s-yamane (at) computer.org

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Bill Drake's News:

Gave a presentation on "Transparency in Internet Governance as an A2K Issue," at the Information Society Project/Yale Law School conference on, Access to Knowledge, New Haven; April 21-23, 2006.

Details

Gave presentations on "Developing Countries: Interests in Internet Governance," and, "The Politics of the Internet Governance Forum," at the 16th Annual Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy, Washington D.C.; May 2-5, 2006.

Organized a Workshop on Global Internet Governance, Thursday, 18 May 2005, at the Graduate Institute for International Studies (HEI), Geneva

Agenda:

Session I, 11am-1pm, 2pm-3pm
Constructing a global scholarly research network on Internet governance

This is a small working session for some members of a larger group of scholars that is planning to launch a global network of academics and others conducting scholarly research on Internet governance. We will consider such issues as the potential composition, focus, organizational form, and governance of the network, as well as outreach efforts to scholars in the developing world and the network's relationship to the Internet Governance Forum process. The session is intended to generate recommendations for further consideration at a forthcoming conference in Dresden and online by the network's emerging start-up group.

Participants:
*William Drake, HEI
*Wolfgang Kleinwachter, University of Aarhus
*Don MacLean, Consultant
*David Souter, University of Strathclyde
*John Mathiason, Syracuse University
*Avri Doria, Luleå University of Technology
*Eva Tanner, Diplo Foundation

Session II, 3pm-6pm
The future of Internet governance: Developing countries and the Internet Governance Forum

In this session, participants in the morning discussion will be joined by a few key players in the global dialogue from the various stakeholder sectors. The purpose is to engage in some informal, intensive, and off-the-record brainstorming about the future of Internet governance. Particular emphasis will be devoted to the roles and interests of developing countries, and to the organization and potential contributions of the Internet Governance Forum.

Additional Participants:
*Nitin Desai, United Nations
*Markus Kummer, Internet Governance Forum
*Robert Shaw, International Telecommunication Union
*Jose Marcos Viana, Government of Brazil
*Amr Aljowaily, Government of Egypt
*Karen Banks, Association for Progressive Communications
*Jovan Kurbalija, Diplo Foundation

Organizer:
Project on the Information Revolution and Global Governance

Details

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AOL starts pay-to-send: Help us stop the practice spreading

DearAOL.com Coalition members,

Well, it happened. Without informing either their users or senders, AOL last Friday turned on their Certified Mail system, and began to accept payment for delivering incoming mail.

While we're disappointed in AOL's action, we're not surprised - nor are we discouraged. What is important is that the temptation to take money to skip spam filters does not spread throughout the industry.

That's why we're asking other ISPs and webmail providers to state that they will not accept money for email.

Can you help us? I've enclosed a letter you can send to your own ISP or web mail provider, asking them to state that they will not follow AOL's lead. The language we ask them to agree to is taken from a statement by representatives of Google's Gmail service, who told reporters last month that "[Gmail] does not accept payment to bypass its filters", and does not plan to charge senders.

Customize it as you wish, and send it, ideally to their executives in charge of email delivery or higher: you may have to contact customer support to find the right person.

Obviously, if you're an AOL customer, you may have a little trouble persuading your current ISP to agree! But if you use another web mail provider as well as AOL, or are considering switching to a competitor, perhaps you can send the same message to their staff instead.

Thanks again for taking part in this effort. We really think AOL is shooting themselves in the foot by taking this money - and we're sure there are other companies who may be happy to learn from their  mistakes.

Best wishes,
Danny O'Brien,
Activism Co-ordinator,
Electronic Frontier Foundation
+1 415 436 9333 x121
danny (at) eff.org

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Network neutrality and the false idol of innovation
By Andy Oram

Summary: Telephone companies are trying to hold off government regulation by invoking the perennial American worship of innovation. But if there's anything the industry hates more than government regulation, it's government investment. Surely--say the CEOs, along with a battery of academic economists wielding standard financial models--government moves too slow and has too many vested interests to pick the right technologies. In a fast-moving culture of technology, innovation would be crushed. But my analysis suggests just the opposite. Government investment in networks will promote innovation. It's time to smash the idols. This article explains why.

Details

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Excerpts of News from Black Box Voting

- Pennsylvania's Michael Shamos sequestered all Diebold touch-screens.
- California is invoking emergency procedures.
- The state of Iowa is trying to figure out a way to scrub Diebold
clean.

Harri Hursti has just come out with Hursti Report II, a Black Box Voting project." 

Details

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"Scholarship and Libraries in Transition: A Dialogue about the Impacts of Mass Digitization Projects"

U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) Report from Symposium on Mass Digitization Focus is on Implications for Information Policy

"The symposium brought together scholars, librarians, publishers, government leaders to discuss their concerns and issues. . . The nine issues or areas that the Commission identified to have potential impact

on national information policy are:

1. Copyright: How should important aspects of copyright fair use, orphan works, opt-in vs. opt-out models be handled in digitization  projects?
2. Quality: When is the quality of OCR good enough? What about quality  of content and authentication?
3. Libraries: What are the roles and priorities for libraries in the digital age?
4. Ownership and preservation: Who will assume long-term ownership of books and journals and other media? Who will take responsibility for long-term preservation of books and journals and other media, and preserving the public record?
5. Standardization and interoperability: How can the silos of digital initiatives communicate with each other?
6. Publishers: What are the roles of publishers and booksellers in the digital age?
7. Business models: What business models are needed in the era of mass digitization? How will the open access movement affect the economics of digitization?
8. Information literacy: What should be done about information  illiteracy?
9. Assessment: What types of assessment are being used? How will we  know if digitization and electronic access are meeting people's needs?

This report sums up the key points under each of these nine topics and concludes that finding workable solutions will have to involve authors, scholars, publishers, libraries, associations, and government agencies. The solutions will involve education and awareness, policies, responsibility, standards, quality, cooperation, rights,  sustainability, technology, and assessment."

Webcast
Details
Or request a hard copy of the report from: info (at) nclis.gov.

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Information Security  - Risk & Prevention Seminar

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM - The Tower Club, Vienna, VA

Join former Special Advisor to the President for Cyber Security Richard A. Clarke and other security experts for a discussion about the Information Security crisis facing federal, state and local agencies - and the new breed of technologies that can prevent sensitive information loss and ensure compliance.

Details

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The Cleantech Imperative: Promise or Pandora's Box?
The Earth is Flat: Mining Global Innovation
Biopharma: Fatter Pipelines or $inkholes?
Venturing Forth: Where to VC?

June 28th & 29th, 2006 - San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA

These and other topical themes -- including technology transfer, angel capital, and corporate R&D -- will be discussed in tightly focused  panels by experts on innovation and investment.

Details

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Taking The Lead ...In The Digital Age
July 9-11. 2006 - Las Vegas, NV

Meet and learn from the Women Driving Technology and Business

"You will learn from and exchange ideas and opportunities with decision-makers from established and emerging companies. Join hundreds of other tech-savvy professionals and innovators from a wide range of industries including high tech, software, gaming and entertainment. You will interact with women and men leading the forefront in expanding the vision for women now and in the future."

Details

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IFIP-TC9 "Relationship Between Computers and Society"

Human Choice and Computers (HCC7)
An International Conference in remembrance of Rob Kling

Social Informatics: An Information Society for All?

Maribor (Slovenia)
September 21-23, 2006

How is the human being and its societal environment kept in the centre

How to build up an "Information Society for All" [UNESCO, 2002], [eEurope, 2002] when developing our more and more complex ICT (Information and Communication Technology) systems?

Details or contact: jberleur (at) info.fundp.ac.be or franci.pivec (at) izum.si

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The Center for International Legal Studies will host a conference 25 – 29 April 2007 on Internet law and governance at the Clinton Presidential Library and the Clinton School of Public Service at Littl Rock, Arkansas.

They will accord priority on the program and for delegate registration to those who have been active in the WSIS process.
Contact: cils (at) cils.org

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Help America Vote on Paper

A documentary on the dangers to democracy posed by privately owned voting machines, and what citizens, officials and activists are doing about it.

Details

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Taking ICT to every Indian village: Opportunities and challenges
Atanu Garai and B. Shadrach
New Delhi: OneWorld South Asia, 2006.

"Taking ICT to Every Indian Village is a clear-eyed, thought-provoking treatment of a very important but complex subject. The authors offer an innovative analytical framework that nicely interweaves the dynamics of knowledge, empowerment, technology, and sustainable development in order to illuminate the challenges and opportunities of bringing the information revolution down to the grassroots level. Highly recommended for anyone interested in ICT4D initiatives in India or in the developing world more generally."

William J. Drake, President, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

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The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is seeking a Technology Policy Analyst.

email: ratkinson (at) innovationpolicy.org
Details

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Details

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Susan will be away from the office from May 27-June 4.

The CPSR Compiler is a monthly notice with short updates on recent activities of our members and opportunities to engage in the development of the public voice through CPSR projects.

To report news for future issues, send a sentence or two (and URL if available) to cpsr (at) cpsr.org

CPSR provides a discussion and project space where individuals can contribute to the public debate and design of our global digital future. Through CPSR's chapters and working groups, members focus on regional and civic issues developing the public voice. To insure a democratic future in a time of intense globalization, the voice of the public must command a prominent position on the world stage. CPSR frames and channels the public voice.

When in doubt about how to get more out of your CPSR membership, contact cpsr@cpsr.org or refer to the

Activists Handbook to get help in getting the most out of your membership.

To get involved in policy work through CPSR, consider joining one of CPSR's Working Groups or contact cpsr (a) cpsr.org about starting a new one.

CPSR-Activists is the main members forum of CPSR, where the board and members discuss current policy and organizational issues. Only subscribed members can post to this list

(c) Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility 2006.

Redistribution of this email publication - both internally and externally - is encouraged if it includes this paragraph.

CPSR is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
Donations are tax deductible.

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The CPSR Compiler is emailed to CPSR members in good standing, who have provided CPSR with their email address.

********************************************
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/membershipForm
--
Susan Evoy * Managing Director
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
P.O. Box 717 * Palo Alto * CA * 94302
Phone: (650) 322-3778 * (650) 322-4748 (fax)