OPG ENEWS
October 8, 2002
The electronic journal of the Online Policy Group, Inc.
This issue is available online at
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/media/opgenews/opgenews021008.shtml
Note:
As you may have noticed, it's been awhile since the
last newsletter. We have recently revived it and hope to
make it a regular feature. As a large amount of news has
occurred since the last newsletter, this issue includes both
recent and more "historical" items. Enjoy!
Action Alerts
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Online Policy Projects
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Internet Filtering Software Wrongly Blocks Many Sites
The Online Policy Group (OPG) and the Electronic Frontier
Foundation (EFF) released preliminary results of research on
Internet blocking or filtering in schools (September 18,
2002) Check it out at
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/media/schoolblocking020918.shtml
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"Extreme Programmers" Revitalize Online Community Forum
A group of "extreme programmers" are pair-programming
regularly on OPG's Online Community Forum software project,
designed to provide more secure message boards, photo
exchange, and many other online community features without
commercial advertising or smarmy privacy policies. Java
programmers, especially those interested in extreme
programming in the San Francisco Bay Area, are invited to
join the project, codenamed Calliope (volunteer info later in this issue).
A somewhat out-of-date spec is available at
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/research/onlinecommunityforum.shtml
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CCCP Joins OPG
The California Community Colocation Project joined as a
project of the Online Policy Group near the end of 2001.
CCCP provides free colocated Internet access to individuals
and organizations, including open source projects. It
currently hosts 41 client IP addresses, 30 client
computers, four servers, and two (soon to be five) switches!
For more information on CCCP, check out
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/media/011212.opg.cccp.shtml
and
http://www.communitycolo.net/
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Technology Federation Forming
OPG will hopefully soon be part of a new federation of
organizations called the Tech Federation. These
organizations are federating to provide technology
resources for social change through knowledge sharing,
mutual aid, systems reliability, reducing un-needed
redundancy, project co-ordination and promotion, resource
sharing, social advocacy, anti-oppression work, community
creation, legal research around tech issues, project
documentation and fundraising. For more information, see
http://notes.techfed.net/index.php/PointsOfAgreement
Online Policy News
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Access
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School Communities Give Internet Filtering Law Failing
Grade
School administrators, along with students, teachers,
parents, and school librarians, in San Francisco, New York,
and Boston speak out against federal mandates for Internet
blocking or filtering software in public schools. Online
Policy Group (September 18, 2002). Get all the details at
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/media/schoolsfailcipa020918.shtml
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Hey Filters, Leave the Kids Alone
A small group of activists gathered in front of Mission
High School to protest federally mandated Internet
filtering in public schools, Wired News (September 19,
2002) Read the whole story at
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55243,00.html
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Filters, Schools like Oil, Water
Last fall, high school students in John Elfrank-Dana's
class decided to write a research paper on terrorism. The
subject was personal: Located just a quarter-mile from the
World Trade Center towers, students and teachers were
forced to flee their school on Sept. 11. But the filtering
software in place at Murry Bergtraum High School blocked
access to websites with the word "terrorism." Wired News
(September 6, 2002). Learn more by clicking
http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,54632,00.html
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OPG Keeps Palestine Activists Wired
By working with OPG's QueerNet project, gay Palestinians
and Palestinian expatriates have been able to form a
supportive online community that is at reduced risk of both
persecution and logistical problems, BAIDO (May 24, 2002)
http://baido.org/topics/human_rights/2002/opg_webhosting.php
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Yahoo's China Concession
Yahoo has recently signed a voluntary pledge to purge its
Chinese website of material that China's communist
dictatorship might deem subversive, Washington Post
(August 19, 2002) More information at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=
&contentId=A34015-2002Aug18¬Found=true
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Bush: Bring Back Library Filters
The Bush administration announced in June that it plans to
appeal a May U.S. Court of Appeals decision striking down
the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). However,
filtering opponents are confident that the court will
uphold the ruling, as CIPA filters were found to block
constitutionally protected speech. Wired News (June 21,
2002) Read the story at
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,53389,00.html
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Internet Extends Legal Reach of National Governments
Police in Italy didn't care that five websites they deemed
blasphemous and thus illegal were located in the United
States, where First Amendment protections apply, Associated
Press via SiliconValley.com (July 21, 2002) Get the low-down
by going to
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3709326.htm
Privacy
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Libraries vs. Police in a Suit Sparked by Porn
Someone in the library, huddled close to a computer screen,
was viewing images of child pornography, Seattle
Post-Intelligencer (August 13, 2002) See the story at
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/82432_library13.shtml
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Hacker Group Targets Net Censorship
Some of the world's best-known hackers unveiled a plan this
weekend to offer free software to promote anonymous Web
surfing in countries where the Internet is censored,
especially China and Middle Eastern nations, Reuters via
CNET News (July 14, 2002).
Learn more here:
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-943686.html
Digital Defamation
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Dear Member: You've Been Deleted
OPG Executive Director Will Doherty comments on Yahoo!
yanking the Guerilla Queer Bar website, as well as similar
activities of other online services providers, Wired News
(July 11, 2002) Sniff the poop at
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53658,00.html
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Ontario Court Orders Large Award For Net Defamation
An Ontario court has awarded $400,000 in damages in possibly
the largest such award in Canada for Internet defamation.
The court noted that the global scope of the Internet
ensured that the publication was communicated to worldwide
audience, which contributed to the size of the award, The
Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia (July
25, 2002) Get the details by going to
http://www.cle.bc.ca/CLE/Stay+Current/Collection/2002/7/02-onthcj-reichmann
Digital Divide
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China Second to US in Web Traffic: Study
According to the company, China accounted for 6.63 per cent
of global Internet traffic, second only to the US, which
accounts for some 42.65 per cent of online activity
worldwide, AFP via Sydney Morning Herald (August 1, 2002)
See the stats at
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/01/1028157806643.html
Organizational News
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Boards and Committees
Location Developments
Free Internet Services
Volunteer / Intern
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INTERNS! VOLUNTEERS! OPG needs volunteers and interns for
many projects so please consider how you can apply your
talents to developing universal Internet access without
bias, discrimination, or defamation.
Please see the volunteer and intern page at
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/volintern.shtml
If you are a volunteer or intern and would like to be added
to the page, please email site@onlinepolicy.org with your
name, email address, brief bio, date started internship or
volunteering and (optionally) a picture (in png, jpg, or gif
format).
We particularly need website editors interested in updating
the OPG website on a regular basis (you don't even have to
know HTML).
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New Volunteers and Interns are here!
Thank you to all volunteers and interns! We would be lost
without you. For an update on new volunteers and interns, go
to
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/volintern/volinternlist.shtml
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Volunteer of the Month: Jim Hankle
Jim Hankle is volunteer of the month for October 2002 due to
his tireless devotion and hard work in programming software
tools that permitted the Internet Blocking in Schools project
to pursue important research about the effect of Internet
blocking software in schools. You can see a picture of Jim
at work at
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/research.shtml
Donate
--------
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Make A Difference for Communities Online
The Online Policy Group depends on donors to provide the
financial support necessary to make these important online
policy projects possible. Please find out how you can make
a tax-deductible donation of funds, equipment, goods, or
services to benefit the online policy cause at
http://www.onlinepolicy.org/joindonate.shtml
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New Recurring Monthly Donations Campaign
OPG has a snazzy new way to provide on-going support!
By going to http://www.onlinepolicy.org/joindonate.shtml,
you can set up a monthly recurring donation to OPG using
PayPal. Giving even a small amount every month will make a
big difference. It's an easy way to contribute much-needed
resources to the Online Policy Group. Check it out today!
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Is It Hot In Here?
Have you noticed the new thermometer on the donation page of
the OPG website? As we grow, it becomes even more important
for us to set and meet funding goals. That's where this
new graphic comes in. It's a thermometer that tracks our
monthly goals, and it will increase with every donation and
gift to OPG. You can keep track of our progress and also
note how your donation turns up the heat!
Editorial Policy
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Submissions
OPG ENEWS accepts submissions of news stories, action
alerts, and other materials. Brief submissions may appear in
their entirety in OPG ENEWS, while longer pieces may appear
as a link to a page on the OPG website. To submit a story,
simply email it to opgenews@onlinepolicy.org
Subscribe / Unsubscribe
-----------------------------
To subscribe or unsubscribe to OPG ENEWS, please become a
member of the Online Policy Group. It's so easy! Just send
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opg-member-{location}-subscribe@lists.onlinepolicy.org
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for United States and sfbay for the San Francisco Bay Area.
For example, if you live in New York City, send an email to:
opg-member-us-subscribe@lists.onlinepolicy.org
About OPG:
The Online Policy Group (OPG) is a nonprofit organization
dedicated to online policy research, outreach, and action on
issues such as access, privacy, and digital defamation. The
organization fulfills its motto of "one Internet with equal
access to all" through projects such as donation-based email
list hosting, website hosting, domain registrations, and
colocation services. OPG focuses on Internet participants'
civil liberties and human rights, like access, privacy,
safety, and serving schools, libraries, disabled, elderly,
youth, women, and sexual, gender, and ethnic minorities.
Find out more at http://www.onlinepolicy.org
OPG ENEWS, ISSN 1533-6387
Copyright (c) 2001-2002, Online Policy Group, Inc.
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