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The CPSR Compiler - June 2006 - 4.12 < <
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COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS for SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Turning Thoughts to Actions

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* 2006 Election
* 2006 Election - Proposed Bylaw Changes
* CPSR's position on electronic voting
* Online Discussion About CPSR's E-Voting "Experiment"
* Member News
* Opportunities/Recommendations

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2006 CPSR Election

The 2006 CPSR Election is underway. Members in good standing as of May 31st, 2006 for whom CPSR had an email address, were sent personalized evoting instructions on Tuesday, June 13th from "Robert Guerra" with the subject "2006 CPSR Election - UPDATE & Voting Instructions".

Members as of May 31st, who did not receive the voting instructions, or need them resent, should contact rguerra (at) cpsr.org ASAP with the Subject "Member Needs Voting Instructions". With any luck, we'll be able to accommodate those members and give them the chance to vote before the polls close at 9 AM Pacific U.S. time on June 30th, 2006.

The Election is for six directors and Bylaws amendments about elections. The voting instructions include CPSR's position on electronic voting (see below), and URLs for two electronic ballots for 1) the proposed Bylaws amendments (or see below)
and
2) six candidate statements for

Kwasi Boakye-Akyeampong
Lillie Coney
Lauren Gelman
William McIver, Jr.
Annalee Newitz
Fyodor Vaskovich

This year's slate of candidates is interesting in several ways. We have a nice mix of experienced board members and CPSR activists as well as a growing interest worldwide in CPSR's mission and organizational structure.

We urge you to read all the statements carefully and be sure to vote online by 9AM Pacific U.S. time, Friday June 30th, 2006. The counting of ballots will take place on June 30th, 2006. All results take effect on July 1, 2006.

Please don't forget to vote. CPSR's strength has always been its membership. CPSR's recent election results have been very close; every vote counts. Your thoughtful participation in this election will help make CPSR stronger and more effective.


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CPSR 2006 Election - Proposed Bylaw Changes
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Full text of the proposed Bylaws change:

Whereas, the current Bylaws of CPSR require that the board have twelve Directors At-Large, who are elected by membership or appointed by the board to fill mid-term vacancies of elected directors, plus up to four Special Directors appointed by the board; and

Whereas, the large number of board members, combined with their geographic dispersion and CPSR's limited finances, has put strains on the ability of the board to meet and conduct business both in person and electronically, as well as on the CPSR budget; and it has proved difficult to fill all of the elected board seats with well-qualified members who have sufficient time to devote to board duties;

Now therefore it is resolved that...

The Bylaws of CPSR be amended to state that the Board shall consist of not less than eight nor more than fourteen Directors. Eight to ten shall be elected as Directors at Large by the membership. The Board of Directors shall have the power to expand the Board by appointing up to four additional Directors, known as Special Directors.

Proposed bylaw changes:

Should the CPSR Bylaws be amended to reduce

• (a) the required number of Directors At-Large from 12 to a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 10, and
• (b) the maximum number of Directors (including Special Directors) from 16 to 14.

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CPSR's position on electronic voting
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Experimental use of electronic voting

CPSR has long opposed the use of electronic voting without a paper audit trail for government elections. However, due to the costs and logistical complexities of our traditional paper/postal voting model and CPSR's current financial and staff constraints, a majority of board members believe that we should try an e-vote this year on an experimental basis. This was a difficult decision to reach, including because we understand that some of CPSR's members who have extensive expertise on voting technology issues may have strong reservations about our conducting the election online. Indeed, in light of this and other considerations, two members of the board voted against doing so. Nevertheless, preliminary dialogue with some of the most concerned members has led the board majority to believe that the experiment could go forward if accompanied by an appropriate disclaimer; that text is below.

We will assess the results of this experience to determine whether to continue with online elections in future years, and members views on this matter are very much welcomed. Please consider registering to use the password protected Members Area of the website if you have not done so already and share your views in the designated space therein.


Electronic voting principles

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.

For more information

For more information on the structure and organization of CPSR, see http://www.cpsr.org/about. The CPSR Bylaws may be found at http://www.cpsr.org/membership/policies/bylaws For a list of current board members, see http://www.cpsr.org/board

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Online Discussion About CPSR's E-Voting "Experiment"

As we hope you are aware, CPSR is in the midst of its annual board election, with a special bylaws change referendum to reduce the size of our board. As announced in April, this election also represents CPSR's first experiment with Internet voting. Although a majority of Board members felt that CPSR could try e-voting for this election while maintaining and reiterating our organization's position opposing e-voting without a paper trail in government elections, this decision has been controversial both within the board and among some of our members. If you would like to participate in an online discussions of the technology being used in the current board election, as well as the decision to use e-voting internally and the policy statement on e-voting in government, you have two options:

• 1)visit the forum in the member's section of the website established for this purpose, http://www.cpsr.org/membership/members/forums/ev  (requires login); and/or
• 2) for more detailed discussions of e-voting issues, join the Voting Technology Working Group's email list vote-wg (at) lists.cpsr.org by sending a blank message to vote-wg-subscribe (at) lists.cpsr.org, and you will have access to previous discussion there as well through the list archives. The developers of the eVote/Clerk software being used in our present election are represented on the list and can answer questions there as well. The CPSR Board will review this discussion before making future decisions about election procedures.

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Members in good standing can request a website account, to be able to "login" for "members-only" features, by writing to cpsr(at)cpsr.org with the subject "website account".

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Bill Drake has been appointed by the United Nations to the Panel of Advisors of the new Global Alliance for ICT and Development.

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Norberto Patrignani spoke with Prof. Richard De George of the University of Kansas about "The Myth of Amoral Computing" as invited experts on computer ethics and members of CPSR.

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U.S. Wants Companies to Keep Web Usage Records by Saul Hansell and Eric Lichtblau

"The Justice Department is asking Internet companies to keep records on the Web-surfing activities of their customers to aid law enforcement, and may propose legislation to force them to do so." Details

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The Internet Caucus Advisory Committee's June 8th panel on "Legislating Network Neutrality Necessary?" video is available here.

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Weizenbaum: Rebel at Work A documentary film by Peter Haas and Silvia Holzinger, about Joe Weizenbaum, CPSR's 1988 Norbert Wiener Award winner for his work to promote the human side of his computing, as expressed in his book Computer Power and Human Reason, will be finished by August 06. Details

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William J. Drake and Rikke Frank Jørgensen. "Introduction." In, Rikke Frank Jørgensen., ed. Human Rights in the Global Information Society. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, 2006, pp. 1-49. Details

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Call for Applications for Young Global Leaders Summits

"Globally conscious young leaders at CPSR wishing to make a difference in the world are invited to apply for one of Americans for Informed Democracy's Young Global Leaders Summits, which are taking place across America in the summer of 2006! The summits will bring together young leaders from across the U.S. for workshops, speakers, and discussions on how young people can take positive action to ensure a principled and collaborative U.S. role in the world. Participants will hear from top experts and then be immersed in breakout sessions where they will have the chance to weigh in with their own view on the U.S. role in global issues."  Details

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It has come to our attention from members who happened to follow up, that some online payment forms from http://www.cpsr.org/membershipForm and PDC 2006 Registration forms from https://www.cpsr.org/issues/pd/pdc2006/pdc2006reg have not been received by CPSR, after being submitted, with or without any signs of errors for the users or CPSR. If you submit(ed)a payment using our online payment form, but then receive a membership dues renewal reminder and/or do not find a credit card charge from CPSR, please contact cpsr(at)cpsr.org .   If you did/do not receive an acknowledgement of PDC Registration within two weeks, please contact cpsr(at)cpsr.org .  Thank you.

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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 (at) 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.

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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)