2007 End of Year Campaign

Dear CPSR Member,

This year, many of the key issues that led to the founding of CPSR have become national headlines again. Computer-controlled weapons like autonomous robots have caused "friendly fire" deaths and reminded the public to question the use of computers in warfare. Revelations about government surveillance of citizens' private digital communications have underscored the need for technical and legal privacy protections online. Robust, well-informed responses from computer professionals to these issues are needed more than ever.

That's why CPSR continues to work for you. This year, we've started two new large-scale projects. "Who Voted", a website that allows the public to track the accuracy of voter history data, was funded by Google's Summer of Code and has gone live at www.whovoted.net. And we've also gathered together some of the best minds in computer science for our annual conference in January 2008, on the topic "Technology in Wartime". (www.technologyinwartime.org).

We've secured a permanent place for CPSR's archives, representing 25 years of research and activism, at Stanford Library. Students and scholars will now be able to access the work CPSR has done for many years to come.

We used the revolutionary Punchscan voting technology in one of our elections this year. The experimental system uses novel technology and allows voters to become involved in the election oversight process. The system is described at punchscan.org.

And finally, CPSR has continued its international advocacy for development and free expression by participating in the United Nations Internet Governance Forum and the iCommons board.

At CPSR, we work to keep social responsibility foremost in the minds of people who are innovating the next generation of computers, and the next generation of policies governing those computers. To keep doing this, we need your support. You can help by contributing to CPSR this year (www.cpsr.net). Thanks, and good wishes for a new year of liberty, integrity, and bug-free systems.

Yours,
Annalee Newitz
CPSR President