Dear Attendee,

Welcome to CPSR's conference, "Governing the Commons: The Future of Global Internet Administration."  We have an excellent program that assembles many of the leading thinkers and stakeholders in this area.

CPSR's activities in Internet policy are only the latest chapter in a long history of policy activism.  Incorporated in 1983 (about the same time the domain name system was created), CPSR is a mass-membership, professional association with a history of independent thought and action.  CPSR was a leader in correcting misconceptions of the technical reliability of the Star Wars/SDI system.  CPSR pioneered civil liberty advocacy in cyberspace.  We helped launch community networks throughout the U.S.  And we have worked to promote an equitable and open National Information Infrastructure.  In all these debates and activities we have never shied away from taking principled stands -- even when they proved controversial.

Over the past three years CPSR has been active in the DNS debates.  We have submitted comments to Congress, published analyses of by-law proposals, and held conferences and forums on Internet governance.

CPSR's unique organizational attributes enable it to play an important role in this area.  Our independence allows us to speak truth to power, articulating the public interest to powerful institutions in the  public and private sectors.  With our mass membership we can legitimately claim to speak for the broad computer professional and Internet community.  Our activist members have a long record of working together to realize the public interest.  Furthermore, with our open membership policies we have traditionally served as a broad umbrella organization to unite disparate advocates, thereby creating a community that can impact policy making.

I urge you to become a member of CPSR.  We intend to serve as the "progressive party" in Cyberspace, working for social responsibility and the public interest in the new world created by the Internet.  Please join us in this important endeavor!

Sincerely,
 

Hans Klein
Chairman of the Board