Web sites of interest

This list has been compiled over time by the Cyber Rights Working Group. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for additions. Also let us know if sites change or if the information becomes out of date.

You may jump to a specific area of interest by clicking on the list below:

• Upcoming conferences and events
• Past conferences and events
• Organizations that share goals with the Cyber Rights Working Group
• Political statements that we think are valuable
• Other political statements
• Community networking
• Technical discussions
• General news about the Internet and communication issues
• Government and Law-Related sites (currently only United States)
• Other useful research and databases

Upcoming conferences and events

Nothing of current interest.

Past conferences and events

Computers, Freedom, and Privacy

Eleventh annual conference, held in Cambridge, Massachusetts on March 6-9, 2001. This is a major annual event in the computer field, always offering important speakers.

Participatory Design Conference

Sixth conference on the democratic participation of workers in designing the computer systems and other systems they work with. Sponsored by CPSR and held on November 28, 2000 in New York City. The theme for this conference was “Designing Digital Environments—Bringing in more voices.”

Telecommunications Policy Research Conference

An annual conference with wide-ranging topics in the use and regulation of the Internet, as well as telecom. Held on September 23-25, 2000 near Washington, DC.

DIAC-00, “Shaping the Network Society”

Annual CPSR conference, concentrating this year on Internet regulation and related government issues. Held May 20-23, 2000 in Seattle, Washington.

Governing the DNS Commons: The Future of Global Internet Administration

Sponsored by CPSR, this two-day conference in Washington, DC discussed recent political developments in the domain name system and implications for Internet administration.

One Planet, One Net: The Public Interest in Internet Governance

Major annual conference held by CPSR, this year in Boston, Mass. on October 10-11, 1998. The focus was the issues covered by this Cyber Rights site.

The Internet Society’s 8th Annual Networking Conference

Held in Geneva, Switzerland on July 21-24, 1998, by the leading organization in the administration and promotion of the Internet. DNS administration and the new corporation will be a major topic.

Global Incorporation Alliance Workshop

Discussed DNS and the new corporation set up by the U.S. Commerce White Paper. Sponsored by Network Solutions and others (including some competitors and critics); held in Reston, Virginia on July 1-2, 1998.

Association for Computing Machinery’s Policy 98

A conference on ethics and social impacts sponsored by the leading professional organization in computing. Held in Washington, DC, on May 10-12, 1998.

Net Worth, Net Work: Technology & Values for a Digital Age

CPSR annual conference, held in Berkeley, California on October 4-5, 1997.

DIAC ’97, “Community Space and Cyberspace”

A CPSR conference held in Seattle, Washington.

Organizations that share goals with the Cyber Rights Working Group

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

CPSR is the parent organization of the Cyber Rights Working Group. This site includes articles related to the social uses of computers and electronic networks.

Electronic Privacy Information Center

A public interest group partly sponsored by CPSR. The site holds action alerts, position statements, and background information.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Another major organization in the field of online rights. Includes lots of information on legislation and activism.

American Civil Liberties Union

A long-standing organization protecting the rights of individuals and excluded groups, including online rights. Readers of this page may be particularly interested in their Cyber Liberties page.

The Center for Democracy and Technology

A more recently formed organization with a charter similar to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Consumer Project on Technology

A public interest group founded by Ralph Nader (not heavily into high-tech himself) which researches and lobbies about telecommunications, privacy, and other issues in the use of technology.

Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties (UK)

Useful news and papers, especially concerning Great Britain.

Domain Name Rights Coalition

A group promoting the rights of domain name holders and articulating the public interest in the administration of the Domain Name System.

ICANN Watch

A Web site publishing critiques of the organization mandated to administer the Domain Name System and IP addresses.

Open Root Server Confederation

A group trying to build open administration channels for the Domain Name System.

World Internetworking Alliance

An organization that works toward better administration of the Internet.

Benton Foundation

A public interest group with a special interest in the socially beneficial uses of modern communications.

Media Access Project

Another group that follows developments in the mass media, including Internet industries.

Global Internet Liberty Campaign

An organization dedicated to protecting free speech and privacy on the Internet internationally.

Internet Free Expression Alliance

A consortium of public interest groups (including CPSR) that opposes censorship and content control on the Internet.

Imaginons un Réseau Internet Solidaire

A French site that promotes civil liberties on the Internet.

Union for the Public Domain

A non-profit group promoted by Consumer Project on Technology and joined by a number of other public interest groups with the goal of protecting readers’ and users’ interests against an increasing trend by content providers (record companies, the movie industry, database providers, and so on) to make all information into a pay-per-use proposition.

Online Policy Group

Provides online policy research, outreach, and action on issues such as access, privacy, and digital defamation.

NetAction

An organization that helps community-based organizations understand and take action around cyberspace rights.

EDIN

The Economic Democracy Information Network, which promotes political and economic issues from the point of view of community development.

PRIVACY Forum

An archive of materials about privacy in the information age, partly supported by the ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy, and the Data Services Division of MCI Communications Corporation.

Computers and Academic Freedom

A forum focusing on free speech, censorship, and related issues at universities.

Student Association for Freedom of Expression (SAFE)

An excellent collection of resources covering all aspects of free expression, including recent events, the labeling/ratings debate, laws and policies, and a catalog of controversial material.

Justice On Campus

An organization working to “preserve free expression and due process rights at universities.”

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

A valuable collection of information on privacy issues.

Digital Freedom Network

A site that publishes censorshed material and news about censorship from around the World.

The MIT PGP Home Page

The official distribution site for the U.S. version of PGP. Includes links to PGP keyservers, utilities, and related pages. Note that there are two different versions of PGP; non-U.S. residents should get the International version from this site instead. Another good source of PGP and anonymous remailer information includes links to research papers on those subjects.

European Cryptography Resources

Articles and updates on individual countries and policies of the European Community.

Cypherpunks

Concerned with the creation, promotion, and distribution of strong cryptographic and anonymous systems. Often dismissed as anti-social, these hackers have a political agenda concerning information freedom.

Alliance for Public Technology

A public interest group with the goal o making technology available to all, including low-income people, those with disabilities, etc.

Minnesota E-Democracy

Links to resources, mailing lists, and other forums promoting electronic democracy and participation within the state of Minnesota.

American Communication Association WWW

A professional organization in the field of communication studies. Many articles on free speech and privacy.

The Internet Users Consortium

Articles and opinion pieces about the rights of Internet users.

ICLU - Your Rights in Cyberspace

A wide range of useful documents about rights and other social and technical issues on the Internet, maintained by the Indiana University School of Law at Bloomington.

Institute for Global Communications (IGC)

A long-standing organization that provides mailing lists and other resources for progressive groups and individuals around the world, incouding well-known mailing lists on peace, labor, ecology, and women’s issues.

Digital Future Coalition

A group of public-interest organizations that oppose the currently proposed changes to copyright in relation to digital technology.

The Loka Institute

Leads projects to bring technology to have-nots and make it respond to socially valuable goals.

Amnesty International

The famous worldwide network of human rights activists.

First Amendment Cyber-Tribune

Collections of articles and archives about free speech in the United States.

Civil Rights in Cyberspace

A collection of documents and links to other organizations.

Technorealism

A proposed set of beliefs concerning the adoption of the Internet and related technologies.

Select Nonprofit Organizations on the Internet

A list of Web sites for nonprofit organizations.

Political statements that we think are valuable

Universal Access to E-mail

A carefully research paper by RAND promoting the availability of networking to the public and examining what would be required to bring it about.

TeleRead Home Page

David Rothman’s proposal for a national electronic library, with many links to other sites of interest to librarians and writers.

Electronic Rights and Ethics

A succinct statement of rights and accompanying responsibilities for users of cyberspace.

Other political statements