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The CPSR Compiler - March 2004 - 2.9 < <
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COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS for SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Turning Thoughts to Actions

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*NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES FROM CPSR
*RECOMMENDATIONS
*NON-CPSR OPPORTUNITIES

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CPSR's Voting Technology Working Group is discussing new program initiatives. CPSR members can join in by subscribing via http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/vote-wg

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The cpsr-activists list is also discussing other possible new CPSR program initiatives. CPSR members can join in by subscribing via http://lists.cpsr.org/lists/info/cpsr-activists

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Christian Stalberg, Chair of the RTP Chapter of CPSR joined the Raleigh PATRIOT Act Resolution Coalition appearing before the Raleigh City Council on March 2, to request the Council to adopt a PATRIOT Act resolution. The proposed resolution urges Congress and the federal government to revise those sections and regulations that are in conflict with freedoms secured by the US and NC Constitutions. CPSR developed the online petition and will collect the signatures for presentation to the City Council at the appropriate time. See http://www.acluofnorthcarolina.org.

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Christian Stalberg, chair of the RTP Chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, was included in "Local librarians are bookmarking the dangers" He is reported as having "struck the most sobering note of the evening, raising the specter of what he termed the "Security Industrial Complex," the nascent, emerging system of interconnected private databases that make it possible for the curious to know anything about you via data mining and the like--private organizations being outside the purview of government. "It's scary," Stalberg said, "really scary." See http://indyweek.com/durham/current/triangles4.html

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Six members of the DC Chapter of CPSR met on February 20 with Sarah Granger to discuss what CPSR is working on and how CPSR/DC might get people interested/involved. Particular attention was given to evoting issues. Contact paul@paulhyland.com.

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Robert Guerra will attend the Nonprofit Technology Conference in Philadelphia from March 25-27.

Bill Drake chaired a panel on "Understanding Intergovernmental Institutions;" was a discussant on a panel on "Strategic Issues 2005 and Beyond;" and gave a presentation, "Framing 'Internet Governance' Policy Discourse: Fifteen Baseline Propositions," at the Workshop on Internet Governance, International Telecommunication Union, Geneva; February 26-27, 2004. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/forum/intgov04/contributions/drake-presentation.pdf

Bill Drake gave three presentations on ICT Global Governance at the Annual Meeting of the Open Society Institute's Information Program, Istanbul; February 20-22, 2004.

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We have a generous offer for one free attender from CPSR to OSS '04.

Global Information Forum, Rosslyn, VA, April 12-16. Advanced Internet Exploitation for Intelligence (12 April), Open Source Intelligence Center Management (13-14 April), and Global Issues/Global Coverage (15-16 April). http://www.oss.net/extra/page/?action=page_show&id=21&module_instance=4

If you are interested, please let us know by responding with a description of who you are (attaching a resume if that's easy) especially in relation to CPSR - including past work you have done for CPSR, which could help in assessing why we should choose you, rather than someone else.

The CPSR representative will be asked to read and agree to a code of ethics, and write a report of the conference for posting to the CPSR website.

We're in the process of finalizing formal policies that will make offering opportunities like this to members less ad hoc.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

Sparks fly in e-voting debate: Researchers face off over security issues

Researchers argued the pros and cons of electronic voting this weekend with the fervor of candidates on the campaign trail - but agreed on at least one point: This year's presidential balloting has the potential to suffer more glitches than the infamous 2000 election. See http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4274389

Did Your Vote Count ? New Coded Ballots May Prove It Did See http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/02/science/02VOTE.html

Secret-Ballot Receipts: True Voter-Verifiable Elections, by David Chaum in IEEE Security & Privacy magazine. See http://www.voterverifiable.com

Election Reform and Electronic Voting Systems (DREs): Analysis of Security Issues, by Eric A. Fischer. Congressional Research Service report. See http://www.fairvote.org/articles/crs.pdf

Creating a Trusted Information Network for Homeland Security, a seond report from the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age. See http://www.markletaskforce.com

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NON-CPSR OPPORTUNITIES

To support a voter-verifiable paper trail for electronic voting everywhere in the U.S. for the November 2004 election, Verfied Voting.org is asking for help with "The Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003." The House version (H.R. 2239) was introduced in May by Rep. Rush Holt. The Senate version (S. 1980) was introduced in December by Senator Bob Graham. See http://www.verifiedvoting.org

You can register to vote, change your address, or change your party affiliation through the OMB Watch home page. Register to vote at: http://www.ombwatch.org (Just click on the White House in the top left corner.) Contact tyrnaa@ombwatch.org or 202-234-8494.

Consider signing a petition by groups representing booksellers, librarians and writers in support of legislation to amend Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. The groups hope to persuade Congress to restore safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records that were eliminated by the Act. See http://news.bookweb.org

Consumers Union recently launched a financial privacy campaign and website. The website allows visitors to write letters to three major health insurance companies, asking those companies to remove their customers' social security numbers from ID cards and postal mail. See http://www.financialprivacynow.org .

To get accurate, nonpartisan, and reliable information about government consider signing up for the free biweekly online newsletter, the OMB Watcher. The Watcher covers four broad issue areas: the federal budget; regulatory policy; public access to government information; and policy participation by nonprofit organizations. See http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/623/1/9/

To receive a free subscription to the new "Edutopia" magazine, from the George Lucas Educational Foundadtion, which will deliver coverage of tools, techniques, and technologies used by the U.S educators and students. See http://www.glef.org/php/magform.php

MediaRights.Org, with support from the Open Society Institute, is launching a new set of awards for individuals who have provided significant leadership in the area of media policy reform, as part of its Just Media Project. Two awards will be given -- one for lifetime achievement, and one for emerging leaders. See http://www.mediarights.org/justmedia/vote/vote.php

The Technology Opportunities Program(TOP), a grant program administered by the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has about $13 million available for grants in Fiscal Year 2004. See http://www.ntia.doc.gov/top

Call for Papers: *Voting, Elections, and Technology* A special issue of Social Science Computer Review will bring together a collection of high quality academic work that extends, refines and challenges our understanding of the use, state of the art, and challenges associated with voting and election technology, broadly conceived. See http://hcl.chass.ncsu.edu/sscore/sscore.htm

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@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.

(c) Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility 2004.
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Susan Evoy * Managing Director
http://www.cpsr.org/
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
P.O. Box 717 * Palo Alto * CA * 94302
Phone: (650) 322-3778 * (650) 322-4748 (fax)
Email: evoy@cpsr.org