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Letter from the Presidentt

by Aki Namioka
CPSR President

CPSR News Volume 15, Number 4: Fall 1997

Dear CPSR Supporter,

This is the Year of Internet Governance.

We have had a busy and exciting quarter. I am thrilled with the board's enthusiasm with our new program direction.

What is the cause for all this excitement and why have we designated this the "Year of Internet Governance"? Last August, the CPSR Board of Directors gathered for 2 days to map out program strategy and organizational goals for the coming year. We were successful beyond our wildest dreams.

After filling pages and pages with interesting CPSR program areas, taking into consideration current issues and past interests, we chose the program theme "Internet Governance." There are three reasons why this topic is so appealing.:

• It encompasses many of the activities that we are currently involved in: the DNS issue, the WIPO treaty, global censorship, and even local Community Network governance.
• It gives our program area a sense of scope-- one that we have been missing. The Board of Directors realized that trying to be everything to everybody was not going to work if we were to be an effective organization.
• It is extremely timely. Issues around access to information, censorship, virtual community building, etc. are affected by governance. What should the nature of that governance be? What does governance mean in a global community? As an important first step in launching our program, it is necessary to articulate our core beliefs from which to base our program. Notice that this newsletter contains our current draft of "One Planet One Net: Principles for an Internet Era". This is a set of principles, endorsed by the Board, from which our future work and participation will follow. These principles will be shared with the Internet Community. It is our hope that after healthy debate, they will be adopted as a standard set of principles for the Internet Community.

  The Year of Internet Governance will culminate in our next Annual Meeting in Boston (October 1998). We are already putting together program ideas. We look forward to ideas for speakers and topics from all of you.

  This is not to downplay our work and interest in traditional CPSR areas. The Working Groups help CPSR diversify coherently while allowing the National Office to concentrate on a focused program. In fact, I am proud to announce the formation of several new Working Groups this year including ones in Education, Ethics, Y2K (year 2000), and Workplace/Participatory Design.

  Finally, I extend a warm welcome to our two newest Chapters: CPSR/Georgia and CPSR/Michigan. Its a thrill to see growing interest in CPSR all over the country.

  I would like to hear from you-- please drop me a line and tell me what you think of our program area. Give us some ideas on what you would like us to accomplish this year.

  Aki Namioka
  President
  aki@cpsr.org

  

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