Netizens-Digest Tuesday, February 26 2002 Volume 01 : Number 396 Netizens Association Discussion List Digest In this issue: [netz] Terror Law: A win for fear, a loss for freedom [netz] Call for submissions [netz] US court asserts jurisdiction in ICANN dispute [netz] Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Re: [netz] Merry Christmas & Happy New Year [netz] LAT: FREENETS GETTING A NEW LEASE ON LIFE Re: [netz] LAT: FREENETS GETTING A NEW LEASE ON LIFE [netz] Thoughts about Michael Hauben [netz] A request for help [netz] Let's keep up the good fight! [netz] Hi Everyone ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 21:14:47 -0500 (EST) From: jrh@ais.org (Jay Hauben) Subject: [netz] Terror Law: A win for fear, a loss for freedom From: Yvonne Liu The Anti Terrorism Bill was signed into law on Friday by President Bush. The most controversial surveillance sections of the law will not expire until *2005*! See Wired News article: http://www.wired.com/news/conflict/0,2100,47901,00.html The ACLU protests the law: http://www.aclu.org/safeandfree/index.html Another interesting link of note, list maintained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation of websites censored after Sept. 11th: http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/antiterrorism_chi ll.html October 12, 2001 Antiterrorism Bill: Security Trumps Privacy http://www.interactiveweek.com/article/0,3658,s%253D605%2526a%253D16388,00.a sp By Doug Brown Netizens will lose some of their privacy rights and businesses will find it harder to curb the snooping appetites of authorities under antiterrorism legislation that Congress expects to send to the president next week. After nearly a month of tense negotiations and high-wire political gamesmanship, the House and Senate late this week passed similar but separate versions of a Department of Justice package that would loosen federal wiretap laws and give authorities greater cybersurveillance powers. Congressional leaders expected to have a compromise version ready for the president next week. The final product will likely resemble the version passed by the Senate. That bill covers a wide range of antiterrorism measures, from immigration to money laundering to wiretapping. For the Internet, the bill: * Lets authorities collect unspecified, undefined information about Web browsing and e-mail, without the involvement of a judge. * Allows universities and network administrators, among others, to authorize surveillance without any judicial review. * Enables authorities to get "roving wiretaps," which would let them snoop on people from phone to phone and from computer to computer, even if a suspect wasn't in control of the device; the provision could, for example, let the government tap all computers in a library, if a suspect were using one of them. * Lets criminal wiretaps, including those for the Internet, be conducted under the lower standards of foreign intelligence gathering; no probable cause would be required. * Overrides existing privacy laws for sensitive categories of records, including medical records. Civil libertarians and Internet businesses are particularly concerned that the provision gives authorities access to Web browsing and e-mail information without judicial review. Computer communications would be subject to the same rules girding pen registers and trap-and-trace devices used to capture the incoming and outgoing phone numbers of criminal suspects. Pen registers and trap-and-trace orders are rubber-stamped by authorities. If officials want to capture the content of phone conversations, however, they must prove probable cause of a crime to a judge. Web Trail Seen as Content Civil liberties advocates maintain that the paths of visited URLs and e-mail subject lines, which could be captured by authorities under the new law, are much more revealing about people than phone numbers, and in fact, constitute content. As content, it should be much harder for authorities to be able to snoop on most computer communications, they argue. Internet businesses are also concerned about the related liability issues. If they are required to hand over more personal information about people, they say, they need assurances that they won't suddenly be opened up to new lawsuits. "Most in the Internet industry are very worried about several provisions, which go to the practical realities of compliance," said Kevin McGuiness, executive director of NetCoalition.com, an Internet industry trade group. "They want to make sure their legal risks don't increase because of their compliance." The Senate passed its bill late Thursday, Oct. 11, and adjourned for the weekend. House lawmakers "worked late into the night and then started early the next morning," changing their bill to nearly mirror the Senate bill, a House Committee on the Judiciary spokesman said. The Senate's late approval and subsequent departure infuriated House lawmakers, especially members of the Judiciary Committee, who had spent nearly a month toiling over the nitty-gritty of a bill that members believed best balanced the need for greater surveillance powers by authorities while protecting citizens' civil liberties. The Bush administration favored the Senate bill because it hewed closer to the administration's more spy-friendly desires. "Why should we care?" asked Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., during volatile debate about the hastily revised bill. "It's only the Constitution; it's only individual liberty at stake." One key sticking point between the houses has been whether the surveillance powers should be extended for only a specified time. The Senate has no so-called "sunset" provision on its bill. The House, however, wants the expanded surveillance powers to expire in three to five years. Copyright (c) 2001 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - -- Yvonne Liu + y@onomatopoeik.com + http://onomatopoeik.com + vox: 646 321 5710 ³If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?² - Rabbi Hillel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 23:35:16 -0500 (EST) From: jrh@ais.org (Jay Hauben) Subject: [netz] Call for submissions The editors of the Amateur Computerist are planning an issue for Spring 2002 in memory of Michael Hauben. We plan to include tributes and memorial pieces about Michael and his work. We welcome contributions from people who knew Michael or who know his work. In addition work on the theme of netizens is invited. Michael is perhaps best known for his popularization of netizens. In 1993 he wrote: "Welcome to the 21st century. You are a Netizen, or a Net Citizen, and you exist as a citizen of the world thanks to the global connectivity that the Net makes possible. You consider everyone as your compatriot. You physically live in one country but you are in contact with much of the world via the global computer network. "The situation I describe is only a prediction of the future, but a large part of the necessary infrastructure currently exists...Every day more computers attach to the existing network and every new computer adds to the user base -- at least twenty five million people are interconnected today..." "We are seeing a revitalization of society. The frameworks are being redesigned from the bottom up. A new more democratic world is becoming possible." Michael's original webpage is still accessible at: http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/ Please send inquiries or submissions to: wrohler@mediaone.net or jrh@ais.org The deadline for submissions is January 7, 2002. For the Amateur Computerist, Jay Hauben ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 12:17:21 -0500 (EST) From: jrh@ais.org (Jay Hauben) Subject: [netz] US court asserts jurisdiction in ICANN dispute On the online mailing list BNA's Internet Law News (ILN) - 12/6/01 it is reported that a US federal court has reasserted jurisdiction in a dispute already decided by ICANN's dispute resolution procedure. ICANN is part of the effort by the US executive branch to privatize the crucial central functions of the Internet. But in this case, a federal court has reasserted a governmental presence in domain name questions. The court's decision makes interesting reading and a URL is given for it at the end of the BNA's copyrighted report (note: ACPA = Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act): "FIRST CIRCUIT RULES ACPA CAN BE USED TO OVERRULE ICANN UDRP In an important new decision, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a U.S. court can apply the Anticybersquatting act to overturn an ICANN UDRP decision. The decision stems from a dispute over the corinthians.com domain. After a WIPO panelist ordered the domain transferred to a Brazilian soccer team, the domain name owner sought to have a federal court declare that he was not a cybersquatter under ACPA and declare that the name should not be transferred. The district court refused, ruling that there was no live dispute and declining to rule on the case. The appellate court overturned, finding that there was in fact a dispute over the domain itself and that Section 1114(2)(D)(v) of the ACPA "provides a registrant who has lost a domain name under the UDRP with a cause of action for an injunction returning the domain name if the registrant can show that she is in compliance with the ACPA." Decision at " The BNA's Internet Law News is Compiled by Professor Michael Geist, BNA Consulting Editor. To contact Professor Geist directly, please send e-mails to: mgeist@uottawa.ca. To receive your own free personal copy of BNA's Internet Law News visit http://ecommercecenter.bna.com. Copyright (c) 2001 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, DC 20037. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 00:04:32 +0100 From: Dan Duris Subject: [netz] Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Dear fellow netizens, I wish you great Christmas time spent in your family circle and successful year 2002. yours, dan (from Slovakia - www.slovensko.com) - -------------------------- email: dusoft@staznosti.sk ICQ: 17932727 *- 8-bit era was good one, we used to play for a joy -* ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 26 Dec 2001 12:36:00 -0800 (PST) From: regina e walls Subject: Re: [netz] Merry Christmas & Happy New Year Happy Holidays to You. Please take me off your mailing list. Thank You - --- Dan Duris wrote: > Dear fellow netizens, > > I wish you great Christmas time spent in your family > circle and > successful year 2002. > > yours, > > dan (from Slovakia - www.slovensko.com) > -------------------------- > email: dusoft@staznosti.sk > ICQ: 17932727 > > *- 8-bit era was good one, we used to play for a joy > -* > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send your FREE holiday greetings online! http://greetings.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 16:37:08 -0500 (EST) From: jrh@ais.org (Jay Hauben) Subject: [netz] LAT: FREENETS GETTING A NEW LEASE ON LIFE Hi, I think readers of the netizens list will find the article refered to from the Los Angeles Times interesting. The Los Angeles Freenet charges $40 per year for Internet access and access to its local Freenet community including a find repository of medical information. Take care and may we all make some progress in this new year. Jay - ----------------------------------------------------------- Subject: [Discuss] [isoc-ny] LAT: FREENETS GETTING A NEW LEASE ON LIFE (fwd) Sender: discuss-admin@ISOC-NY.org Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 01:08:34 -0500 (EST) Date: Fri, 28 Dec 2001 20:42:49 -0500 From: WWWhatsup > FREENETS GETTING A NEW LEASE ON LIFE > Issue: Digital Divide > For many Americans, an Internet connection has become a critical tool, but > many cannot easily afford it. With standard access rates averaging more than > $200 a year, it's easier for people of limited means to get a computer than > it is to maintain an Internet connection. As most free commercial Internet > providers have bit the dust, the freenet movement is being resurrected in > America, after years of decline. Freenets, which offer cheap or free > Internet service and are usually staffed by volunteers, began in Cleveland > in 1986. Over the next decade, thousands of community-based network > providers sprang up all over the country. But when companies such as Juno > and NetZero started giving away Internet, most of the freenets withered > away. A few survived, however, and with the need for low-cost Internet > access still acute today, these organizations are answering the call. > [La Times, AUTHOR: Dave Wilson] > (http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-000100643dec20.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dtechnology) source: http://www.benton.org/Resources - -- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 19:28:27 EST From: Pjchipkin@aol.com Subject: Re: [netz] LAT: FREENETS GETTING A NEW LEASE ON LIFE Jay---I made sure to get suckered into AOL right from the getgo and, it is true, they provide customer service by phone, which I take advantage of as needed. I like that support for the moments when problems arise. I'm going to be a published author!!! My boss has asked me to write our company's latest column for City Voices, a well-distributed and widely-read newspaper in the mental health field. Five hundred words about my life and work. I expect to give them a run for their money... I'd like to get together on Monday, during the day. Yvonne is working. I am home and the house will be clean for the New Years. Money is not available for the occasion. Call. Pablo ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 00:44:18 -0500 (EST) From: jrh@ais.org (Jay Hauben) Subject: [netz] Thoughts about Michael Hauben Hi, The Amateur Computerist is planning an issue commemorating the life and work of Michael hauben for this spring. The following submission was received from Lou de Quesada. I thought the readers of this list might find it of value. Take care. Jay - -------- The following are my thoughts regarding Michael's work and legacy. Perhaps Michael Hauben's greatest ideal and contribution was that he was people oriented. He envisioned government just as the US forefathers meant it to be, "a government by the people and for the people"; nothing less is acceptable and that a true people's government could be strengthened and improved by public debate. Michael's idea wasn't far fetched or utopian. Michael's idea was exactly what our forefathers intended our government to be. A government not in the hands of the big corporations and their lobbyists, but a truly people oriented democracy. Michael saw in computers and the Internet an unprecedented means of communication and education which needs to be preserved for collective use and not for the private use of a privileged class. The computer and its information highway are and must be for equally shared public use, so Michael created Netizens a collective for citizens equally sharing the Internet as a right not as a service. One needs only to read the principles in which Netizens was founded, the rights of Netizens to understand Michael's intentions, ideals and gift for all of us and all of mankind. The way I see it, Michael, like Cuba's Jose Marti chose to side with the poor, the workers and all the little and disenfranchised people, as Marti once said and wrote, "CON LOS POBRES DE LA TIERRA, QUIERO YO MI SUERTE ECHAR", which translates, "WITH THE POOR PEOPLE OF THIS EARTH, I WANT TO SHARE MY FATE". And he did, fighting for the rights of all the poor and the under served to become computer literate, to enable them to freely logging in and navigate the Internet. Therefore it is my opinion that in founding Netizens, with the help of his loving parents Ronda and Jay, Michael founded what I call "THE SPANISH REPUBLIC OF THE INTERNET". The Spanish Republic 1931-1939 was founded on truly democratic principles and justice for all, just like our own in 1776. It is therefore our duty to defend Netizens and keep it alive, just like the loyal citizens of Spain and their brothers and sisters from all over the world came to Spain to defend it from fascism and the never ending greed of those who wanted to keep Spain and its people in eternal servitude. Unfortunately "THE GOOD FIGHT" in Spain was lost along with many other "good fights" in recent decades. So we must therefore carry on the torch and keep Michael's idea, NETIZENS, alive to ensure that complete privatization of the Internet never happens, because it is morally wrong, because in time, logging in would be a private commodity, reserved for a privileged few. They say people truly die when their ideas are no longer remembered and no longer matter to anyone. Because Michael's idea means so much to the underprivileged and to all of us, who shared his vision of justice for all, we must keep the fight so his idea of a free and collective Internet will keep on existing as a right for everyone, for mankind's benefit! Luis de Quesada lgd42@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 17:21:07 -0500 (EST) From: jrh@ais.org (Jay Hauben) Subject: [netz] A request for help Hi, The following was posted on the alt.society.netizens newsgroup on Jan 3, 2002. That newsgroup probably has low traffic. I hope readers of this list might find the time and spirit to send these students an answer to their question. You might share that answer with this list as well. Take care. Jay From: (feustel@stolaf.edu) Subject: Students Need Information Newsgroups: alt.society.netizens Date: 2002-01-03 22:30:17 PST For a class at St. Olaf College we are studying the sociology of the Internet. For a class project, we thought we would post a message on this usenet group because we are currently reading the NETIZENS text by Michael Hauben. We are interested in replies from you regarding your views in how the Internet has influenced our society. Thank you for your assistance. St. Olaf Students ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 18:33:47 -0500 (EST) From: jrh@ais.org (Jay Hauben) Subject: [netz] Let's keep up the good fight! > From Luis G. Dequesada Dear Fellow and Sister Netizens: A special memorial issue of the Amateur Computerist in honor of our fallen leader Michael Hauben will be forthcoming. If you think Michael's contribution to computerists and to the ordinary citizens of this world is important enough, would you please take a little time and write what you think about his work and submit it to the list? It doesn't have to be long. In your own words please tell us what you think of Michael's work. It is very important that we hear from you. If we all cooperate and keep Netizens alive, we are keeping Michael's work and memory alive and we can effectively fight the privatization and government sponsored privatization of the Internet. LET US KEEP SAYING NO TO THE PRIVATIZATION OF THE INTERNET! LET'S KEEP ALIVE THE GOOD FIGHT ON BEHALF OF THE ORDINARY AND UNDERPRIVILEGED CITIZENS OF THE WORLD! Sincerely, Luis de Quesada ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 10:42:27 -0500 (EST) From: Brenda Chen Subject: [netz] Hi Everyone Hi Everyone My name is Brenda. I'm new to the list. I joined the list because partly I'm interested in this topic, and the other reason is that it's part of my assignment for my internet technology class. So if I make any mistakes, please pardon my ignorance, thanks! ______________________________________________________________________ Find, Connect, Date! http://personals.yahoo.ca ------------------------------ End of Netizens-Digest V1 #396 ******************************