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People For Internet
Responsibility (PFIR) is currently a global, ad hoc network of
individuals who are
concerned about the present and future operations, development,
management,
and regulation of the Internet in responsible ways. PFIR is in the
process of incorporating as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation.
The main goal of PFIR is
to provide a resource for individuals around the world to gain an
ability to impact these crucial Internet issues, which will affect
virtually all aspects of our cultures, societies, and lives in the 21st
century. PFIR is nonpartisan, has no political agenda, and does
not engage in lobbying.
PFIR
was founded in
November, 1999
by Lauren Weinstein
of Vortex Technology
in Woodland Hills, California and Peter G.
Neumann
of SRI International
in Menlo Park, California. Both have decades of continual experience
with the Internet and its ancestor ARPANET, Lauren originally at the
UCLA lab
which was the ARPANET's first site, and Peter at the Net's second site,
located at SRI.
Peter is the chairman of the ACM (Association for
Computing Machinery) Committee on Computers and Public Policy, and the
creator and moderator of the ACM
RISKS Forum. Lauren is a member of the
same committee, and he is the creator and moderator of the PRIVACY Forum.
With the rapid
commercialization of the Internet and its World Wide Web,
there are increasing concerns that decisions regarding
these resources are being irresponsibly skewed
through the influence
of powerful, vested interests
(in commercial, political, and other categories) whose goals are not
necessarily always aligned with the concerns of individuals and the
people at large. Such incompatibilities have surfaced in areas
including domain name policy, spam, security, encryption,
freedom of speech issues,
privacy, content rating and filtering,
and a vast array of other
topics. New ones are sure to come!
While corporate, political,
and other related entities most certainly have
important roles to play in Internet issues, it is unwise and
unacceptable
for their influences to be effectively the only
significant factors affecting the broad scope of Internet policies.
There are numerous
examples. While e-commerce can indeed be a wonderful tool, it is
shortsighted in the extreme for some interests to treat the incredible
creation that is the Internet as little more than a
giant mail-order catalog, with "dot-com" associated hype on seemingly
every ad, billboard and commercial. Protection
of copyrights in a global Internet environment, without abusive
monitoring,
is a challenge indeed. The Internet can be a fantastic tool to
encourage the flow of ideas, information, and education, but it can
also be used to track
users' behaviors and invade individuals' privacy in manners
that George Orwell never imagined in his 1984
world.
Above
all, it's critical
that reasonable discussion be encouraged that is
free from the overly polarized "yelling and screaming" that often
characterizes ongoing debates about Internet issues.
It is very important to provide some degree of balance against those
persons or groups who might attempt to impose their views on the
Internet by edict, without meaningful input
from the people whose lives will ultimately be most affected.
PFIR is a resource for discussion,
analysis, education, and information
regarding
Internet issues, aimed at providing a forum for all people
around the world to
participate in the process of Internet evolution, control, and use--a
forum that is not
controlled by entities with existing major vested financial, political,
or other interests.
This is accomplished
through the PFIR
Web site, the handling of telephone and e-mail
queries, and through digests, workshops,
discussion groups, statements/reports/papers,
broadcast/Internet radio and television
efforts,
and other venues.
It
is hoped that
individuals and organizations who are in agreement with PFIR's
objectives will be interested in helping to underwrite PFIR's efforts.
The best way to get
started is to join the PFIR mailing list! Announcements,
position statements and papers, status reports, and moderated digests
sent
to this list will keep you abreast of ongoing PFIR activities, issues,
and
projects. The frequency of items sent to this list will never exceed
one
per day, and currently is much less frequent. There is of course no
charge to join this mailing list.
The list is private, and your name and/or e-mail address will be used
only for the purpose of distributing PFIR materials.
Individual
subscriptions to the PFIR mailing list are controlled through an
automated list handling system.
Important
Note: Please do not attempt to subscribe an address
that uses a "challenge-response" system for spam blocking -- such
addresses will not be successfully subscribed.
To subscribe or
unsubscribe to/from the PFIR mailing list
via the Web, please visit the "pfir"
subscription page.
To
subscribe via e-mail, please send a message (subject and body text are
unnecessary and will be ignored) to:
pfir-subscribe@pfir.org
To
unsubscribe via e-mail, please send a message (subject and body text
are unnecessary and will be ignored) to:
pfir-unsubscribe@pfir.org
If
you wish to set up a local redistribution list for this
material, or have other special e-mail address requests or
subscription problems which
cannot be handled by the automated system, please contact:
list-maint@pfir.org
with the details. A human will
endeavor to be of
assistance.
Individuals,
organizations, media, etc. who are interested in more
information regarding PFIR or related Internet issues are invited to
contact:
Phone
or
E-mail:
Lauren
Weinstein
TEL: +1 (818) 225-2800
lauren@pfir.org
Please
send any physical mail to:
PFIR
c/o Peter
G. Neumann
Principal Scientist
Computer Science Lab
SRI International EL-243
333 Ravenswood Ave
Menlo Park, CA 94025-3493 USA
TEL:
+1 (650) 859-2375
neumann@pfir.org
Thank you
very much. Be seeing you!
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Discuss!