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PRIVACY Forum Digest     Tuesday, 16 November 1999     Volume 08 : Issue 15

                (http://www.vortex.com/privacy/priv.08.15)  

            Moderated by Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com)         
              Vortex Technology, Woodland Hills, CA, U.S.A.
                         http://www.vortex.com 
        
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CONTENTS 
        Announcing - PFIR: "People For Internet Responsibility"
           (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator)


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The Internet PRIVACY Forum is a moderated digest for the discussion and
analysis of issues relating to the general topic of privacy (both personal
and collective) in the "information age" of the 1990's and beyond.  The
moderator will choose submissions for inclusion based on their relevance and
content.  Submissions will not be routinely acknowledged.

All submissions should be addressed to "privacy@vortex.com" and must have
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All messages included in this digest represent the views of their
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The PRIVACY Forum archive, including all issues of the digest and all
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All PRIVACY Forum materials are available through the Internet Gopher system
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full keyword searching of all PRIVACY Forum files is available via
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VOLUME 08, ISSUE 15

     Quote for the day:

          "Relax kid, it's only a movie!"

                -- Ham Salad (Bob Knickerbocker)
                   "Hardware Wars" (Pyramid Films; 1978)
                   
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Date:    Tue, 16 Nov 99 12:08 PST
From:    lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator)
Subject: Announcing - PFIR: "People For Internet Responsibility"

Greetings!  I'm extremely pleased to announce a new effort, aimed
specifically at helping to provide some real balance to a wide range of
issues affecting the Internet, which are increasingly impacting so many
aspects of our lives.  I hope that many of the readership will be interested
in participating in this project!  The PRIVACY Forum will of course also
continue as always.  Thanks very much.

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum -- http://www.vortex.com
Co-founder, PFIR: People For Internet Responsibility 
   -- http://www.pfir.org

                         *** *** ***

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 [ Please feel free to redistribute this announcement as you see fit. ]

                              ANNOUNCING                        

              PFIR: "People For Internet Responsibility"

                         http://www.pfir.org

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November 16, 1999

PFIR is a global, grassroots, ad hoc network of individuals who are
concerned about the current and future operations, development, management,
and regulation of the Internet in responsible manners.  The goal of PFIR is
to help provide a resource for individuals around the world to gain an
ability to help impact these crucial Internet issues, which will affect
virtually all aspects of our cultures, societies, and lives in the 21st
century.  PFIR is non-partisan, has no political agenda, and does
not engage in lobbying.

PFIR has been 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 Internet RISKS Forum.  Lauren is a member of that same committee, and he
is the creator and moderator of the Internet PRIVACY Forum.

With the rapid commercialization of the Internet and its World Wide Web
during the 1990's, 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 areas.  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 ".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.

PFIR is a resource for discussion, analysis, and information regarding
Internet issues, aimed at providing a forum for ordinary people to
participate in the process of Internet evolution, control, and use, around
the entire world.  PFIR is also a focal point for providing media and
government with a resource regarding Internet issues 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, discussion groups,
reports, broadcast and Internet radio efforts, and other venues.  

For full details about People For Internet Responsibility, including
information regarding how you can participate in or keep informed about PFIR
activities (including the PFIR Digest mailing list), please visit 
the PFIR Web site at:

   http://www.pfir.org

Individuals, organizations, media, etc. who are interested in more
information regarding PFIR or these Internet issues 
are invited to contact:

Phone, Fax, or E-mail:

Lauren Weinstein
TEL: +1 (818) 225-2800
FAX: +1 (818) 225-7203
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

Thank you very much.  Be seeing you!

  ============

Lauren Weinstein
Peter G. Neumann
November 16, 1999

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End of PRIVACY Forum Digest 08.15
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