[atlarge-discuss] And in the courts real change is happening to:Re: [atlarge-discuss] E-DEMOCRACY: MORE THAN A MATTER OF OPINION

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>]

Judyth and all stakeholders or other interested parties and members,

  This is very interesting study being done by Oxford.  But it is little
more than that at this juncture.  None the less it can and should be
helpful the E-Democracy efforts that have been ongoing for a
number of years before Oxford became directly involved.

  In this vain the Digital Millennium act has been challenged in the
courts and recently heard in the US Supreme Court this month
that will play a very key aspect of furthering E-Democracy
as to common terms for TM and Copyright.
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/07/business/media/07ARGU.html

  More such battles will be enjoined and INEGroup members
will be leading some more of these challenges.  I hope that at
some point the ICANNATLARGE.ORG will enjoin in these
challenges as time is of the essence, this organization
will need to get busy and get involved in meaningful ways
that has impact and real meaning.

  We [INEGroup] also hopes that Prof. Eli Noam
see: http://www.citi.columbia.edu/elinoam/
can also enjoin these efforts in direct ways so as
to effect real and long lasting change that is all
inclusive..

espresso@e-scape.net wrote:

> * E-GOVERNMENT BULLETIN.
> The Email Newsletter On Electronic Government,
> UK And Worldwide.
>
> * ISSUE 123, FRIDAY 11 OCTOBER 2002.
>
> Please forward this free service to colleagues
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> For further information, an online archive
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> [snip]
>
> * NEWS IN BRIEF:
>
> * E-DEMOCRACY CHAIR: The recently-launched
> Oxford Internet Institute (see section two, this issue)
> expects to appoint the world's first professor of e-
> democracy 'in the next few weeks'. E-Government
> Bulletin has learned that the front-runner for the
> position is Dr Stephen Coleman of the London
> School of Economics, who heads the e-democracy
> programme at The Hansard Society for
> Parliamentary Government:
> http://www.lse.ac.uk/Depts/Media/people/scoleman
>
> [snip]
>
> * SECTION TWO: CONFERENCE REPORT
> - OXFORD INTERNET INSTITUTE.
>
> MORE THAN A MATTER OF OPINION.
> by Derek Parkinson  derek@headstar.com
>
> Could it be that the opinions and pronouncements of
> politicians, civil servants, media pundits and industry
> gurus are no longer enough to gauge the true
> importance of the internet in our lives?
>
> Oxford University certainly thinks so, and is
> attempting to bring a new seriousness to bear on
> thinking about the net with the launch last month of
> the Oxford Internet Institute
> (http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk).
>
> The institute, an independent research centre within
> the university, has a mission to become "the world's
> leading independent centre of excellence in academic
> research on the impact of the internet on society and
> in informing policy and generating debate".
>
> Speaking at the launch, Professor Eli Noam of
> Columbia University questioned how far-sighted
> academics could be in practice. Reflecting on the
> hype that mushroomed during the dot.com boom,
> Noam suggested that academics had a poor record in
> seeing further or more clearly than anyone else.
> "Where was the academic community in all this? Did
> they know more than the average airline magazine?"
> he asked.
>
> The Oxford academics responded by emphasising
> the benefits of combining analysis across academic
> disciplines such as sociology, economics, law and
> ethics in innovative ways.
>
> According to the OII's inaugural director Bill
> Dutton, a former professor of communication at the
> University of Southern California, the institute wants
> to "shape the future" through world-class research
> and collaboration across all Oxford colleges and
> institutions, demonstrating how to weave
> institutional values and cutting edge technologies
> together.
>
> The institute identified four initial key areas where it
> will focus its resources: national and international
> regulation of the internet; e-government; e-
> democracy; and the social effects of 'pervasive'
> technologies spreading to every street, home or
> workplace.
>
> On the issue of regulation, it was argued that to
> frame acceptable policies, we need to change how
> we perceive the internet. In particular, we should
> think of it as a network of humans, not a network of
> machines, said Professor Barbara Simons of Stanford
> University. "Technologists and policy-makers don't
> understand each other," she said.
>
> As evidence, Simons cited the notorious Digital
> Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a hastily
> drawn-up piece of US legislation outlawing products
> that outsmart copyright technology. "What is
> unusual about the DMCA is that it criminalises
> technology, not behaviour," she said. Many
> commentators have ridiculed the law on the grounds
> that it can make a criminal of anyone who innocently
> discovers holes in copyright protection software.
> More broadly, it is seen as evidence of Luddite
> instincts in US policy-makers.
>
> As a first step to improving communication between
> technologists, policy-makers and the ordinary
> audience, Simons suggested that specialist jargon be
> avoided.
>
> In the field of e-democracy Professor Steve Woolgar,
> director of the Virtual Society? Programme at
> Oxford University Said Business School, also had
> bones to pick with terminology. According to
> Woolgar, we have allowed our thinking to become
> dominated by summary terms like 'society' and
> 'technology' - typically over-used by government
> and the media - which obscure a more complex and
> plural reality.
>
> It is also essential that e-democracy is seen as more
> than e-voting, and increased citizen participation
> kept as a central objective, Woolgar said.
>
> On the topic of pervasive technology, David
> Cleevely of the telecommunications consultancy
> Analysys distinguished between the intended
> functions of communications technology and our
> ability to explore new and rewarding uses that were
> not originally foreseen. According to Cleevely, this
> makes future uses potentially very rewarding but
> highly unpredictable.
>
> Concern was expressed by some about the long-term
> social effects of cocooning ourselves in electronic
> webs. But however well-grounded these fears,
> Professor Christian Sandvig of the University of
> Illinois cautioned against a heavy-handed
> interventionist approach by government and large
> enterprises. Drawing on the spread of telephone
> services across the US in the early twentieth century,
> Sandvig suggested that history showed groups of
> enthusiastic amateurs could have a key role
> stimulating innovation and take-up of new
> technologies. Government and big businesses were
> not the best agents for change, he said.
>
> Meanwhile the new Oxford Internet Institute faces
> its own tough challenges. To cross the traditional
> boundaries of Oxford colleges it must face inward,
> yet its ambitions reach out beyond the academic
> world as is usually conceived. It must also keep pace
> with new developments, avoid being drawn along by
> hype, yet make substantial contributions to policy
> thinking. Andrew Graham, Master of Balliol College
> and one of the Institute's founders, summarised the
> challenge: "Essentially, research is backward-
> looking while policy must look forward."
>
> [Section two ends.]
>
> [snip]
>
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> [snip]
>
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>
> ##########################################################
> Judyth Mermelstein     "cogito ergo lego ergo cogito..."
> Montreal, QC           <espresso@e-scape.net>
> ##########################################################
> "A word to the wise is sufficient. For others, use more."
> ##########################################################
>
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Regards,
--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup - (Over 127k members/stakeholders strong!)
CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng.
Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
Contact Number: 214-244-4827 or 972-244-3801
Address: 5 East Kirkwood Blvd. Grapevine Texas 75208



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