Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!fxgrp!raphael From: raphael@fx.com (Glen Raphael) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: EFF and CPSR don't have the same purpose. Keywords: EFF college academia chapters Message-ID: <1991Mar27.221957.13253@fxgrp.fx.com> Date: 27 Mar 91 22:19:57 GMT References: <1991Mar19.213148.14254@vpnet.chi.il.us> <669491914.4141@mindcraft.com> <7846@hsv3.UUCP> <1396@gargoyle.uchicago.edu> <7858@hsv3.UUCP> Sender: news@fxgrp.fx.com Organization: FXD/Telerate, Mountain View, CA Lines: 90 mvp@hsv3.UUCP (Mike Van Pelt) writes: >In article <1396@gargoyle.uchicago.edu> learn@gargoyle.uchicago.edu (William Vajk ) writes: >>In article <7846@hsv3.UUCP> mvp@hsv3.UUCP (Mike Van Pelt) writes: > [re: steering people interested in local EFF chapters to CPSR] >>>Yes, but there are people interested in promoting the aims of EFF who >>>aren't interested in promoting the entire spectrum of trendy causes >>>which the Politically Correct define as "Social Responsibility." >> >>It is of great interest to me to hear how "the Politically Correct" >>might define "Social Responsibility" any differently then Mike Van Pelt >>does. >I was (briefly) on CPSR's mailing list. It mostly looked to me like >"Unilateral Disarmament *NOW*" stuff, with a technogeek spin: "Because >There's Always One More Bug..." prefix to the unilateral disarmament >demand. These topics have little to do with the Electronic Frontier. There are a few CPSR T-Shirts from that era. One of them has a picture of an atomic explosion and the caption "The ultimate error message". Another (my favorite) says, "CPSR: Nerds Against Nukes". Computer- controlled launch-on-warning systems were and are a serious hazard capable of causing the extinction of life on this planet. CPSR was concerned that the people responsible for overall strategic planning (like Reagan) were and are technically illiterate and unaware of the risks involved. This is a valid concern. Pointing out flaws in proposed SDI systems and coming up with alternatives was an important thing for *somebody* to do, and for a while it was perhaps the most important thing that CPSR, and PSR (Physicians for Social Responsibility), did. However, plans for SDI have been scaled back considerably (partly as a result of a new public and congressional understanding of the issues), and as global tensions have eased, CPSR has largely moved on to other issues. CPSR is basically a forum for discussion of ethical issues related to computing. In a CPSR chapter, technically literate people get together and attempt to solve problems related to computer technology. They sponsor debates, write position papers, and lobby congress. They have a Washington office so congresscritters can call up and ask "Is this feasible?" or "What's wrong with this idea?" Groups are organized over many different types of topics, so you can pick what you are interested in and help to form policy in that area. Topics that they've had their hand in might include: Operation Sun Devil: search and seizure as it applies to computers. Censorship vs free speech as it applies to the electronic realm. VDT legislation: what are the risks associated with video displays, power fields, etcetera and do they justify legislation? (They sponsored a talk by the San Francisco board member who was responsible for the recent law, and I assume she was thoroughly grilled at the Q&A session afterwards). Toxic waste disposal/pollution in computer manufacturing. Using Computer Technology To {save the environment,feed the poor,whatever} Getting hold of government records *in computer-readable form* through the Freedom of Information Act. (David Burnham, author of "A Law Unto Itself", spoke at the annual meeting about what he could glean about the IRS and about individual police districts and special prosecutors by analyzing public-domain data with a 4GL.) Lotus Marketplace/ the spread of computer databases vs. personal privacy. Or generally anything you might see in comp.risks. Right now EFF-related issues take up a lot of CPSR's time, but other issues will grow and shrink in importance as new laws are passed and as people's priorities change. >For starters: Unilateral disarmament. Anti-strategic-defense. Socialism. >None of this has anything to do with keeping the Electronic Frontier open. Socialism???? Since when? >True. But the subset of us who don't want the Electronic Frontier >closed off with a bunch of stupid, wrongheaded, misguided laws written >by technoilliterates in Congress and various state legislatures does >not by any means have a 100% overlap with those who have axes of the >Trendy Campus Left type to grind. I might join an EFF chapter. I >would not join a CPSR chapter. You don't need a 100% overlap with CPSR's positions to find it worth joining. They are involved in several causes I have very little interest in. Many members refused out of protest to come to a panel session about "Women in Computing", for example. But on the whole, you could hardly pick a group more opposed to "stupid, wrongheaded, misguided laws written by technoilliterates in Congress". Glad to be a member of CPSR, Glen Raphael raphael@fx.com >The powers not delegated to the United States by the | Mike Van Pelt