Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!mont!rich From: christic@igc.org Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive Subject: PeaceNet and electronic activism (Article from _Convergence_) Message-ID: <1991Jun14.032952.18315@pencil.cs.missouri.edu> Date: 14 Jun 91 02:31:40 GMT Sender: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel) Followup-To: alt.activism.d Organization: UMC Math Dept. Lines: 197 Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu ================================================================== /* Written 6:10 pm Jun 7, 1991 by christic in cdp:christic.news */ /* ---------- "MEDIA SECTION: PEACENET" ---------- */ ================================================================== PEACENET: POWERFUL TOOL CONNECTS PROGRESSIVES IN 90 COUNTRIES By ANDY LANG Convergence Magazine, Christic Institute, Summer 1991 [Commercial computer networks like CompuServe and Prodigy link the home or office personal computer with a growing array of information services. With a few simple commands, your computer can display electronic newspapers, wire services, stock quotations and weather reports. But one of the best-kept secrets of the information age is that the peace and environmental movements now have their own computer networks. Activists throughout the world are using these networks to discuss strategy, share information and debate issues. [One of these progressive networks is PeaceNet. This article will introduce you to PeaceNet and other computer information services offered by the Christic Institute. It will include advice on how you can connect your computer to PeaceNet and dozens of other electronic networks at very little cost.] The Christic Institute uses PeaceNet and other telecommunications networks to send electronic mail, contact supporters and organize online ``conferences'' linking together field offices and local chapters with the national staff. PeaceNet is the largest computer network serving the peace movement in the United States. More than 8,000 activists, local peace centers and national organizations use PeaceNet's growing library of news and information. Anyone who uses a personal computer at home or the office can get involved. You will need: *A modem--an inexpensive device that allows computers to exchange data over ordinary phone lines. A new modem can cost less than $80. *A communications program. Modems usually come equipped with a program that enables you to dial other computers, transfer files and send electronic mail. *A PeaceNet account. PeaceNet charges an initial fee of $15, plus a $10 monthly fee billed either directly to your address or your credit card. An additional fee is charged for the number of minutes you spend on the system. Access to PeaceNet is less expensive during ``offpeak'' hours in the evening and on weekends. Hundreds of conferences available on PeaceNet will keep you informed on developments censored by the mass media. A conference can either be an alternative news service or an electronic discussion in which anyone can participate. A conference title usually consists of two or three words separated by periods. When you type ``christic.news,'' for example, the system will connect you to the Christic Institute's news service. As you continue to explore PeaceNet, you will find serious news and background articles on disarmament, ethnic strife in the USSR, threats to the environment, the Federal budget, social policy, economics and human rights, plus organizing alerts and information needed for action campaigns. PeaceNet proved its value during the Gulf crisis. Antiwar activists used the network as a clearinghouse for news and bulletins, including detailed reports on the destruction of Iraq's civilian infrastructure and analyses of the war by progressive commentators. PeaceNet helped organize demonstrations, kept activists informed about actions happening in every corner of the country and around the world--including protests and campaigns in European cities. PeaceNet does not replace more traditional means of communication, including the progressive magazines or newsletters you may already receive in the mail. You should continue to subscribe to The Nation, Z Magazine, In These Times and other alternative periodicals. But a subscription to PeaceNet does include the following advantages: *PeaceNet is immediate. A bulletin or news story posted on PeaceNet is available within seconds. You don't have to wait two or three days to read the information. *PeaceNet is an active medium. On many conferences you are not simply a passive reader of information: You can respond simply by typing a comment on your computer screen. Many conferences are not only electronic ``news services'' but provide for reader reaction and response. Other conferences are designed to help users to discuss strategy and plan demonstrations. *PeaceNet connects you with hundreds of organizations and thousands of activists. You can browse through PeaceNet's catalogue of more than 800 conferences and visit the organization or news service that interests you the most. *PeaceNet allows you to send and receive ``electronic mail.'' PeaceNet's electronic mailroom also be used to post messages to fellow PeaceNet subscribers and to electronic addresses on other computer networks around the world. You can also use PeaceNet for telexes, faxes and telegrams. PeaceNet provides a special service to send faxes to Senators and Members of Congress. *PeaceNet is international. PeaceNet will let you discuss issues and plan strategies with activists in more than 90 countries. PeaceNet is part of a wider family of progressive networks in Canada, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Brazil, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and the Soviet Union. Some of these conferences require a small fee when you join the network. Others are entirely free. *Environment News Service: The latest dispatches from the world's only news service devoted exclusively to the environment can be read on the conference ens.newsline. Selected ENS dispatches can be read without charge on ens.samples. *U.N. Information Centre Newswire: Daily highlights of United Nations activities are posted on the conference unic.news. During the Gulf war all of the major Mideast resolutions were available on PeaceNet hours after their adoption by the Security Council. *Inter Press Service: IPS is the leading Third World news agency. >From the latest developments in the civil war in El Salvador to mass demonstrations by unemployed workers in East Germany, IPS correspondents bring you news and perspectives you won't find in your daily newspaper. IPS news pays special attention to developing societies and provides special services on agriculture, the environment, oil and natural resources. A subscription fee is charged for the full service, but all stories are available without charge 48 hours after filing in ips.englibrary. *Africa Information Afrique: Based in Zimbabwe, A.I.A. is a development information service, making available the latest computer-based publishing technologies as part of an alternative news, feature and research service providing a stimulus for regional democratic media growth. Its mandate is to provide an alternative channel of information on southern Africa. An open conference, aia.samples, previews the services and stories you will receive on the paid conference. *Alternet News Service: Alternet is a news and feature syndicate for the alternative press and uses PeaceNet as a medium for electronic distribution. Based in Washington, D.C., it was formed by alternative journalists to counter the corporate monopoly on information. It makes professional, well-written stories available to small, independent newspapers. *Christic News: Our free conference, christic.news, makes articles, bulletins and alerts available to Christic Institute supporters as soon as they are ready for the mail. Other news services, most of them free, include the following: *carnet.ladb: A Latin American data base of news and issues. *dfax.process: Headlines and extracts from Defense Daily and other news services, including environmental publications. *northwest.news: News filed directly from an independent press service in Leningrad. *spans.wire: Free, authoritative news service, reporting events and issues of social, political and economic significance in the South Pacific region from a progressive perspective. *sscan.news: A weekly bulletin on events in Southern Africa. *utne.warnings: Newswire service on emerging ideas, issues and trends from the alternative press, sponsored by the editors of Utne Reader magazine. Supporters of the Christic Institute can also read news from our investigations and participate in electronic discussions on ``Christic DataBank,'' a computer bulletin board system (BBS) in Washington, D.C. The BBS is available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. eastern time at (202) 529-0140 and accepts calls from 1200 to 9600 bits per second. Initial access to Christic DataBank is free. All you need is a computer and a modem. For a modest charge you can spend more time on the system and transfer files directly from our computer to yours. For more information on Christic DataBank, call Andy Lang at the Institute's Washington office, (202) 797-8106. To learn more about PeaceNet, write PeaceNet at 18 De Boom Street, San Francisco, California 94107, phone (415) 442-0220. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Andrew Lang 151251507 CHRISTIC telex Christic Institute tcn449 TCN Washington, D.C. christic PeaceNet 202-529-0140 BBS uunet!pyramid!cdp!christic UUCP 202-797-8106 voice cdp!christic%labrea@stanford Bitnet 202-462-5138 fax cdp!christic@labrea.stanford.edu Internet