SCN: Nurturing the Cybercommons: 1981 - 2021

[Doug Schuler]

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Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility presents
Nurturing the Cybercommons: 1981 - 2021
October 19 - 21, 2001, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

http://www.cpsr.org/

In 2001, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility 
celebrates its 20th anniversary by looking backwards and 
forwards two decades at the history and future of the global 
cybercommons. Panels and presentations will examine the 
key historical events that shaped today's Internet, and the 
prospects for its future evolution.


FEATURED SPEAKERS:
Howard Besser
   UCLA School of Education & Information Studies
Jessica Litman
   Wayne State University
Steve Mann
   Toronto University
David Parnas
   McMaster University

NORBERT WIENER AWARD WINNERS:
Theodore Postol
   Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nira Schwartz
   Citizen Who Cares About our Nation


CONFERENCE AGENDA

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2:00 - 5:00 
(Friday seminars are free and open to the public)

ELECTRONIC VOTING: CAN TECHNOLOGY IMPROVE DEMOCRACY?
Where some see voting technology coming to democracy's 
rescue, others fear that increasingly sophisticated technology 
will lead to increasingly sophisticated and effective electoral 
abuses.  Leading advocates and opponents of the application 
of advanced information technology to the electoral process 
will debate each other directly.

WHAT IS AN INFORMATION COMMONS AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?  
Howard Besser will explain why an information commons 
is critical to us as social beings. After tracing some of the 
history of our information commons, he will focus on recent 
attempts to fence off sections of it and will show that changes 
to copyright, free speech, and privacy could threaten our very 
social fabric.


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20, 9:00 - 5:30

ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE: 
WHERE IS THE INTERNET GOING, AND WHO WILL GO THERE?
(a special morning double session followed by an open 
discussion with the panelists)

I. TOMORROW'S INTERNET: INTERNET2 AND THE ISSUES IT RAISES
Internet2 is a consortium working to develop and deploy 
advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating 
the creation of tomorrow's Internet.  Speakers from Internet2 
and EDUCAUSE will provide a glimpse of the Internet of the 
future, followed by a panel discussion of the key legislative, 
regulatory, and budgetary issues that such a future entails.

ELECTRONIC RECORDS AND GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY: 
PRESENT PRACTICE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS  
How are government records managed and what implications 
does that management have for democratic accountability? 
Panelists will discuss this question and will argue that solving 
electronic records problems such as hardware and software 
obsolescence is essential for our continued governance, 
accountability, and cultural memory.

INFORMATION WARFARE AND THE ROLE OF 
GOVERNMENTS AND MILITARY ESTABLISHMENTS  
Even though information warfare is the subject of headlines 
and the cause of significant Pentagon expenses, it's often 
difficult to see what it really is. Using real-world scenarios, 
panelists will explore some elements of information warfare 
and its implications for traditional nation-states and military 
establishments.


II. THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
As information technology races ahead, too many people are in 
danger of being left behind.  Speakers from the Alliance for 
Community Technology (ACT) and elsewhere will discuss the 
problem and the opportunities for closing the gap, featuring 
highlights and conclusions from a summer ACT workshop on 
the Digital Divide.

SOCIAL ISSUES FOR COMPUTING PROFESSIONALS  
1987 Wiener Award winner David Parnas will focus on 
what he sees as the need for computer professionals to inform 
the culture on issues such as the feasibility (or lack thereof) 
of software for missile defense, the need for training and 
licensing for those who write critical software, the benefits 
of a multiplicity of networks versus only one, and the question 
of whether computer professionals have been bought out by 
the military-industrial complex.

SUBJECTRIGHTS IN THE CYBORG AGE  
Informed by twenty years experience with wearable computers, 
Steve Mann will address some of the philosophical issues of 
being one with the machine, focusing on the notion of 
Subjectrights, in which the individual can operate as if he or 
she were a large corporation. Mann will also discuss self-
corporatization, self-bureaucratization, and self-demotion as 
means for dealing with bureaucratic organizations, as well as 
his research results in social responsibility and social 
desponsibility.



NORBERT WIENER AWARD DINNER - 7:00 p.m

Twenty Years Later:  
Star Wars Remains Expensive Science Fiction

CPSR Awards the 2001 Norbert Wiener Award to 
Nira Schwartz and Theodore Postol 
for Their Courage in Exposing that Fiction.

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility was 
founded twenty years ago, in part to organize the vast 
majority of computer scientists who understood that Star Wars 
was simply not within the realm of technical possibility. 
Twenty years later, with millions of lines of code written, 
the concept remains fantasy.

CPSR Awards its Annual Norbert Wiener Award to 
Dr. Nira Schwartz and Dr. Theodore Postol for exposing 
the failure of Star Wars technology. For disagreeing with 
those who would accept funding on any pretense, both of 
these computer professionals have suffered career damage, 
from refused funding to unceremonious dismissal.

Dr. Nira Schwartz, who worked on the Star Wars project in 
1995 and 1996, charged her employer, TRW, with misleading 
the Pentagon and the public by falsifying test results as to the 
ability of the system to distinguish real warheads from decoys. 
She was summarily fired, allegedly as a result of her refusal to 
cooperate with the publication of false test reports.

Dr. Theodore Postol, science adviser to the Chief of Naval 
Operations and professor of science, technology, and national 
security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 
discredited the myth that Patriot missiles shot down Scuds 
during Desert Storm. His independent scientific analysis of 
the TRW test data concurs with Dr. Schwartz's claims of 
falsified results.

Tickets for the dinner may be purchased without registering 
for the conference.

http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/annmtg01/wiener.html


SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21, 9:00 - 3:00

NEOCAPITALISM AND THE HIVE MIND  
Jessica Litman will talk about the conflict between the common, 
collaborative information space developing on the net (the "Hive 
Mind") and a copyright law that commodifies anything it can nail 
down and then forbids everyone from using it without explicit 
permission.

CPSR ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 
(free and open to the public)

Including CPSR Activity Updates:
ICANN: promoting legitimate Internet governance.
UCITA: fighting the legalization of bad software.


*************************************
REGISTRATION (space is limited, so register early)

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Rates                         Register by 9/18   After 9/18

Renew or Join CPSR for only:             $10    $10             
and register as a CPSR Member   


CPSR Member
  Conference Only                       $50     $ 65
  Conference + Wiener Dinner            $80     $110*
  Conf. Low Income or Student           $10     $ 15
  Conference Low Income + Dinner        $40     $ 60*

Non-Member
  Conference Only                       $ 75    $ 90
  Conference + Wiener Dinner            $120    $150*
  Conf. Low Income or Student           $ 20    $ 25
  Conference Low Income + Dinner        $ 65    $ 85*
  Conference Press Representatives      $  0    $  0

Wiener Award Dinner Only
  Press                                 $30     $30*
  Member                                $35     $60*
  Non-Member                            $55     $85*
  Low Income/Student                    $30     $45*


Donation to further CPSR's work    $ _____

                    TOTAL ENCLOSED $ _____

Mail this registration form and payment to

CPSR, P.O. Box 717, Palo Alto, CA 94302

or register online at

https://swww.igc.apc.org/cpsr/annMtg2001.html

For further conference details and online registration, visit 
http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/annmtg01/program.html

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