--- F R E N D Z of martian --- The following message has been sent to GreenNet users: MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Register for ICANN now. Organisations that set technical standards for the Internet are generally seen as obscure and remote from users. Yet they have a profound effect on our freedom and privacy. Increasingly, these bodies are being influenced by corporate and government strategies to produce standards that greatly restrict the rights of Internet users. The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is working with a partner organisation, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), to campaign for the setting of Internet standards to become open and democratic processes that include a wide range of voices from civil society. This is essential to defending freedom and privacy on the Internet. GreenNet, the APC member in Britain, strongly supports this campaign. One standards organisation whose decisions have very far reaching effects is ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). This body, whose present 10 members have all been appointed by corporate and technical councils, threatens to become the WTO of cyberspace. In September this year, 5 new members will be elected to ICANN by a global "at large membership". At the moment, any Internet user can sign up to become such a member and have the right to vote in the elections. *However, registration is likely to close at the end of June or early July.* APC is working with regional allies in the NGO and social justice communities to identify and nominate good pro-development civil society candidates and campaign for their election to ICANN.Your vote can really count in ensuring the victory of these candidates. Less than 17,000 people worldwide have registered to vote, nearly half of these in North America. In some countries only a handful are registered. To register simply go to http://members.icann.org/join_now.htm and just sign up. It will only take you a few minutes. We will be keeping our users informed as the candidate nomination process proceeds. Keep watching the GreenNet and APC websites for information. Chris Bailey GreenNet Internet Rights Campaign Visit http://www.apc.org/english/rights/governance/ to read about APC's ICANN campaign. -- Sent to you via the frendz list at marsbard.com The archive is at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
