At 11:50 AM -0800 1/7/98, Declan McCullagh wrote:

In truth, I mistyped. Tim not only was talking about the frequency (and I gather, the danger) of the conferences, he was responding to the ACM one, not the WW one.

Yeah, I didn't even recall which one I was commenting on. Just too many of these damned boondoggles. The only conference recently which as sounded interesting was the one on "anonymity" down near LA recently...I might have gone, but I don't recall hearing about it, or being invited. Until it was over, of course. (I guess it was filled up with journalists, judging from the various articles which have come out of it. Mostly cheesy articles, Declan's excepted.)

Now, who attends these things?

1. Journalists 2. Government bureaucrats happy to have a day off from work, who want to position themselves as "Net-savvy" 3. Lobbyists who bill it to clients 4. Think tank people who hope someone reads their papers

Yep. Boondoggles. But as John G. and Declan and others have noted, these things can do real damage. By skimming the surface, they are really just platforms for position advocacy. Whether "conferences" on "ratings," or "Net.porn," or "anonymity," or whatever, they end up being fora for certain policy wonks to make their cases. And lazy staffers can then regurgitate the positions as proposed legislation. (Thus satisfying their quotas, and proving they are working hard.)

The Naderite "Appraising Microsoft" conference seemed to be populated mainly by journalists, at some points.

Too many fucking journalists. Too many fucking staffers. Too many fucking bureaucrats, lackeys, satraps, and empire builders. The whole city, America's imperial city, is corruption on earth. The Ayotollah had that one right. --Tim May The Feds have shown their hand: they want a ban on domestic cryptography ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Higher Power: 2^2,976,221 | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

On Wed, 7 Jan 1998, Tim May wrote:

The only conference recently which as sounded interesting was the one on "anonymity" down near LA recently...I might have gone, but I don't recall hearing about it, or being invited. Until it was over, of course.

(I guess it was filled up with journalists, judging from the various articles which have come out of it. Mostly cheesy articles, Declan's excepted.)

I think I was the only full-time journalist invited to participate. There were maybe four or so jlists covering it. From the web site: Attendance at this conference will be by invitation only. About 35 individuals will represent a variety of backgrounds and perspectives including the computing industry (such as Internet service providers, network administrators, and providers of "anonymizing" services) the legal community, professional societies, academic institutions, law enforcement agencies, and other agencies of government.

But as John G. and Declan and others have noted, these things can do real damage. By skimming the surface, they are really just platforms for position advocacy. Whether "conferences" on "ratings," or "Net.porn," or "anonymity," or whatever, they end up being fora for certain policy wonks to make their cases. And lazy staffers can then regurgitate the positions as proposed legislation. (Thus satisfying their quotas, and proving they are working hard.)

Lobbyists need to show they're doing something to justify the money they grab from corporations (many of which could be doing something better with this cash, like R&D). Hence they host conferences and attend others. There are very, very few groups out there that say Washington should take a "hands off" approach to the Internet. Oh, sure, high tech firms (including Microsoft) will use it as a good PR line but wait 'til they get a chance to pass a criminal copyright bill. Even the librarians and scientists, generally good on issues like content and copyright, spend much of their time trying to grab more federal dollars. Like the new federal phone tax the librarians and teachers pushed for: something like $10-20/year per phone line. Then of course there's the religious right and the law enforcement lobbyists, all of which have their own pet projects and legislation. There are few groups who are consistently opposed to the government mucking around with the Internet. Cato Institute, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and maybe American Enterprise Institute and Citizens for Sound Economy and the Federalist Society. Very, very few. -Declan

YAICIW (disclaimer: I am speaking at this one) Cyberjournalism98 The best and brightest in cyberjournalism will explore the future of internet based news and reporting at the Cyberjournalism98 symposium on Jan. 8-10, 1998 in Washington, D.C. and jointly sponsored by the National Press Club and the Freedom Forum. For information on exhibiting atCyberjournalism98 contact Yvonne Miller at MediaMasters@rocketmail.com For information about attending the conference call Euraine Brooks at 703.284.2809 or email ebrooks@freedomforum.org

YAISIW Washington, D.C. - January 6, 1998 - Ira Magaziner, President Clinton's domestic policy development advisor, will outline the U.S. Government position on electronic commerce and reform of the Domain Name System at the Internet Executive Summits in London (on January 19, 1998, by video conference link) and Washington (on February 4, 1998). Magaziner has spearheaded the Clinton Administration's efforts on electronic commerce and has taken a leading role in the U.S. Government's work on privatization of the Domain Name System. Sally Tate, joint managing director of Prince plc, which is facilitating the Summits, said that "Governments around the world want the private sector to take the lead to reform and manage the Internet. The Internet Executive Summits will enable business leaders to have direct participation in formulating the private sector initiative to ensure that the solution will fully reflect its requirements." A U.S. Inter-Agency Taskforce, set up in April 1997, it is expected to issue policy recommendations based on responses to a request for comments issued in July 1997 and thousands of pages of emailed recommendations received each week. Magaziner's team has also had consultations with hundreds of major Internet and telecommunications companies in Washington D.C. in December 1997. The open door global Internet Executive Summits in London (January 19-20, 1998) and Washington (February 3-4, 1998) will help to set the agenda for transition of the current Internet Domain Name and governance systems. All delegates will be eligible to participate in the reform committees / initiatives formed at the Summits. Representatives from all Internet stakeholder groups are expected to attend the Summits including: commercial organizations worldwide, national governments and intergovernmental organizations, law firms / corporate legal departments, Internet consumer groups (including the research and education community), technology companies and Internet service providers (ISP's).