Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
From: gtoal@pizzabox.demon.co.uk (Graham Toal)
Subject: Summary for Berman (Was Re: One good th...)
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 15:15:12 +0000

	>will become a regular feature of EFFector Online.  This meeting showed
	>all of us that EFF and the grassroots networking community are, indeed,
	>still on the same planet.

Interesting you boast about how in-tune with grassroots thinking you are
when the meeting isn't even with EFF members, but independent local groups.

Did you consult one single EFF member (outside the Washington office I mean)
about the change in direction?  How do you know the 'grassroots' EFF members
approve if you didn't consult them first?  Do you actually give a tinker's
cuss what the members think?  What exactly is this wondrous net you're
pushing for, if not communication and discussion like this.  That all
the discussion has been after the office putsch is disgusting.

Here's something for Jerry Berman's weekly summary:

1) Eff is a special interest group representing a handful of people
   in Washington pushing their own personal ideas, and should make this
   plain when making depositions to Washington.

2) Eff do not in any way represent the views of their individual members
   and make major decisions about change in direction without consultation.
   Eff's members exist only to supply signatures on petitions and make
   phone calls and faxes to give the impression to Washington that eff
   represents the majority of the network aware population.

3) Eff's major direction nowadays is strongly aligned with the financial
   interests of its largest corporational sponsors

4) The chopping of the Cambridge office was primarily political, in
   that Washington's interest lies in Reaganomics and free market
   enterprise, whereas Cambridge were more Democratic and interested
   in individuals' rights.

5) The people who were fired in Cambridge were not even given the option
   of moving to Washington, even though eff said they 'would have been
   offered jobs if we thought they'd accept them'.  (True, they probably
   wouldn't have accepted them because we get the impression that they
   strongly disapprove of eff's change of direction, but the offer would
   at least have shown sincerity).  Unfortunately the fired employees
   seem to be censoring themselves in public, probably because it's bad
   form to make uncomplimentary comments about a previous employer,
   especially when you've been turned out on the streets and are looking
   for a job.

6) Unless Jerry Berman learns to use a keyboard and read Usenet news
   himself, he's not going to be taken seriously by anyone and his name
   will be brought up repeatedly as an example of how eff have no longer
   any contact with reality.  (Well, the only reality that matters for
   an organization whose raison-d'etre is a global network community...)

7) The meta-aims of eff's platform can be implemented *now* with current
   modem technology - the whole computing/networking *human* infrastructure
   which needs to be built is being ignored by eff in favour of a very
   blinkered monomaniacal obsession with ISDN which is a minor side-issue
   in getting the masses connected to the net world.  ISDN and other
   points of EFF's platform will only be available to the technocracy
   for *many many* years.  The whole platform is exceedingly elitist.
   Computing 'for the common man' can only be advanced by completely
   different priorities.  Eff's priorities advance only a small well-off
   technological elite, and by coincidence, the large companies who
   sponsor Eff.

8) It looks much like EFF's aim to regulate ISDN charging so that the
   telecos can sell it at basic phone rates will coincidentally mean
   that the telcos will generate a mass market that wouldn't exist
   for tightly-regulated PUC charging, thus will reap vast profits.
   EFF should beware of being seen to be too closely in their sponsors
   pockets.

9) It looks like EFF's pushing of a free-market broadband infrastructure
   will lead to suggestions to Washington like allowing Telcos to put
   in news long-distance comms technology - which coincidentally will
   carry voice - under the guise of computing equipment rather than
   regulated telecomms equipment - thus allowing them to bypass the
   regulations about amortizing telecomm equipt over a long time, and 
   be able to amortize the new technology over 4 years.  Again saving
   big bucks.  If the telecos aim for NREN is really to do with voice
   lines, eff should beware of the big voice tail wagging the tiny
   comms dog.  They may be playing you naive technoid types for suckers
   (unless of course you're really on-the-ball political types and
   are going along with them for your own benefits...)

10) Be *very* careful of any suggestions that your sponsors make to
   do with changes in regulation about telcos/cable companies being
   allowed to own/transmit video.  *This* is where the really big
   bucks will be made.  An infrastructure that allows people to
   download video to their home - even if put in under some grand
   design about putting the masses online - will end up being used
   exclusively as a delivery medium for video rentals... (just like
   most homes' exposure to the fruits of 30 years computer development
   is a Nintendo and a few chips in their video recorders and CD players)
   Your high-minded ideals are in grave danger of being abused by Mammon...

11) Most of EFF's members were (possibly wrongly) under the impression
   that eff's main role was civil liberties in cyberspace; even though
   you still seem to be giving lip-service to this notion, no-one who
   is abused by the forces of Law and Order can expect much concrete
   help now unless their case is liable to involve establishing a
   precedent.  A second case identical to Steve Jackson's Games would
   probably be ignored after this SGJ case itself is settled, even
   if some poor sod still lost all his equipment and livelihood for
   a year or two... As they say on 'Yes, Minister', "All possible
   help short of actual assistance".

	      It's good to see that EFF is watering its Astroturf.

:-)

G
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk,comp.unix.bsd,comp.unix.wizards,comp.org.usenix