[Chapter-delegates] English Wikipedia going dark tomorrow!

[Raul Echeberria]

El 17/01/2012, a las 04:17, Dr. Alejandro Pisanty Baruch escribió:

> Dear Narelle,
> 
> this may sound unpleasant to you but... you are a Tustee, we are humble volunteers disconnected from the general strategy of ISOC.
> 
> Many of us are under pressure from Chapter members and others in our local communities to join the protest and are seen as sitting on our hands upon a block of dry ice because we are waiting for guidance from HQ.
> 
> IF the Board of Trustees is not discussing the matter as urgent - and being a former Trustee I know this can happen - and IF nobody else at "the top" has a word about the general strategy of ISOC for these fast-happening reactions, can we understand that each chapter is free to react, and will not cause even a frown from the PR apparatus of ISOC?
> 
> You may find further guidance in the word of our Chair, Raul Echeberria, in http://mexico.cnn.com/videos/2012/01/13/el-contenido-de-la-ley-sopa. No mention of ISOC is made, though, and he appears only as CEO of LACNIC (in Spanish).
> 


This is an unfortunate misunderstanding. 
In fact I asked the journalist to be presented as Chair of the Board of ISOC but when then introduced me they did it as CEO of LACNIC. However they mentioned my ISOC affiliation on the screen while I spoke. During my speech I didn't mention LACNIC at all, but I did mention ISOC and ISOC position on SOPA. So, to be honest, I don't understand the reason of this comment. 

Going now to the substance: yes of course, it has been discussed seriously in the Board of Trustees and also the relation with other measures taken in other parts of the world. The staff is following up all those situations. 

SOPA's case is a bit different than others not because the principles and rights that are being challenged, that are the same than in other countries, but due to the implications that a national measure, in the case of USA, has on the global internet. 

As Joly has already pointed out, ISOC has clearly and publicly opposed SOPA and PIPA initiatives including a statement from the Board (one of the links mentioned by Joly), and ISOC's statements has been circulated among politicians in the USA,  but we are not participating in this specific protest from Wikipedia or other content providers. Even the fact that some of us (or eventually all of us) could be  sympathetic with the measure. 

The Board met yesterday in its regular meeting and this topic was again on the agenda. ( just as a reminder, the board meetings are almost entirely open to any interested people and the information for participating is available on the website) We discussed about the importance of providing more information to the chapters and members to empower them in the discussion about those topics as well as other policy topics that are currently on the table.  So I guess that some more information will be circulated by the staff soon. 


I hope it helps. 
Don't hesitate please in raising any other question or concern on this point. 

Sincerely 

Raúl 
Chair ISOC BoT  
 


> I'm really really sorry if I appear as a nuisance. There's just an urgency to make decisions - joining the blackout is less than 24 hours away for some like... you!
> 
> Yours,
> 
> Alejandro Pisanty
> 
> 
> 
> .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . .  .  .  .  .  .
>     Dr. Alejandro Pisanty
> UNAM, Av. Universidad 3000, 04510 Mexico DF Mexico
> 
> Tels. +52-(1)-55-5105-6044, +52-(1)-55-5418-3732
> 
> *Mi blog/My blog: http://pisanty.blogspot.com
> *LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/pisanty
> *Unete al grupo UNAM en LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/22285/4A106C0C8614
> *Twitter: http://twitter.com/apisanty
> ---->> Unete a ISOC Mexico, http://www.isoc.org
> Participa en ICANN, http://www.icann.org
> .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
> 
> ________________________________________
> Desde: chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org [chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org] en nombre de Narelle Clark [President at isoc-au.org.au]
> Enviado el: lunes, 16 de enero de 2012 23:56
> Hasta: ISOC Chapter Delegates
> Asunto: [Chapter-delegates] English Wikipedia  going dark tomorrow!
> 
> This looks like a strong protest!
> 
> Thoughts anyone?
> 
> 
> To: English Wikipedia Readers and Community
> From: Sue Gardner, Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director
> Date: January 16, 2012
> Today, the Wikipedia community announced its decision to black out the
> English-language Wikipedia for 24 hours, worldwide, beginning at 05:00 UTC
> on Wednesday, January 18 (you can read the statement from the Wikimedia
> Foundation here). The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation
> in the United States—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House
> of Representatives, and the PROTECTIP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate—that,
> if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet, including
> Wikipedia.
> 
> This will be the first time the English Wikipedia has ever staged a public
> protest of this nature, and it’s a decision that wasn’t lightly made.
> etc at
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/English_Wikipedia_anti-SOPA_blackout
> 
> 
> More info on SOPA:
> Try our Harvard colleague (Jonathan Zittrain and BoT member) who is
> actively working on this topic:
> http://futureoftheinternet.org/sopa-compromise
> 
> and him on Colbert talking about it:
> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111202/09361816954/colbert-takes-sopa.shtml
> 
> 
> Cheers
> 
> N
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
> 
> 
> Narelle Clark
> President
> Internet Society of Australia
> ph: 0412 297 043
> int ph: +61 412 297 043
> president at isoc-au.org.au
> www.isoc-au.org.au
> 
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> 
> 

Raul 
Twitter @raulecheberria