[Chapter-delegates] "The Day We Fight Back" action

[Jon Lawrence]

We share your concerns about the US-centric nature of this campaign. To be fair, EFF has developed an 'international' version of the banner, which does not include the 'call your congressman' and other US-specific calls to action. 


It is however set to activate at midnight monday, US eastern time, which is 4pm on the 11th in Melbourne and 6pm in Auckland, and is therefore next to useless in these time zones. I'm working with the developers to try to get a new version created that will activate at a more appropriate time. 


This is a pretty classic example of US/European-centric thinking, which we really need to try to avoid in future global campaigns. It's also obviously not just an issue for ISOC, but for the wider civil society movement, 


cheers 


Jon Lawrence 
ISOC-AU, and EFA 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Evan Leibovitch" <evan at telly.org> 
To: "Ted Mooney" <mooney at isoc.org> 
Cc: "Chapter Delegates" <Chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org> 
Sent: Saturday, 8 February, 2014 9:52:54 AM 
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] "The Day We Fight Back" action 


Hi Ted, 


Hi other chapter leaders. 


I certainly don't oppose the goals of the campaign, but I do have a serious concern that ISOC HQ's support of this -- to the apparent exclusion of other efforts in other countries -- further cements an outside perception (that I have encountered) that ISOC is heavily US-centric. That is, chapters are seen as satellites of an American org for which domestic politics gains most attention. 


There are revelations that multiple countries have active surveillance programs. China's control effort is almost legendary, but the UK and many other countries have been exposed as different from the US only in capability if not intent. 


In ISOC we have a unique vehicle to globalise such an effort at public awareness. Promoting outside the US a campaign in which the main call-to-action is "contact your congressman" simply promotes frustration and a feeling of powerlessness. 


Is this a matter well taken up by the US-based ISOC chapters? Certainly. But IMO ICANN HQ should be playing more of a role in helping each chapter to raise such awareness in their own countries, than to re-enforce a preferred-country stereotype that's almost colonial in nature. 


Just a polite reminder, IMO, that an international focus has to be baked-in, not built-on. 


- Evan 





On 7 February 2014 13:31, Ted Mooney < mooney at isoc.org > wrote: 







To all ISOC Chapters: 





On 11 February, a coalition of activist groups, companies, and online platforms will hold a day of activism against NSA surveillance. You can find more details on “The Day We Fight Back” here: https://thedaywefightback.org/ . The primary call to action is to urge US citizens to call/email Congress and ask legislators to oppose the FISA Improvements Act, support the USA Freedom Act, and enact protections for non-Americans. 



The Internet Society supports the principles of this initiative and is planning a blog posting from Markus Kummer on Monday to highlight this effort, along with other similar initiatives across the community. I' ve attached a copy of that blog to this email. As a global organization, our message will be focused on the importance of community collaboration around important topics that impact the future of the Internet. Because this initiative is primarily US focused, we do not plan to sign on to the website or post “The Day We Fight Back” banner on our website. Nevertheless, we feel that all our Chapters should know about this initiative and, if you find this useful, take the opportunity to support it, either 1) with a signature and display of the banner (from the website information above) by the US chapters, or 2) by clicking on the International banner and other areas for non US citizen chapters. 



This issue of pervasive secret surveillance by governments around the world has eroded trust in the Internet as a concourse of freedom, innovation, economic opportunity and global community development. We encourage all our chapters to be vigilant and active in support of the open and secure Internet. 



WIth thanks and best regards, 






Ted Mooney 
Senior Director, Membership & Services 
The Internet Society 
1775 Wiehle Avenue 
Reston, VA 20190 USA 
Office: +1 703-439-2774 
Cell: +1 301-980-6446 
eMail: mooney at isoc.org 
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