All:
I'm forwarding the following message about the recent decision by the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, the EFF, to leave Washington, D.C., and
move to the West Coast. I hope it will engender some thought on the
purpose of having an AALL Washington Affairs Representative, and the
possible consequences to AALL of not having such a representative. I am
posting this in my personal capacity and not as a statement of the AALL
Government Relations Committee, of which I am a member.
Steven C. Perkins
>--- Forwarded message follows ---
>From: markcook@cais.com
>Subject: EFF Takes Ball and leaves
>Date: 13 Jul 1995 15:07:24 GMT
>
If you want to make a difference, you have to play ball.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's departure from The Capital,
especially during the many current debates in Congress, is a bad
move, at a bad time.
>
>Why is EFF moving. Originally founded in Boston, with an
additional office in Washington, DC, it was decided that it was
best to consolidate resources in The Capital in 1993.
>
>By moving EFF headquarters to Washington DC, it was possible to
have facilities to house a legislative staff, a legal staff and to
recruit experienced and dedicated individuals from an ideal job
pool who were familiar with the way the "system" works, thus giving
EFF a presence in Washington and the opportunity to make a difference.
>
>The Net, in theory, makes it possible really to have the EFF
HQ anywhere you want, however, to be able to effect a change,
you have to be a player, and fortunately or unfortunately, the
people who write the laws are in Washington and if you don't
have a DC office, you are not really a player. This is sad, but
true and it is called, realpolitik.
>
>People have said that being in Washington and to "work effectively
for change without becoming corrupted wasn't possible <for> us." I
don't know who the "us" is, but I certainly hope this statement was
not aimed at the many activists who have given up the autumn leaves
of New England or the incredible vista's of the West to live in a
former swamp, turned parkingless Crime Capital for little money and
long hours.
>
>Also, "corrupted," is not the proper word to use in this statement,
a more accurate assertion would be "compromise." Many people,
both on the Board of Directors of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
and on the Net, feel that playing ball with the powers that be in
Washington is tantamount to corruption. This is a naive view that
will cost the Net community in both power and prestige.
>
>In the short existence of EFF, it has helped educate thousands,
both in the Executive and Legislative branches of our federal
government. They were able to do this by being a player with a
presence in Washington and participating in DEMOCRACY, not just
complaining about it. And democracy is about compromise.
>
>I'm very confused as to how the Board of Directors of the
Electronic Frontier Foundation decided it did not need a
legislative mechanism to write the laws that govern cyberspace.
Was the idea that "we are above" lobbying and working with
others or was it out of ignorance.
>
>The civil rights movement spent decades litigating cases, but
it was through the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960's that real
change was able to take place.
>
>And how was this change effected, through the legislative process
in Washington, not simply in the marches from Selma or the
litigation in Topeka.
>
>It is more important to help write the laws, than have them
written for you and then challenge them on constitutional grounds,
after the fact.
>
>I'm sorry to see the Electronic Frontier Foundation is taking
its ball and leaving Washington. The Netizens are connected to each
other and to such online organizations as EFF via the InterNet,
but EFF won't be connected to defining the laws since the powers
that be will now view it as a provincial organization, rather
than a national movement.
>
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Steven C. Perkins sperkins@andromeda.rutgers.edu
User Services Coordinator, Rutgers School of Law at Newark
VOX: 201-648-5965 FAX: 201-648-1356
http://www.rutgers.edu/RUSLN/rulnindx.html
http://www.rutgers.edu/lawschool.html
"Raise your voices to the Sky. It is a Good Day to die." Chief Crazy Horse
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