July 2002 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

info on internet content regulation
by Carolyn Penfold 22 Jul '02

22 Jul '02

Hi All, I'm working on an article which compares the state of internet content regulation in the US with that in Australia. I'm looking for any info on filtering / blocking / education etc re internet content, especially in schools, libraries etc. If anyone knows where I can get statistics, articles, news reports, general info relating to these things (in either/both Aust and USA) your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Carolyn Carolyn Penfold Faculty of Law The University of New South Wales Sydney 2052 AUSTRALIA Telephone: National (02) 9385 2250 International +61 2 9385 2250

1 0

Fwd: FW: IFLA Fringe Meeting: Globalisation, Libraries and Education
by jeremy hunsinger 21 Jul '02

21 Jul '02

Begin forwarded message: > From: Ruth Rikowski <rikowski.uk(a)TINYWORLD.CO.UK> > Date: Sun Jul 21, 2002 05:05:55 PM US/Eastern > To: CRITICALIS(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK > Subject: FW: IFLA Fringe Meeting: Globalisation, Libraries and Education > Reply-To: rikowski.uk(a)TINYWORLD.CO.UK > > > > From: "Glenn Rikowski" <rikowski(a)tiscali.co.uk> > Date: Sun Jul 21, 2002 04:34:14 PM US/Eastern > To: <rikowski.uk(a)tinyworld.co.uk> > Subject: IFLA Fringe Meeting: Globalisation, Libraries and Education > > > INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS & INSTITUTIONS > (IFLA) > > A FRINGE MEETING AT THE IFLA 2002 CONFERENCE IN GLASGOW > > THE PROFIT VIRUS: > GLOBALISATION, LIBRARIES AND EDUCATION > > To be held at > GLASGOW UNIVERSITY > Gilmorehill Centre for Theatre, Film & Television, Room 408 > 9 University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ > > Thursday 22nd August 2002, 1.00 - 5.30pm > > OPEN TO ALL > SPEAKERS: > > Steve Rolfe - Chair of the World Development Movement, Scottish > Committee > "An Overview of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS): the > beginning or the of public services?"" > > Ruth Rikowski - South Bank University, Book Reviews Editor for Managing > Information, and a member of Information for Social Change (ISC) and > the UK GATS Network > "The WTO/GATS Agenda for Libraries - with special reference to public > libraries in the UK" > > Frode Bakken - President of the Norwegian Library Association, EBLIDA > WTO Working Group > "Downsizing free public services: means or ends of global trade > policies?" > > Paul Whitney - Chief Librarian, Burnaby Public Library, BC, Canada, and > IFLA representative to the WTO Seattle Ministerial, and past President > of the Canadian Library Association > "International Trade Treaties & Libraries: A Canadian Perspective" > > Anneliese Dodds - Edinburgh University, Cuba Solidarity Campaign > "The GATS and Higher Education: Consultation or Obfuscation?" - with > special reference to Scotland > > Dr. Glenn Rikowski - University College Northampton, Associate of the > Institute for Education Policy Studies (see: http://www.ieps.org.uk) > and author of The Battle in Seattle: Its Significance for Education > (Tufnell Press) > "The Woodhead Federation? The Business Takeover of Schools" > > Followed by a Reception, 5.30 - 7.00pm with wine, soft drinks and > biscuits hosted by LINK, an organisation in liaison with the UK > Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals (CILIP), > that links with Third World libraries and librarians and raises > awareness of Third World issues. > > This is a fringe meeting organised by Ruth Rikowski, who edited a > special edition of Information for Social Change (number 14, winter > 2001/2002) on 'Globalisation and Information'. The special issue > contains articles by Jonathan Rutherford, Anneliese Dodds and Alex Nunn > on higher education and the WTO/GATS, as well as articles on the > WTO/GATS agenda for libraries by writers such as Fiona Hunt and Ruth > Rikowski, on gender relations and information (Shahrzad Mojab), and > general articles on the WTO/GATS by Bill Lehm, Clare Joy and Glenn > Rikowski. > > Information for Social Change, at: http://libr.org/ISC/TOC.html > Information for Social Change is an organisation in liaison with UK > CILIP. Itchallenges dominant paradigms of library and information work. > If you want more information on ISC, or wish to get involved in its > work then please contact John Pateman at: john.pateman(a)merton.gov.uk > > Ruth Rikowski, contact: rikowski(a)tiscali.co.uk > > "Imagine a world without libraries... it could happen" - British > Columbia Library Association > > > > jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu on the ibook www.cddc.vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy www.dromocracy.com

1 0

Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #443 - 3 msgs
by pmg＠gmx.co.uk 20 Jul '02

20 Jul '02

wowwww! coming from the backward isle of britain was not the least put out by receiving the odd page of gobbledy-gook. and speaking of ethics (which i believe we were) it ain't nice to extrapolate the universe from your own front-room. taking the issues one-by-one: 1. some of my best friends use non-html email clients. this is because (a) the simpler (text) formats and clients don't carry or execute nasty scripty bugs; (b) for ppl in locations with shit bandwidth you can nip out for a smoke whilst you wait for even a plain-text email to download. . . at anything up to £1 or more per minute in some places! 2. Many of us around the world hate microsoft. really, we do! we hate them. (a) they're rich, arrogant, corrupt, and western-centric; (b) they make every effort to kill off any competition to their running system (ie are actively preventing better and cheaper kit from coming onto the market) and keeping the internet largely an american enclave. the product itself is crud. i have microsoft premium office with a full version of outlook and MSIE6 on my puter and i have enough power to run them. i don't however. i run MS stuff at work, cos i work a lot with americans who enforce their standard environment on us. at home, i use pegasus as my email client (thank god, cos it doesn't execute vbs or java bugs written for MS products & i don't have to keep cleaning the latest bugs that can evade or disable my security off my system. pegasus can read html, but i never send in html (except at work) cos i consider it bad practice to send email formats that ppl can't use. i would only send html if i already know the recipient can process it (and if the html format were crucial to the content of the email, which rarely happens). i use the opera browser instead of MSIE. it is (a) 10 times faster, (b) eats a fraction of the ram, (c) works better with dreamweaver, (d) doesn't take the whole damned windows system with it when it crashes, (e) has a broader range of functions, (f) doesn't have MSIE's security problems and i don't have to spend my life patching the blasted thing, (g) processes java script correctly; (h) the software, plugins, and upgrades download in a fraction of the time (like up to 6 hours to download IE5 or better on a diallup connection -- jeez are they getting a backhander from the phone co?); and (i) it's share/freeware! 3. well, we in britain almost all still have dialup networking connections at home. this is because domestic broadband services were only rolled out this year because BT (our very own microsoft- minded corporation) has hitherto succeeded in preventing it; and (a) mostly it still doesn't work properly, (b) is a technical challenge to instal, taking a reasonably computer literate person a minimum of an entire day of swearing to get working whilst reducing the minimally-literate to impotent tears, and (c) still pretty expensive. points east of here, it's largely not available for domestic use or so expensive in relation to per capita income that ppl most couldn't begin to afford it (or the phone lines are so poor quality it won't function). pardon us for being poor! 4. don't use my PDA for email cos it's too bloody expensive! Well, you did ask . . . Paula On 18 Jul 2002 at 12:00, air-l-request(a)aoir.org wrote: There are people who still use... 1) non-HTML email clients 2) non-Microsoft products 3) dial-up phone lines 4) PDAs for email please be careful what you post, messages like the above are as bad as SPAM.

1 0

e-ethics? Origins and perspectives
by Massimo Torre (TEI) 19 Jul '02

19 Jul '02

For anyone that could be interested in, I forward you my report from the symposium "Ethics and Technology (the 'Technoethics')", Sant' Anna School of University Studies and Doctoral Research, Pisa, March 16th 2002 (www.sssup.it/www/index_eng.html) The word "technoethics" is a neologism which can't be found in dictionaries yet. However, because of the growing importance of the theme, we won't have to wait for a long before it enter the everyday terminology, as already it is for the term "bioethics". The need for this new word is due to the necessity of extending the sphere of the ethics influence not only to biotechnologies, but to all innovative technologies which, whether we like it or not, belong to the everyday social life. It's fundamental to recall that the word ethics derives from the Greek term 'ethos' which means "tradition", "habit". And the same is for the word 'morale' derived from the Latin term 'mos', 'mores' which again means "custom", "habit". Morale indicates the distinction between what is good and what is evil in the everyday life, whilst ethics is rather the philosophical study of the principles at the basis of morale. In any case, the etymology of the two words speaks one's mind: both ethics and morale are not "by-products" of some absolute and immutable divine law, but the result of the society's evolution towards "standard" behaviours. The matter could seem, at a first glance, quite embarrassing, but if we pay attention to the whole human history, we find that which was allowed and "ethical" in the ancient Greece or the ancient Rome, like for example to push down handicapped children - thus unfit for the military life - from the Taigetus mountain or the Rupe Tarpea, would now be considered an immoral action and punished by the society. But, from a practical point of view, what most of all has contributed to make moral laws change with respect to this action? Maybe the coming of Christianity, but surely, more than anything, the technique ability of creating right tools for improving crops, for example; more food, more mouths that could be fed, more possibility of life even for those who were not able to directly participate in the "productive process". And regarding the theme - moreover still "hot" - of the "woman's freedom"? Popper, one of the major science philosopher of the 20th century, believed that the invention of the washing machine had contributed to this cause more than a lot of sermons and demonstrations! Certainly technology has also created the atomic bomb, and with difficulty we could ever assert that its "application" to Hiroshima has been "ethical"! Now, the fair way to solve the "technoethics dilemma" is not to put pros and cons on the balance, but if we really wanted to do it, I think we could still find margins for a "positive thought" about the future. Another important item that maintains the idea of an ethics evolution is the so called "PAC knowledge". How do we know anything? Finally, at the end of the last millennium, scientists have recognized that unchanging trues will never exist. Everything is discovered is subject to be furtherly elaborated and sooner or later substituted by some other theory. "PAC knowledge" means exactly this: PAC stands for "Probably Approximately Correct" and "PAC learning" is a model introduced by Prof. Valiant of Harvard University specifically in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence. But PAC is also as humans learn in all field of knowledge, even included "ethics"! When dealing with ethics and technology it must be considered also two modern paradigms, the so called 'high-tech/high-touch' and 'high-tech/high-cost': the first one is well known in the sphere of medicine, where technology discoveries deal with items deeply rooted in the human consciousness (e.g. genetics); the second one is well known in the field of engineering, where high tech systems, like those of telecommunications, inevitably involve high costs from developers and users and therefore all society. If "high-touch" and "high-cost" are drawbacks of "high-tech", on the other side we must take into account that high-tech medicine and engineering can bring great relief to the human being, like an heart transplant for a heart suffering man otherwise destined to certain death or, in the field of engineering, a telecommunication system that can spread out the "voice of hunger" from the last corner of the world (...). An outstanding way towards a muldidisciplinary approach of different knowledge fields, including ethics and technology, can be found in "The Arts Lab Philosophy" picture (www-arts.sssup.it/intro/default.htm) by the "ARTS Lab" (Advanced Robotics Technology and System Laboratory), one of the most international advanced research centres on robotics, being part of the S. Anna School. "The philosophy of the ARTS Lab can be visualised as a tree in which basic disciplines and basic research studies stand as 'roots', whose results are integrated in the 'trunk' and exploited in different application fields, standing as final 'leaves' of the tree. 'Fruits' of the ARTS Lab tree are prototypes of components and integrated systems". Don José Galván, theologian at the "Pontificial University of the Holy Cross", Rome (www.asc.urbe.it) has concluded the symposium by asserting something strong but uncommon from the clergy voice. "Nowadays - as all we know - speed is all. Therefore we must solve the ethics-technology dilemma not by slowing down the technology development, rather by speeding up ethics" in some form of a deeper sense of responsibility inside all human beings. "The first great 'theory of ethics' was born only in the 16th century, during the Vatican Council of Trent, Italy. Even in Saint Thomas Aquinas [13th century, by many considered the most famous Catholic philosopher] we don't find anything about ethics in a proper way. This big delay of ethics with respect to other Christian spiritual matters [just one and a half millennium after Christ birth!] clearly means that even all the clergy had understood that ethics is something that must come out only after many other issues had been settled". Again a question of habits that have been developed since the beginning of Christianity through prayer, meditation, practice, blood and, above all, the most important of the three Christian virtues: charity! ------------------------------------ Massimo Torre Electronic Engineer Economics & Management Ph.D. Senior Project Manager External Relationships Coordinator Ericsson Telecomunicazioni SpA Direction Customer Solution Supply & Support, Competence Centres Via Anagnina, 203 - 00040 Rome - Italy Tel: +39 06 7258 4362 Fax: +39 06 7258 4289 massimo.torre(a)tei.ericsson.se ------------------------------------

1 0

Great Ethical disasters in Internet Research?
by Dr Chris Mann 18 Jul '02

18 Jul '02

Summer quiz!!! Chris Mann and Christian Sandvig are enlivening a rainy day here at the Oxford Internet Institute trying to remember and to list in order of notoriety examples of internet research that are generally considered to be ethically unsound.(Martin Rimm's 1995 Cyberporn study might be an example) Does anyone want to make any suggestions?? Were thinking that the Ethics Working Committee might find such a list useful when they meet up at Maastricht it might prove easier to know what to avoid than to define best practice for working ethically online! Cheers Chris and Christian

6 7

Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #442 - MIME messages/attachements
by Manuel Medina 18 Jul '02

18 Jul '02

> There are people who still use... > [...] > 2) non-Microsoft products There's nothing wrong in not use Microsoft products. In fact, I strongly recommend you don't do it. Manuel manuelmedina(a)arrakis.es

1 0

Fwd: [Fwd: ESSSAT Network Expansion] 'science and theology'
by jeremy hunsinger 18 Jul '02

18 Jul '02

I know there are people who are working on the relations between internet and religion, this might be of interest to them Begin forwarded message: > From: Ragna Zeiss <rz101(a)york.ac.uk> > Date: Wed Jul 17, 2002 08:15:09 PM Australia/Brisbane > To: STSGRAD-L(a)cornell.edu > Subject: [Fwd: ESSSAT Network Expansion] > Reply-To: rz101(a)york.ac.uk > > ESSSAT Network Expansion to the UK > > (NB: Please respond to LHeynen(a)gmx.net) > > In 1998 ESSSAT (the European Society for the Study of Science and > Theology) established a network for new academics (doctoral and > postdoctoral) in German-speaking countries who were working on a > dissertation in the field of "Science and Theology" or "Science and > Religious Studies". This resulted in the founding of the > 'Internationales Wissenschaftsforum' in Heidelberg. Since its > founding, IW has organized several well-attended workshops. Such a > high response rate has encouraged us to move beyond German-speaking > countries. We hope not only to enlarge this group but also to find out > whether we could organize meetings and colloquia centered on specific > topics of common interest. If you are a new academic with interests in > this area, or if you know of any who might want to get involved with > this initiative, could you please contact me at the email listed below? > > Further information on ESSSAT can be obtained at: > > http://www.ESSSAT.org/ > > Yours Sincerely, > Lars Heynen > > LHeynen(a)gmx.net > > ********************************************************* > > -- > > M. D. Eddy > Editor-in-Chief, Philosophical Writings - HPSM Director > University of Durham, Department of Philosophy, 50 Old Elvet, Durham, > DH1 3HN UK; Tel: (44) 191 374 7641 OR St. John's College, 3 South > Bailey, Durham, DH1 3HN UK; Voicemail: (44) 191 374 3575; > http://www.dur.ac.uk/m.d.eddy/ NB: Diagnosed Dyslexic. > > > jeremy hunsinger jhuns(a)vt.edu on the ibook www.cddc.vt.edu www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy www.dromocracy.com

1 0

Re: Air-l digest, Vol 1 #442 - MIME messages/attachements
by Valdis 17 Jul '02

17 Jul '02

You would think Internet researchers would know how to use the technology of the Internet!!! The recent posting about "EnviroInfo Vienna 2002" looked mostly like this... > JVBERi0xLjQNJeLjz9MNCjc3IDAgb2JqDTw8IA0vTGluZWFyaXplZCAxIA0vTyA4MCANL0gg > WyAyMDc3IDQ3OSBdIA0vTCA1NjIyNjUgDS9FIDIxNjk0NyANL04gNCANL1QgNTYwNjA3IA0+ > PiANZW5kb2JqDSAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAgICAg > ICAgICAgICAgICB4cmVmDTc3IDczIA0wMDAwMDAwMDE2IDAwMDAwIG4NCjAwMDAwMDE4MjUg > MDAwMDAgbg0KMDAwMDAwMTkyNiAwMDAwMCBuDQowMDAwMDAyNTU2IDAwMDAwIG4NCjAwMDAw > MDMzNTMgMDAwMDAgbg0KMDAwMDAwNDI5NiAwMDAwMCBuDQowMDAwMDA0NjMyIDAwMDAwIG4N There are people who still use... 1) non-HTML email clients 2) non-Microsoft products 3) dial-up phone lines 4) PDAs for email please be careful what you post, messages like the above are as bad as SPAM. if you have a large document to share, post it on the web and then provide us with a URL and a brief description... those interested will go, those not interested won't call you names! ;-) Valdis http://www.orgnet.com

1 0

Great Ethical disasters in Internet Research?
by C.C. Mann 17 Jul '02

17 Jul '02

Hi! Thanks for the interesting responses so far to the Great Ethical Disasters thread. Frank raised a very interesting point when he said he'd ' like to have some objectives, some scales linked to the objectives' before assessing if something is ethical. To this I'd say 'yes-exactly- but what kind of objectives would we be talking about? Is something ethical in terms of its OWN research objectives - or are there general objectives which apply to all studies? Do other people who are aware of the Rimm study think it's ethical/unethical - and, if so, why?? I also want to pick up on the debate started by David Silver who seems to be making a distinction between 'unethical research' and ' methodologically flawed' research. Personally i'd argue that while the use of an appropriate research methodology may seem morally neutral in fact the way a research project is designed is crucial to its moral acceptability. If a research method doesnt succeed in answering the question posed then it wastes resources or if it gives incorrect data then bad theory or practice may be established. (Clare Foster in a book called The Ethics of Medical Research on Humans, 2001, argues this very well). In my opinion assessing the validity of data generated by the Internet is an ethical as well as a methodological challenge. Also, in a new research area like the Internet, you could argue that researchers have moral obligations to the research community. If the researcher is careless or lacks expertise, disillusioned arespondents may no longer be willing to participate in research projects. Some commentators have raised the issue of enthusiastic well meaning DIY types who collect data using the new fun toy that is the internet. These people may not know the ethical rules of professional and other bodies so may unwittingly break them. Research instruments may be badly designed and promises made to recipients may not be fulfilled adding to feelings of disillusionment and alarm. It could be argued that researchers who are guilty of negligence are acting in ways that will harm others not just the individuals they are working with but also because they close down opportunities for valuable Internet research to be conducted in the future. We're all starting to be aware that increasingly chat rooms and newsgroups are starting to resent the intrusion of researchers who they feel come in and strip the assets of the group. I personally think that a research method which leaves behind bad feeling among participants is morally suspect! What do other people think about this??? Cheers chris

3 2

EnviroInfo Vienna 2002 Pre-Program
by Elisabeth Mrakotsky 17 Jul '02

17 Jul '02

Enclosed please find the pre-program of ENVIROINFO VIENNA 2002 This is the most comprehensive international conference on Environmental Communication in the Information Society organised from September 25-27, 2002 at the Vienna University of Technology. ENVIROINFO VIENNA 2002reflects almost all aspects discussed in the Technical Committee 4.6 Environmental Informatics of the German Society for Informatics. 180 presentations and 60 posters from 40 countries provide a European focus of a world-wide picture of environmental information. Integrated are: * Networking for the 6th Framework Program In co-operation with DG InfSo ISEP provides a forum to establish future co-operations for submissions to the European Commissions Research Framework Program. * The Eco-Informa Foundation (USA) organises a conference track on Integrating Information for Better Environmental Decisions * The annual e-EIONET work conference of the European Environment Agency (EEA) takes place in parallel to the Symposium, uniting more than 70 IT-experts and leading NFPs of the EIONET network (Sept. 26-28) * Workshops e.g. on Hypermedia im Umweltschutz (in German!) and Landscape Structuring. A technical exhibition completes this outstanding event. For continuously updated information, registration and hotel reservation go to the conference Web-site: http://enviroinfo.isep.at/ Please spread this information to interested persons and relevant institutions! Elisabeth Mrakotsky Werner Pillmann Conference organisation Conference chair ISEP - International Society for Environmental Protection IGU - Internationale Gesellschaft fuer Umweltschutz Marxergasse 3/20 A -1030 Vienna, Austria Tel: +43-1-7152828-14 Fax: +43-1-7152828-19 email:mrak@isep.at --------------------------------------------------------- EnviroInfo VIENNA 2002 - http://enviroinfo.isep.at ---------------------------------------------------------

1 0