-- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)* - March 2003 No. 33 - --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- -- NEWS FROM APC -- -- APC ACTION AREA: INTERNET RIGHTS -- -- APC ACTION AREA: MOBILISING PARTICIPATION - -- WOMEN & ICTs -- -- ONLINE RESOURCES & TOOLS - -- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES - -- IMPORTANT DATES -- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS - Third World Institute, Uruguay: Choike in the World Social Forum 2003 In the last days of January, civil society looked to the south of Brazil. The World Social Forum, with its promise that another world is possible, took place for the third time. From Porto Alegre, part of the Choike team covered workshops, conferences, panels and dialogue tables in this global event. Southern NGOs have grasped the Forum as an opportunity to express themselves and to meet up. This was the principal aim of Choike's coverage, in response to its objective to give visibility to southern civil society, which focused its attention on the activities of organisations. During those five days in January, Choike coverage was entirely dedicated to the Forum. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10197 Third World Institute, Uruguay: Social Watch 2003 Report Presented at the World Social Forum After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent end of the Cold War, a series of major conferences and summits drew a blueprint for a new era, when the "peace dividend" was to finally make possible the old ambition to feed, educate and care for the health of every child on the planet. Civil society organisations were encouraged to participate, and did so by the thousands, bringing unusual enthusiasm into the diplomatic negotiating processes, attracting media coverage and advocating for concrete, measurable and time-bound commitments. The Social Watch network was created in 1996, by APC member in Uruguay, the Third World Institute (ITeM), to monitor how those commitments were being implemented and to urge nations' leaders to do better, when needed. The Social Watch Report has been published every year since then, following indicators, summarising them in tables and, even more importantly, voicing the findings and concerns of citizen groups reporting about their daily realities at home. The 2003 Report was presented at the World Social Forum. Report on the Presentation: http://www.ipsnews.net/fsm2003/25.01.2003/nota19.shtml [English] Social Watch 2003 Report: http://www.socialwatch.org [English and other languages] ITeM: http://www.item.org.uy [English and Spanish] Econnect, Czech Republic: Site on Kurds and Kurdistan breaks down stereotypes in the Czech Republic In mid February, APC member in the Czech Republic, Econnect, relaunched a web portal dedicated to Kurdish culture and politics. In co-operation with an expert in Kurdish studies, Econnect has created a specialist website on Kurdish history, language, tradition, and the latest social and political news from the Kurdish diaspora, all in Czech. Kurdove.ecn.cz is updated weekly. APC asked Econnect's "Society" sector coordinator, Karel Novotny, about the impulse behind the site. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10203 BlueLink, Bulgaria: Biodiversity information exchange in Bulgaria takes multisectorial approach - APC member manages civil society input BlueLink Information Network, APC member in Sofia, has launched the nongovernmental module of the Bulgarian Clearing House Mechanism - a Bulgarian language tool for exchanging information on biodiversity produced by the state, academic institutions and civil society. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10206 StrawberryNet, Romania: Would-be Romanian journalists trained in how to use APC software to manage an interactive online news agency Three-day courses on online environmental journalism were held recently in Sf. Gheorghe, Bucharest and Galati by the APC member StrawberryNet Foundation, the Association of Romanian Environmental Journalism and UNESCO Pro Natura Ecological Club. The curriculum covers communication skills, an introduction to journalism and training in the use of APC's content management software, the APC ActionApps, to manage an interactive online news agency. StrawberryNet et al hope that the courses will encourage aspiring communicators from environmental NGOs to provide an alternative voice to the official point of view of state authorities which tends to predominate in the portrayal of environmental matters in the traditional media. The courses were organised with the support of the European Union's PHARE programme. For further information please visit http://www.sbn.ro [Romanian] http://www.ngo.ro/indexen.shtml?conds[0][category........]= [English] StrawberryNet: http://www.sbnet.ro [English, Hungarian, Romanian] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM APC - NEW MEMBER: New APC Member in the Philippines Promotes the Use of ICT to Close the Gender Gap WomensHub, based in Quezon City in the Philippines, was formed in December 2000 to advance women's and social movement issues in the field of ICTs. "We are a new organisation, but most of our members have been connecting and collaborating with APC and APC members since 1995 in our various past incarnations," WomensHub's Pi Villanueva told APC. "We are elated to finally be a member of a network that has done a lot to make computer networking actually work for people." WomensHub projects include "Promoting Gender Equality Through ICT". This project will allow WomensHub to develop a policy framework for integrating gender equality into Philippine national ICT policies, which the women hope to present to legislators and public officials through a series of policy workshops and ICT literacy trainings. A baseline study of the status of women in the ICT sector in the Philippines is also underway. In addition, WomensHub is at the beginning stage of developing a policy monitoring tool in the form of a online database application which will be used to monitor national ICT policies and their impact on women. WomenHub plans to distribute this software to other non-profit organisations engaged in policy monitoring and advocacy work. Read more: http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10213 WomensHub: http://www.womenshub.org NEW MEMBER: South Africans Who Organised First Conference on ICT and Politicial Struggle Join APC Community Education Computer Society (CECS) is an ICT nongovernmental organisation established in 1985 during the years of apartheid "for the technological empowerment of the historically disadvantaged". CECS organised the first major conference on ICT and political struggle in South Africa. Today their work is principally focused on training, especially in general computer skills. CECS' goal still remains to make their training services accessible to communities and especially young people. Until now, CECS has worked principally in South Africa, however in 2002-3, they are implementing a regional ICT literacy project in seven southern African countries working with local ICT organisations. Contact CECS: cecsgp@sn.apc.org About APC membership: http://www.apc.org/english/about/members/membership.shtml --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- APC ACTION AREA: INTERNET RIGHTS - SECOND PREPCOM FOR WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (Feb. 2003, Geneva) APC at the Second Preparatory Meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society (February 17-28 2002) GENEVA, Switzerland -- In June 2002, APC's council of members - who represent information and communications technology providers and trainers to civil society in 30 countries - identified the issues that they considered priorities to be addressed in the agenda for the World Summit on the Information Society which will be held in Geneva in December 2003. The core issues which APC has been actively lobbying around are universal access issues ('digital inclusion'), open source/free software, privacy and security, and communication rights. The APC WNSP has been active in advocating gender issues and women's concerns across the landscape of the agenda. "I think it's fair to say that all of the issues pinpointed by our members have been at the core of our interventions at all regional and international meetings so far," said coordinator of APC's women's programme (APC WNSP), Karen Banks. "For example, APC team members were very active in the Asian Regional meeting around communication rights, open source/free software, privacy and security issues, and Internet governance issues and in leading the NGO and Gender fora." http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9979 Keeping It Real at Prepcom 2: Reports from the preparatory conference for the World Summit on the Information Society In my voluntary capacity as audio archivist for APC, I'd been assigned the task of recording the Morning Plenary as the core activists were otherwise engaged. After locating my spot alongside the other observers, I had resigned myself to the drone coming from the sea of suits and computer-toting delegates when APC's Karen Banks swept me off to 'something far more exciting' to coin her phrase. Lighting up the Conference Center dining room was a gathering of women from the Southern States of Africa. Their laughter and style was instantly welcoming not to mention the fact that they were willing to be interviewed. Leading this lively posse was Tracey Naughton, the director of M.I.S.A. (Media Institute of Southern Africa). Through her co-ordination, four women centrally involved in practical projects on the ground were making their presence felt at Prep Com 2. (By Maud Hand for APC) http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9953 Coalition of Communications Rights Activists Decide to Hold a Parallel Communication Rights Summit The Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) campaign aims to ensure that communication rights are central to the information society and the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The "information society" that interests CRIS and APC is based on principles of transparency, diversity, participation and social and economic justice, and so APC has been working within CRIS at all the regional and international conferences related to WSIS in 2002-3. CRIS is an open campaign, drawing together existing groups and activists. It is organised around working groups, with thematic groups focusing on specific issues, and national and regional chapters supporting local activity. At a meeting on the weekend of 22-23 February 2003 CRIS members decided to convene a parallel event that will focus on the right to communicate in the information society just before the WSIS summit in December 2003. To get involved: e-mail act@crisinfo.org or go to: http://www.crisinfo.org. New Foundation Promotes Free software in Africa The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) came into being at a gathering of WSIS participants, including government delegations, civil society actors, UN agencies and the media. http://africa.rights.apc.org/news-content.shtml?x=9937 Can Open Source Technologies Transform African Information Infra-structures? A troupe of African techies tell it how it is. "We belong to the new school. With an active mailing list of 200 programmers all over Africa feeding in to our documents on a daily basis, we're really focused. In fact, we're so in harmony with the UN papers so far, that we reckon they're actually using our material to set the strategies for the final document." - Bildad Kagai, FOSSFA. The launch of Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) last Friday, 21st February, at Prepcom 2 has made its impact on the gathering of government delegates, Civil Society activists, UN Agencies and the Media assembled because ever since, 'Africa Open Source Task Force' has been the buzz word! (By Maud Hand for APC) http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9965 Draft Final Report from PrepCom 2: http://www.itu.int/wsis/documents/doc_single.asp?lang=en&id=392 [English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian] LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN REGIONAL MEETING FOR WSIS (Jan 2003, Dominican Republic) The Latin American and Caribbean Regional Ministerial Preparatory Conference for the World Summit on the Information Society, from the point of view of the NGOs BAVARO, Dominican Republic - "Of note in this process was the ease in getting access to the national delegations, since we all shared the same space, as well as to representatives from the UN, the World Bank and the private sector. On the one hand, it is very interesting, because it suggests that NGOs can start up close and even informal dialogues, yet on the other hand it may allow these very moments of dialogue not to be any more than just that, without creating any possibility for exchange and input into the decisions taken around the negotiated document. In fact, this big opening up was just one side of the story, because the NGOs justly complained of not having any real help for their participation, such as funding for the journey to Bávaro (which is very expensive) or online discussions prior to the Conference. Really very few NGOs or networks were present." -- Magaly Pazello, DAWN Network, reports on the WSIS regional preparatory conference for Latin America and the Caribbean. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10311 Pressure from NGOs at Latin America WSIS Meeting for Ministers Leads to Agreement to Support a Civil Society PrepCom on the Information Society A regional Ministerial meeting for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) took place in Bavaro in the Dominican Republic in late January in preparation for the World Summit on the Information Society. Around 25 civil society organisations attended the meeting, and worked together to create opportunities for interventions, given that there were no held official channels for civil society input. "We had to really fight to get our voice heard," said APC representative, Valeria Betancourt. "Basically it came down to meeting in corridors with officials from international organisms and members of some of the different official committees." One very important and positive outcome of the regional meeting was that the LAC WSIS organisers agreed to support the organisation and development of a LAC Civil Society Preparatory Conference. In consequence, an NGO and networks meeting will be held in Quito on April 7-8 following a meeting by somos@telecentros, a regional community telecentre association. UNESCO has agreed to commit funding to support this meeting, which will double as a working meeting in preparation for the LAC Civil Society Preparatory Conference. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10248 Declaration from civil society groups at the WSIS Latin American meeting: http://www.apc.org/espanol/news/index.shtml?x=9908 [in Spanish] Reports on the Information Society in Latin America and the Caribbean: The lack of policy - or the policy of not having a policy - has meant "significant duplications and gaps" in Argentina APC has commissioned several reports in a selection of Latin American nations on the state of ICT policy and local civil society activities in relation to the Information Society. These reports will form the basis of APC's Latin American interventions in the World Summit on the Information Society process. "Over the last ten years, there has been a never-ending discussion regarding which sector of the Argentine state is primarily responsible for public policy related to ICTs and the Information Society. At the present time, five different government departments work in the area. Besides, and not necessarily in these departments, 46 programmes related to the Information Society have been detected [...]. The lack of policy (or the policy of not having a policy) has meant, despite all the departments and programmes, significant duplications and gaps." - excerpt from report by Irene Saccone and Rodolfo R. Rapetti for APC member, Wamani. (Reports are in Spanish) Read the full report in Spanish: http://lac.derechos.apc.org/wsis/cdocs.shtml?x=9112 Other reports: http://lac.derechos.apc.org/wsis/cdocs.shtml [Spanish] Final Declaration from the LAC WSIS Regional Meeting: http://www.indotel.org.do/WSIS/Docs/f_declaration/final_declaration_Bavaro.pdf [English] http://www.indotel.org.do/WSIS/Docs/f_declaration/declaracion_final_Bavaro.pdf [Spanish] ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL PREPCOM FOR WSIS (January 2003, Tokyo) WSIS Asian Regional Conference: Onsite Report: Day 1 / 13 January 2003 Internet access through wireless technology has meant that the number of people online in Afghanistan has grown in the past year, despite the country's numerous problems. Find out more about the themes covered on the first day of conferences at the Asian Regional conference in preparation for the World Summit on the Information Society to take place in late 2003. -- Report from Cheekay Cinco of the APC Women's Programme. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9095 Civil society IT groups condemn Japanese government for not inviting North Korea to Info Society Meeting Participants of the Communication Rights Workshop held in conjunction with the ongoing Asian Regional Conference for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) criticised the Japanese government for its decision to not invite delegates from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) to this Tokyo meeting and demanded a public apology to North Korea and the conference participants. - Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, Isis International-Manila http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9105 Final Declaration from the Meeting: The Tokyo Declaration 'In building an Information Society for the Asia-Pacific region, we should take into account its unique features,' says the Tokyo Declaration, a key outcome of the Asia-Pacific regional preparatory meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in Tokyo (Japan) from 13 - 15 January 2003. Amongst others, these features include: geographic and demographic diversity; cultural and linguistic diversity; digital divide disparities; and special circumstances of regional small island developing states. (CTO January 20 2003) http://www.wsis-japan.jp/documents/tokyo_declaration.html More poet than lawyer: An interview with Larry Lessig, the reluctant Internet rights activist "In the past two weeks, I have attended two very different conferences where Larry Lessig has spoken. One, as the key note speaker at an Oxford University conference entitled: 'Politics of Code: Shaping the Future of the Next Internet', the other, as one of the 'visionaries' to open the recent World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). What I saw was a man who is not only passionate about his quest for justice in the Internet, but who is also gifted with the unique ability to bridge the world of technology and politics. Because of this single quality, he may be one of civil society's greatest allies in our attempts to translate and explain the notion of the technological as political. Lessig uses the phrase 'code is law' to describe how every decision that we take in these formative years to develop the framework on which the Internet is built, will have a critical impact on the way that power is distributed in the Information Society of the future." -- Heather Ford, former APC Africa ICT Policy Monitor website manager, recently met Lawrence Lessig: professor, lawyer and author of the acclaimed "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace". She told APC about the experience. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9962 New Training Course by APC Helps Civil Society Organisations Understand how ICT Policy Decisions Can Affect their Work ICT policy decisions affect anyone who wants to take advantage of the opportunities that new technologies can offer. Will the national policy favour technology that is state-of-the art but not affordable in rural areas? Will governments provide service subsidies to poor or disabled people? Will governments encourage the development of software that illiterate people can use? All of these are pressing questions whose answers depend on the ICT policy choices made by governments and other official decision-makers. The APC has developed a training course in ICT policy, funded by the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO). The first full pilot workshop began on March 10 in Johannesburg, with around 20 participants from nonprofit organizations from South and Southern Africa. The curriculum and training materials will be redeveloped based on feedback after the workshop. APC intends to run a second course in Uganda probably in May. We are also discussing possibilities of running other courses in Gujarat, India, the Caribbean, and at a meeting of APC member delegates in October. As part of this project, the APC will produce an 'ICT policy for beginners' booklet which will be available by mid 2003. Keep reading APCNews for more updates! --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- APC ACTION AREA: MOBILISING PARTICIPATION - Patience is the key at this golden opportunity that is Prepcom 2 As a virgin to the process and its ensuing verbiage, I'm hungry for my fellow-delegates to slice through the jargon and simplify their intentions for the final declaration. Why, asks Maud Hand, is it all so exceedingly long-winded and laborious? Anne Walker, Executive Director of the International Women's Tribune Centre and long-time development activist takes time to reflect on the value of the Prepcom, WSIS process. - Maud Hand for APC http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9974 Activists prepare for campaign to ensure communications as a human right is on the agenda at the World Summit on the Information Society PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, 01/26/2003 -- "Put simply, civil society is being marginalised from the World Summit on the Information Society process while the private sector is getting further and further in," said Sasha Costanza-Chock, a communications activist from the University of Pennsylvania, and one of the thirty or so people, many representing communications organizations and present at two meetings of the CRIS Campaign (Communication Rights for the Information Society) at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Not all present see the organization of the summit process in the same way as Costanza-Chock, but exchange was friendly and the atmosphere one of seeking information and forming positions collectively. What is important for civil society to know is that the idea for an 'information society' UN summit was first agreed on in 1998 and the proposal that was accepted established that the conference should be tripartite - ie that it include representatives from civil society, the business sector and governments. The reality however, said meeting participants is that up until now, the negotiation at WSIS preparatory meetings has been carried out by governments only with one important exception. - APCNews http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9236 (English) APC-Africa-Women: Women's Electronic Network Training Workshop for Africa (WENT-Africa 2003) Based on the successful WENT experiences in Asia co-organised by APC's Women's Networking Support Programme, APC-Africa-Women is offering a training workshop which aims to build the capacities of women and their organisations to utilise information and communication technologies in social development work and policy advocacy from 29th March - 4th April 2003 in Cape Town, South Africa. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10230 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- WOMEN & ICTs -- WSIS and Women: Documents from the NGO Gender Strategies Working group [From the APC Women's Networking Support Programme representatives and colleagues who are at New York at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women meetings held in early March.] WSIS and Women - a 16 page briefing which links recommendations from the WSIS Prepcom to the 12 criticial areas of concern of the Beijing Platform For Action. The "Seven Musts": Priority Issues for Gender Equality in the WSIS Process - the Civil Society Plenary came up with 7 'must haves' during the prepcom - this is our version. http://www.genderit.org/CSW/musthaves.htm Action Items for Gender Equality in the Information Society - some key action points for CSW delegates to consider in development of their outcomes http://www.genderit.org/CSW/delegates.htm The GenderIt.org website has been updated and most documents from the PrepCom2 are now online: http://www.genderit.org/wsis Reports from the Commission on the Status of Women: http://www.womenspace.ca Official CSW documentation: The two main panel reports are available here: PANEL ONE - Participation and access of women to the media, and information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw47/Panel1.htm PANEL TWO - Women's human rights and elimination of all forms of violence against women and girls as defined in the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century" http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw47/Panel2.htm APC-Africa-Women: Launch of "Pula" - a newsletter whose name means 'rain' - because information shared will encourage the growth of ICTs for women's empowerment, development, and social justice in Africa APC-Africa-Women call their newsletter Pula, a Tswana word for rain, because they believe that the information shared will encourage the growth of ICTs for women's empowerment, development, and social justice in Africa. The aim of Pula is to promote and profile the work and activities of women and ICTs in Africa. It highlights current issues and encourages the production of new knowledge on African women's use of ICTs. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10243 Women In Action from Isis International Manila: Special Edition on Women and Communication Features Articles by APC's Programmes and Projects Manager Women In Action covers a broad range of issues affecting women globally, but focusing on the particular needs and concerns of women in the Global South, and forwarding a progressive perspective tempered by the experiences of women's movements in developing countries. Issue 2, on Women and Communication, features two articles authored or co-authored by Sonia Jorge, APC's new programmes and projects manager. http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=10245 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- - ONLINE RESOURCES & TOOLS - USEFUL RESOURCES ON WSIS AND PREPCOM 2 The official WSIS site: http://www.itu.org/wsis [English, French, Spanish] The Latin America and Caribbean WSIS site set up by the LAC ICT Policy Monitor Project: http://lac.derechos.apc.org/wsis [Spanish] A site set up by the German Civil Society Coordinating group on WSIS: http://www.worldsummit2003.de [English and German] Also a civil society view from the Third World Institute (IteM): http://www.choike.org/cgi-bin/choike/links/page.cgi?p=ver_informe&id=982 [English] A site setup by the APC Women's Programme as background for an online consultation currently underway which refers to most of the Key NGO and Gender documents throughout the WSIS process. http://www.apcwomen.org/wsis [English] CRIS campaign: http://www.crisinfo.org [English and Spanish and some resources in other languages including Russian] UNESCO WSIS consultations: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=1543&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201 [English] Media Institute of Southern Africa: WSIS - African Perspectives (Our side of the divide) http://www.misa.org/wsis/index.html Audio feed of PrepCom2 sessions: http://www.itu.int/ibs/wsis/pc2/ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES - LabourStart: Campaign feeds available direct to your progressive site LabourStart's 'ActNOW' online solidarity campaigns has developed a powerful new tool to allow hundreds of trade union websites to run live lists of current campaigns with links directly to the campaign pages. Whenever a new campaign is launched, the list is automatically (and instantly) updated. This new tool will allow the international trade union movement to respond more quickly than ever before to abuses of rights and to urgent action appeals. http://www.labourstart.org/actnowwire.shtml InterConnection: Onsite Web work volunteers needed in Peru, Nepal and India InterConnection's new Web Development Corps program provides the opportunity for volunteers living or traveling abroad to help nonprofits collect and prepare website materials. Volunteers can undertake such tasks as taking digital photos of the projects, write about programs, conduct technology assessments, and visit the surrounding countryside where the program is based. Volunteers have the opportunity to provide tangible support, materials to construct a website, for a non-profit organization while experiencing the area's customs, languages and natural attractions. http://www.interconnection.org/volunteer/corps.htm --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- IMPORTANT DATES - II Regional Meeting of Telecentres April 2-4 2003, Lima, Peru A workshop on APC's free content management system APC ActionApps will be offered by conference co-organisers, CEPES. APC thanks CEPES for promoting the APC ActionApps. http://cepes.org.pe/tele-centros/ [Spanish] Inscriptions: http://www.cepes.org.pe/tele-centros/pre-inscripciones.htm Broadband and The Digital Future: Who is in Control? April 5, 2003, Stanford University, California, USA The growing monopolization of the Internet and the media is a direct threat to all democratic rights. Already US network, Comcast, has censored anti-war advertising on its cable network. This conference part organised by APC member LaborNet offers workshops on using the Internet and Wi-Fi to stream rallies and meetings at remote locations, as well as how to defend our democratic rights on the "information highway", micro-radio and the fight to defend it from corporate interests, community TV, privacy, spying and the struggle for democratic control of global Internet governance (ICANN, the WSIS, etc.) and others. http://www.webshells.com/labornet/news/0203/stanconf.htm --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed monthly by APC, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the international Internet community for peace, human rights, development and the environment. APCNews Archive: http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/ CopyLeft. 2003 Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Permission is granted to use this document for personal use, for training and educational publications, and activities by peace, environmental, human rights or development organizations. Please provide an acknowledgment to APC.