Doug Johnson offered up a challenge to those of us railing against this dopey DOPA legisation to put our misery where our mouths are and offer up a list of the professional organizations we belong to who might challenge this, write a letter that others might use to contact their Congresspeople, and discuss any other actions we might take.
I’m game.
First, here’s my letter, thrown up on a wiki that is just waiting for your additions, deletions, edits, etc. It’s not the greatest thing I’ve ever composed, I’ll admit, (which makes it perfect for a wiki) but it’s a decent start, I think. Together, we can make it better. (Wiki goodness.)
Second, I’m a member of ISTE (though I need to re-up), the New Jersey Supervisors and Principals Association, the Journalism Education Association and, (I think) the National Council of Teachers of English (though that might have expired, come to think of it.) I’ll be sending a copy of whatever we come up with to the leaders of those organizations as well.
Finally, as to what else we can do about this. First and foremost, we have to teach. Not our kids, but our teachers. I have the good fortune to send this out to my staff as a part of my “thanks for the memories” e-mail on Monday. It’s the perfect opportunity to try to contextualize what’s happening “out there” and try to help them understand why they should be thinking about this stuff and asking these questions. And we should all look at this as an opportunity to move these discussions into wider circles, because, as I’ve said before, this is less an education issue as much as it is a cultural/societal issue.
Stephen says that the American legislators will at some point wake up and water it down or withdraw the bill at some point. I’m not so sure. Not to be hyperbolic or anything, but the freedoms we currently enjoy on the Web are increasingly coming under attack, and unless we start getting our acts together in short order, we’re all going to wake up one day in the near future and wonder what hit us. This is about control and money and power, and Doug is absolutely right to move us toward action.
By the way, here’s today’s money quote on the topic from Anne Collier, co-founder of Blogsafety.com:
“I don’t think lawmakers have had a lot of time to think about the implications of Web 2.0,” and they are indulging in “fear mongering,” Collier says.”
Amen to that…
Perhaps we should have seen this coming given the conservative nature of our current legislature. I believe the “ambiguity” inherent in technology like the Internet will make controlling it quite difficult.(See related post here.
I do think you are right that we need to take action, but it should be carefully considered. We don’t want to paint ourselves into a corner, make compromises where they are not necessary, nor do we want to assume the same oppressive role as those doing the oppressing. I think we need to first agree to a definition of what it is we desire. Then once we build consensus, we move forward in a concerted effort.
Does this make sense? Am I being to rational about this?
You might get more “edits” if we brainstorm possible bullet points first on a separate page. I mean who wants to edit– the great Will Richardson.. Maybe we could list the best selling points to our argument first and then construct a letter that could be wordsmithed for flow rather than content.
Just a suggestion…
Maybe a “top 20 reasons” kind of thing and then write the letter from those collective ideas.
Christopher: You said “Perhaps we should have seen this coming given the conservative nature of our current legislature.” If this legislature were truly conservative, this sort of legislation would have never come about in the first place. Political conservatism promotes the idea of limited government, which DOPA certainly does not characterize. Moral conservatism promotes the centrality of the family (and to some degree, the church) in bringing up kids, whereas DOPA seeks to co-opt that responsibility and put it in the hands of a secular government. I could personally stand a lot MORE conservatism of this sort from our Congress and a lot less of the nanny-state stuff that DOPA represents.
Here’s what Kirk had to say (I’m a wiki newbie and can’t take the time just now to get it under my belt):
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/il10_kirk/ftcchild.html
Kirk, Wolf Letter Sparks FTC to Issue National Consumer Alert about MySpace.com and Other Social Networking Sites
Washington, DC –
Congressman Mark Kirk announced the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will issue consumer alerts to parents and children regarding the dangers of using MySpace.com and other social networking sites.
The FTC’s decision to issue the consumer alerts comes after Kirk and Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) sent two letters – the second cosigned by 20 Members of Congress — to the Commission urging them to issue a national consumer alert. Wolf chairs the Science, State and Justice House Appropriations Subcommittee that funds the FTC. Kirk is the third ranking member on the subcommittee.
“One in five children receives unwanted sexual advances online,” said Kirk. “Social networking sites like MySpace.com contain web pages for tens of millions of American children. Using the anonymity of the Internet, pedophiles found a virtual hunting ground to prey on children. I welcome the decision by the FTC to issue a national consumer alert, urging parents to monitor who is contacting their children via these sites and warning children to use caution when setting up a personal web page.
Last month, Kirk and his Student Leadership Advisory Board taped Public Service Announcements warning parents to monitor their children’s web activities and urged their peers to use common sense when displaying a personal profile on social networking sites like MySpace.com.
“MySpace.com removed 200,000 “objectionable” profiles recently, but there are several million sites composed by children,” said Kirk. “So far we are only dealing with the tip of the iceberg. It is a common sense step for the FTC to warn parents of the growing online danger to children.”
The FTC will start running the National Consumer Alerts this week.
Ironic DOPA-ness. One of the “suburban coalition guys, John Campbell…has started blogging. If the DOPA bill passes, his blog would be blocked from schools and libraries.
http://campbell.house.gov/html/release.cfm?id=21
Today, U.S. Rep. John Campbell (R-Irvine) began posting on the FlashReport.org Website, California’s most prominent political website, as a regular “blogger.†Campbell will be taking on the role as the “Beltway Correspondent.â€
“I’m excited about this opportunity to contribute to the FlashReport. Blogs are changing the way Americans get their news, and this is a great opportunity to use a new technology to help readers in California stay informed about what is happening in Washington,†said Campbell.
The FlashReport has over 12,000 daily visitors. The site allows readers to stay updated on the latest political news in California and read commentary from numerous well informed sources that write on its blog each day.
In a release today announcing Campbell’s new role on the site, FlashReport creator and publisher Jon Fleischman said, “We are extremely excited to have someone of the caliber of Congressman Campbell joining our team. Campbell will bring to the site the gravitas of a respected Member of Congress, who is highly regarded for his policy acumen and his political savvy.”
Will, the letter looks and reads fine. Any chance of getting rid of the ads on the wiki? With all of the publicity you generate for pbwiki, I think it would be good to get rid of ads for Chat rooms, online dating etc. considering your subject material! Wikispaces remove ads for educators – your influence could do the same for pbwiki.
Mobilize.org is launching a new campaign in response to Congress’ attempt to censor the communication of our generation. We have created the action alert below and built a website, http://www.mobilize.org/SOS. We are hoping to get as much grassroots action as possible around this important issue, especially from the online community.
Breaking News:
Legislation introduced this week will ban social networking, even sites used for educational and professional opportunities. What’s next? HR5319 will censor the communication of our generation and tell us who we can talk to, when and how. Tell Congress that social networking is a movement that we built, a movement that we are going to fight for.
Visit http://www.mobilize.org/SOS, take action, tell your friends and get mad.
—
The bill blocks the use of these sites in public libraries, which is for many, the only access that they have to a computer. Our hope is to be able to amend the bill to take these facts into consideration. We agree that there need to be safeguards put in place for “sexual predators” and any of other crimes that might occur because of the accessibility of information on these sites, but to ban them in schools (including using school computers afterschool) and public libraries, is for many – banning social networking.