[APCPress] APCNews - March 2003 - No. 33

Fri Mar 14 14:11:05 GMT 2003

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          *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the 
     Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
                  - March 2003 No. 33 - 
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-- 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 --
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-- 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]

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-- 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 at sn.apc.org

About APC membership:
http://www.apc.org/english/about/members/membership.shtml

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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 at 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 at 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!

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-- 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

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-- 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

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- 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/

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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

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-- 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

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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.