textfiles/politics/minute91.12

From sjackson  Fri Dec 13 12:41:34 1991
To: eff-a, rita@eff.org
Subject: Minutes of Austin meeting 12-5-91

MINUTES OF AUSTIN EFF DIRECTORS' MEETING - Dec. 5, 1991
   Prepared by Steve Jackson; blame him for errors or omissions.
 
   Held chez Matt Lawrence, 7:30pm. Present: Steve Jackson, Matt
Lawrence, Jon Lebkowski, John Quarterman, Smoot Carl-Mitchell. Observing
by invitation: Ed Cavazos of the Bamboo Gardens BBS, Bruce Sterling,
Susan Cisco. Lar Kaufman is still out of town.
 
        Minutes of the last meeting approved, no corrections.
 
   Recommendations on organization and our official status - Smoot
recommended that we proceed as a voluntary, unincorporated association
until we need the protection of corporate status. Jon advocated the
preparation of a recommendation for more formal status, and some degree of
"official" connection with the national group - we could present this to
National and see how they feel about it. Considerable discussion. It was
pointed out that National expects us to be a test-bed for local chapters,
and it is probably part of our job to prepare the recommendation. Smoot
will do further research into the structures of such groups as the Sierra
Club.
        It was agreed that we have no current need for tax-exempt or
tax-deductible status; we can worry about this later.
 
        Local dues - As reported last meeting, pending Cambridge approval, we
like $10/year, or $5 per students. Membership in the national EFF would
be required. (Meetings should probably be open to everyone, but
there should be some specific membership perks.) We haven't gotten a
comment from Cambridge on this.
        It was also suggested that we offer a corporate membership rate.
 
        Meetings and publicity - Before we can hold meetings, we need a
meeting site. SJ has contacted Dell about their Arboretum site, and sent
information about the EFF, but has not gotten a response yet.
        We need to prepare a membership package for the local group, once
the first meeting is set. SJ will do DTP and printing, Smoot will take
care of postage.
        We have had an increasing demand for literature, as various of the
Austin EFFectives make public appearances. Steve volunteered to keep a
stock at his office and request replenishment as needed. If you need
literature, contact Steve.
 
        Convention appearances - We will definitely make an appearance at the
GTC Conference, Austin, Feb. 12-14. Jon has gotten us a table space. They
are interested in having Bruce appear on a panel. Jon is coordinating our
participation there, but will certainly need help, as his own job requires
him to be a participant in portions of the conference other than the EFF
table.
        It was agreed that we do not have the manpower to do anything about
the Dallas conference on fiber optics or any of the other immediately
upcoming conventions. Should a qualified volunteer convention coordinator
appear in Austin, this could be changed.
 
        Local activities last month:
        EFFectors and EFF materials have been placed in The Station,
a local computer store. Cambridge approves of this initiative. We could
put EFF materials in stores, co-ops, take them to computer club meetings
- there are lots of possibilities here. 
        VOLUNTEER NEEDED: We need a local EFF supporter with a car to be our
literature distributor . . . to make suggestions to the board about what
ought to go where, and to see that it gets there. If you're interested in
helping with this, please send e-mail to sjackson@tic.com.
        SJ will appear on the TV show TAKING LIBERTIES,        hosted by the ACLU - 
two segments were taped in early November for airing in December. The host
was Kenneth Altes, producer was David Gallessich, other guests were Ed
Lenert and Dick Cutler of the UT Center for Research on Communication
Technology and Society.
        The December 6 issue of the Austin Chronicle, out today, contains
Bruce's article on the Cyberpunk Bust - it's the cover story. SJ will
call the Chronicle to see if we can pick up their leftover copies.
        There is supposed to be a Texas Observer out now with a story, too,
but nobody seems to have seen it.
        SJ spoke to a large UT class on Dec. 4, along with representatives
from a local radio station and the American-Statesman. This was Joan
Stuller's RTF course; the discussion had to do with the future of media.
 
        Local activities, upcoming or proposed:
        John and Smoot will participate in a seminar Friday, December 6,
for the Library and Information Science Department at UT.  The topic is
The Use of Computer Networks and Electronic Mail to Support Routine
Organizational Functioning.  The organizer is Susan Cisco, a Ph.D.
candidate. Rita at Cambridge F was very helpful in getting EFF materials
to us for this seminar on very short notice.
        When Bruce Sterling's HACKER CRACKDOWN book is published, EFF-Austin
should sponsor a signing. Maybe at a local bookstore . . .maybe at a
computer store. Bruce is willing. The book will be released in September.
        Bruce will be doing a multi-city signing tour for the paperback
release of DIFFERENCE ENGINE, and is willing to distribute EFF material.
He and/or SJ will talk to Cambridge about logistics.
        Dean Langston is still interested in doing something for
cable TV. He and SJ have been playing phone tag since the first
meeting. SJ will work harder at making a good contact. (Videotaping
speakers at the quarterly meetings would be worthwhile.)
        It was suggested that if any of Mitch Kapor's appearances or
talks are available on video, they would be very valuable for 
presentations, and we might even be able to get them broadcast.
        We could also no doubt get on the local radio shows.
 
        Mailing list - We have volunteers to help with this. Since Earl Cooley
does databases for a living, it was agreed that SJ will sit down with him
and discuss design.
        Bruce pointed out that a mailing list is just a special case of a
database, and we could use a general database with all kinds of
information on EFF-related issues - who, what, when, and how come. He has
prepared some of this in his researches, but says that there is a lot more
information out there, unknown or uncollected - other computer-raid cases,
4tc. He will give thought to pruning the "private" information out of his
own database so it could serve as a core for this project.
 
        Computer display program - SJ and Matt have done a top-down outline of
the design for this project, but no code has been written.
 
        Logo - No word from Lar on the status on the Austin logo. Cambridge
is working on a logo for the national group.
 
   UT Law School - Our contact there is Ed Cavazos, a second-year law
student who runs the Bamboo Garden BBS in Austin. He sat in on this
directors' meeting. We managed not to discuss the liaison too much, 
though. Ed opines that there will be a great deal of interest in EFF
issues among individual students and professors, but that the school
as an organization is unlikely to take any sort of position.
        Ed's BBS has an EFF discussion area. The number is 385-2941.
 
   Conference/Convention - We discussed this at length. Jon suggested
that we do the first one as a one- or maybe one-and-a-half-day 
conference focusing mainly on BBS issues. This was greeted with
great enthusiasm. Ed says that there are well over 200 BBSs in Austin,
and a large percentage of the sysops would come. And, of course, we 
would publicize the conference nationally. There were suggestions
for guests, and an interesting offer from Bruce.
        Proposed time to do this is fall 1991. LOTS of helpers will be
needed - not just volunteer workers, but leaders and organizers. If
you are interested, please contact Jon (jonl@tic.com) immediately.
 
        Legislative initiative - We agreed to wait on this until Steve Ryan
gets into Austin.
 
        Christmas party - Everyone who has any interest in the EFF is
invited to the holiday party: 4pm until very, very late, at Matt
Lawrence's home, 1205 Gemini, on Sunday, Dec. 29th. Call 834-8455
for directions. Bring whatever you like, edible or drinkable, to
share with fellow EFFectives.
 
        Our next directors' meeting will be Monday, January 6, at 7:30pm at
Matt's.