home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Group 42-Sells Out! - The Information Archive
/
Group 42 Sells Out (Group 42) (1996).iso
/
internet
/
eff
/
abouteff.txt
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-11-30
|
45KB
|
923 lines
ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
========================================
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
P.O. Box 170190
San Francisco CA 94117 USA
+1 415 668 7171 (voice)
+1 415 668 7007 (fax)
Internet: ask@eff.org
Updated: Sept. 30, 1995
Table of Contents
-----------------
Introduction
Mission Statement
EFF: Working to Protect Essential Civil Liberties
EFF: Representing the Interests of the Public Online
EFF: Building the Community
Accomplishments and Goals
EFF's Staff and Board
How EFF Is Funded
How and Where to Find EFF Online
Membership in the Electronic Frontier Foundation: Why You Should Join EFF
Membership Form
EFF PGP Public Key for Encryption
____________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
------------
A new world is arising in the vast web of digital, electronic media
which connect us. Computer-based communications media like electronic
mail and computer conferencing are becoming the basis of new forms of
community. These communities without a single, fixed geographical
location comprise the first settlements on an electronic frontier.
Digital networks offer a tremendous potential to empower individuals in
an ever-overpowering world. However, these communications networks are
also the subject of significant debate concerning governance and freedom.
While well-established legal principles and the standards of physical
communities give structure and coherence to uses of conventional media
like newspapers, books, and telephones, the new digital media do not so
easily fit into existing frameworks. What jurisdiction's laws can
hope to apply justly to a medium that is both nowhere and everywhere at
the same time? Serious conflicts come about as the law struggles to
define its application in a context where fundamental notions of speech,
property, and place take profoundly new forms. People sense both the
promises and the threats inherent in the use of new computer and
communications technologies, even as they struggle to master or simply
cope with them in the workplace and the home:
- How do we balance intellectual property rights with the free flow of
information?
- How do we simultaneously provide for free expression and allow
individuals to shield themselves or their children from material they
find offensive?
- How do we determine which country's laws, if any, sensibly have
jurisdiction over media that involve global communications?
- How do we protect privacy and security while still fostering
accountability and responsibility?
- How do we ensure that legislators, access providers, and network users
do not stifle speech they disagree with?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is dedicated to finding ways to resolve
these and other conflicts while ensuring that essential civil liberties are
protected.
Mission Statement
-----------------
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been established to help civilize
the electronic frontier; to make it truly useful and beneficial not just
to a technical elite, but to everyone; and to do this in a way which is
in keeping with our society's highest traditions of the free and open
flow of information and communication.
To that end, the Electronic Frontier Foundation will:
* engage in and support educational activities which increase popular
understanding of the opportunities and challenges posed by
developments in computing and telecommunications;
* develop among policy-makers a better understanding of the issues
underlying free and open telecommunications, and support the creation of
legal and structural approaches which will ease the assimilation of these
new technologies by society;
* raise public awareness about civil liberties issues arising from the
rapid advancement in the area of new computer-based communications media;
* support litigation in the public interest to preserve, protect, and
extend First Amendment rights within the realm of computing and
telecommunications technology;
* encourage and support the development of new tools which will endow
non-technical users with full and easy access to computer-based
telecommunications.
EFF: Working to Protect Essential Civil Liberties
-------------------------------------------------
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was founded in July of 1990
to ensure that civil liberties, such as privacy and freedom of
expression, are protected as new communications technologies emerge.
To this end:
* EFF sponsors cases such as the Steve Jackson Games case and Bernstein v.
Department of State and NSA, in which users' online civil liberties have
been violated. Additionally, EFF submits amicus briefs and finds pro
bono counsel when possible for important legal cases. We continue to
monitor for legal actions that merit EFF support.
* EFF works to ensure that communications carriers do not deny service to
network users solely on the basis of the content of their messages, and
that carriers do not bear liability for the actions of users over whom
carriers do not excercise control.
* EFF produces legal white papers and testifies before legislative
and regulatory bodies, to inform lawmakers, system operators, telephone
companies, public utility commissions, national leaders and the public
about the civil liberties implications of their actions and reactions.
We monitor legislation and agency actions affecting the online
community. We also work with EFF members and groups of members, and
other organizations, on local, state and national levels to affect
change in legislation and policy.
* EFF provides a free telephone hotline for members of the online
community who have questions regarding their legal rights.
* EFF speaks to law enforcement organizations, state attorney bar
associations, conferences and summits, and university classes on the
work that we do and how these groups and individuals can become involved.
EFF: Representing the Interests of the Public Online
-----------------------------------------------------
EFF works to convince Congress that measures that support broader
public access to information should be enacted into law. EFF supports an
Electronic Freedom of Information Act and other legislation to make
government information more accessible to citizens.
EFF supports both legal and technical means to enhance privacy in
communications. We, therefore, advocate measures that ensure the public's
right to use the most effective encryption technologies available, and have
testified before Congress as well as conducted online campaigns against the
NSA's "Clipper Chip" initiative.
EFF works to make sure that common carriage principles are upheld in the
information age. Common carriage principles require that network providers
carry all speech, regardless of its controversial content. EFF supports a new
common carriage system in which system operators are shielded from
liability for the actions of users, but without the regulatory burden presently
associated with common carriage.
EFF supports an Open Platform model of the global information
infrastructure, providing non-discriminatory access, based on open, private-
sector standards, and free from burdensome regulation.
Finally, EFF works to craft policies that enable public and private information
providers to distribute and sell their information products over the Internet.
We encourage the government to provide support for schools, universities,
and research labs that buy Internet services on the open market. We work
on policies that encourage the government to stimulate the development of
experimental, precompetitive, network technologies and to fund the
development of applications that are of use to "low-end" users, who are
traditionally underserved by advanced digital media.
EFF: Building the Community
---------------------------
In order to foster community and openness, EFF works with local
organizations that support online communications issues. In January of
1993, EFF sponsored a summit of groups from around the country to
discuss common goals. Since then, EFF, in an advisory ally role, has helped
other "Electronic Frontiers" organizations get started in Ireland, Canada,
Norway, Australia, New Hampshire and elsewhere around the country and the
world.
EFF, in conjunction with many other organizations, has formed and
participates in a number of coalitions and summits to bring together
thinkers from the non-profit/NGO world, communications and computing
industry leaders, government policy makers (when appropriate), and
grass-roots advocates in a nonpartisan setting to discuss communications
policy goals and strategies and to form balanced solutions to problems. Such
efforts to date have included the Communications Policy Forum, the Digital
Privacy and Security Working Group, and the Intellectual Property Working
Group (EFF organized), as well as the Interactive Working Group and the
Stop S.314 Coalition (with EFF as an active participant).
EFF publishes an electronic newsletter, _EFFector_Online_, to inform our
members and other interested parties, including members of the press,
several Senators, CEOs of high-technology enterprises, and key staffers
in other organizations, about events and issues in online civil liberties
and network-based social change.
EFF maintains several communications forums on the Internet. We have our
own Internet node which houses our FTP, gopher, and WWW information
servers, as well as our own Internet and Usenet conferences, including
comp.eff.org.talk. EFF also maintains active conferences on the Whole Earth
'Lectronic Link (WELL), CompuServe (CIS), America Online (AOL), GEnie,
Women's Wire, and elsewhere.
Outpost, the EFF bulletin board system, carries a wide selection of the files
available on our Internet servers.
Additionally, EFF answers hundreds of daily Internet-related and civil
liberties questions from the community via telephone, postal mail and
e-mail, whether they be technical ("How do I connect to the Internet?") or
legal ("Does my boss have the right to read my e-mail?"). We have built
up a strong reputation in the online communition as an excellent
source of information about life in Cyberspace, and as the home of the
largest archive of online civil liberties information in the world.
Accomplishments and Goals
-------------------------
In 1994:
* EFF won the Steve Jackson Games case, where a federal court affirmed that
electronic mail cannot be read by law enforcement officers without a court-
authorized wiretap warrant.
* EFF ensured that privacy protections for transactional information were
added to the FBI's Digital Telephony legislation. This year, we will
fight to keep its dangerous wiretap provisions from being funded without a
strong showing by the FBI that such measures are necessary and justifiable.
* EFF fought successfully to exempt the Internet, BBSs, and other online
services from the re-engineering and design requirements of the Digital
Telephony legislation.
* EFF educated health care reform legislators about the importance of
security and privacy of health records and medical information.
* EFF provided, through our online counsel and legal clinic, immediate
assistance to hundreds of system operators and online service users in
crisis, throughout the year.
* EFF led the opposition against the "Clipper Chip" key escrow encryption
proposal and the unconstitutional ITAR export restrictions on
cryptographic products. We coordinated a massive grassroots and
private-industry assault on the proposal. Clipper is now functionally
dead, with large portions of the proposal completely abandoned and the
rest unsupported by industry or the public.
So far in 1995:
* EFF assembled and sponsored the legal team that has filed a
groundbreaking suit that will take on export controls on encryption in
federal court. The export controls are a violation of free speech and
press rights, and privacy, and are seriously hampering US participation
in a fast-growing and increasinly important global field.
* Helped find pro bono counsel to represent the key defendants in the Church
of Scientology's assault on free speech on the Net. CoS has attempted
to close down Usenet newsgroups, has filed a lawsuits against critics, and
has obtained restraining orders against one online critic, his BBS
system operator, and that operator's Internet service provider. In
addition, COS has compromised the security of an Internet remailer
service and has made legal threats against many other system operators,
remailer operators, and users critical of Scientology's teachings and
practices.
* With other civil rights organizations, we called upon the G7 nations to
establish the protection of the free flow of information as a core
principle of the Global Information Infrastructure.
* We are supporting board members Esther Dyson and Mitch Kapor in their
work on the federal US National Information Infrastructure Advisory
Council to develop privacy protection principles for the NII. We are
assisting this civilian NII advisory panel on encryption, security,
intellectual property, and free expression issues as well.
* We have spoken with Senator Jim Exon's staff to reassess the proposed
language of his dangerous "Communications Decency Act of 1995", and we
have taken part in broad and successful coalitions to increase
opposition to this and similar censorship measures, and to introduce and
support counter-bills, such as those sponsored by Senator Leahy,
and Representatives Klink, Cox and Wyden.
* EFF has worked to expose the weaknesses and fallacies of the so-called
"Carnegie-Mellon University online pornography study" by CMU student
Marty Rimm. The study, which presented demonstrably false information
as fact, had been the centerpiece of Sen. Charles Grassley's own
Internet censorship efforts, and had been quoted as if conclusive by
several legislators, news publications, and extremist pro-censorship
organizations, Our efforts, in conjunction with independent investigative
journalism and network users' fact-finding, have turned the tide,
exposing the "study" as a little better than a hoax, and strongly
influencing Congressional hearings on the Internet in the process.
* We have filed an amicus brief opposing the conviction of the two system
operators of a California bulletin board system, who were charged with
distribution of obscenity in Memphis, Tennessee using Memphis
community standards. Our brief argues that 1) individual states have
little or no justification for attempting to regulate content when
it is not on public display and does not otherwise affect any
terrestrial community; 2) technological means rather than laws
should be employed to allow people to screen themselves from material
they do not want, and to prevent access to such material by their
children; and 3) where these self-selection methods are employed,
online communities should have the right to set their own standards.
Our agenda for the coming year includes the following:
* EFF will maintain our efforts to inform and organized concerned citizens,
and foster directed action on crucial issues such as anti-cryptographic
public policy mistakes, unconstitional legislation, ill-considered
attempts to greatly expand law enforcement and intelligence
agencies' surveillance capabilities and authority, public access to
government information and to communications media, as well as the
unsettled and unsettling intersection of outmoded law and new media.
* EFF will continue to fight for the privacy of transactional data and to
support the use and availability of strong encryption worldwide.
Such privacy and security, and the technologies that make it possible, are
essential to the continued growth and health of networked communications.
* EFF will encourage and assisting in the formation of "Electronic
Frontiers" civil liberties advocacy groups around the world, and
will organize online and offline summits to forge a flexible alliance
of grassroots activists acting locally on global issues when necessary,
and acting globally on local issues when appropriate.
* EFF will work for the development of legal definitions of the virtual
community that are based not on physical location but on the voluntary
association of such communities' constituents.
* EFF will establish a Cyberspace Law Institute to analyze and develop
new forms of dispute resolution better adapted to the still developing
jurisdictions of cyberspace.
* EFF will analyze potential threats and contributions to the Net
worldwide. We are beginning to build the information base necessary to
produce an annual "State of the Net" report which will study the Interet
as an evolving system using an ecology and organism model.
* EFF will study the condition of digital intellectual property rights
and convene various interested parties to examine how value is
currently being, and can be, exchanged online. Part of this process
may also include a test bed of digital cash and transaction schemes,
with a particular focus on privacy and security issues.
EFF's Staff and Board
---------------------
* EFF Board of Directors
Esther Dyson Chair of the Board esther@eff.org
John Perry Barlow Vice-Chair/Co-Founder barlow@eff.org
Stewart Brand Boardmember Emeritus sbb@well.sf.ca.us
Denise Caruso Boardmember Emeritus dcaruso@eff.org
David Farber Boardmember farber@cis.upenn.edu
John Gilmore Boardmember/Co-Founder gnu@toad.com
Rob Glaser Boardmember robg@prognet.com
Mitchell Kapor Boardmember/Co-Founder mkapor@kei.com
Jane Metcalfe Boardmember Emeritus jane@wired.com
Tim O'Reilly Boardmember tim@eff.org
* EFF Staff
Lori Fena Executive Director lori@eff.org
Dan Brown Systems Administrator brown@eff.org
Mike Godwin Staff Counsel mnemonic@eff.org
Stanton McCandlish Online Activist mech@eff.org
Shari Steele Staff Counsel ssteele@eff.org
Eric Tachibana Online Services Coordinator erict@eff.org
How EFF Is Funded
-----------------
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit
non-governmental organization in Washington, DC. Our total budget ranges
from approximately $1.5 million to $2 million annually.
Like many other public interest advocacy groups, EFF sustains its
activities through membership dues, individual donations and gifts,
and foundation and corporate grants. EFF is not government-funded.
Supporters have included:
Adobe Systems Apple Computers
AT&T Bauman Foundation
Bell Atlantic Benton Foundation
Dun & Bradstreet Electronic Messaging Association
IBM Interval Research
Kaleida Lotus Development Corp.
MCI Telecommunications Microsoft Corporation
Netscape Communications Newspaper Assoc. of America
NCTA PictureTel
RSA Data Security Sun Microsystems
Tides Foundation UUNet/AlterNet
Ziff-Davis
EFF's policy goals and advocacy positions are determined by EFF's
board and staff. In support of these positions, EFF does, from time to
time, assemble political coalitions that include EFF corporate funders
and other public interest organizations. For example, corporations
such as Lotus Development Corporation, RSA Data Security, and Apple
Computer have contributed funding for EFF's digital privacy work, and
such concerned funders may work with EFF to give testimony before Congress,
issue policy analyses, and otherwise disseminate information and effect
change.
Major individual donations and foundation and corporate grants range from
$10,000 to $250,000+. EFF also receives many smaller donations from
individuals supportive of its work. EFF has over 2,000 members who give
dues of $10-$500 annually (average membership dues are $40 per year).
Additionally, special projects and programs may generate funding in
other ways. Examples of this include the EFF/Aerosmith Virtual World
Tour of Cyberspace, and the EFFweb sponsorship program.
EFF will continue to seek funding from all who support our basic
mission, be they individuals, foundations or corporations. We do not tailor
our positions to please funding sources, but we do accept funds for specific
projects that fit our overall mission, as well as for continuing operations.
How and Where to Find EFF Online
--------------------------------
Please note that our archives and forums are updated frequently. You may
wish to check back periodically.
* Internet and USENET
News Services and Forums for Discussion:
If you receive any Usenet newsgroups, your site may carry the newsgroups
comp.org.eff.news and comp.org.eff.talk. The former is a moderated
newsgroup for announcements, newsletters, and other information; the latter
is an unmoderated discussion group for talk and debate on EFF and issues
relating to the electronic frontier and civil liberties. Also, Usenet's
alt.politics.datahighway may be of interest. This conference was started by
EFF in November of 1993, to provide a forum for discussion of the national
and global information infrastructure, from testbed deployment, through
privacy and free speech issues, to debunking of hype.
There are also redistributions of these newsgroups via
electronic mail, as well as other EFF mailing lists:
comp-org-eff-talk
Mail<-->news gate of newsgroup comp.org.eff.talk (high-traffic)
ACTION
A working group and news forum for online activism and grassroots
civil liberties advocacy.
effector-online
Distribution of EFFector Online, EFF's bi-weekly newsletter (same
as comp.org.eff.news).
net-guide-
Monthly updates to EFF's Guide to the Internet (previously Big Dummy's
Guide, published in hardcopy by MIT Press as Everybody's Guide.)
alt-politics-datahighway
Mail<-->news gateway of the newsgroup alt.politics.datahighway
comp-academic-freedom-talk
Discussion of Computers and Academic Freedom (available in several
versions).
For more detailed descriptions, send a message containing
the commands:
HELP
LONGINDEX
in the body of your message to listserv@eff.org.
Those in FidoNet and some other BBS networks can probably get the newsletter
and other low-traffic lists via gateway systems. Ask your network
coordinators for more information.
EFFWeb and the EFF Online Library
A document library containing all EFF news releases and other publications
of interest - including recent and proposed legislation, materials for
online activists, archives of electronic publications, records of trials
and legal cases, action alerts, and other related documents & papers -
is available via the World Wide Web, anonymous FTP and Gopher.
If you are on the Internet, you can use your host's FTP program to
connect to ftp.eff.org. Login as "ftp" and use your e-mail address as
the password. Our gopher server is gopher.eff.org.
EFFWeb, our WWW server, provides indexing of our file archives, and also
presents other information, including staff and board bios, audio and
video material, and a searchable version of our guide to the Internet.
Additionally, like our gopher server, EFFweb provides links to numerous
other areas of interest in cyberspace, and presents information in
easy-to-navigate menus, allowing you to read online and save what you
want to disk on your own machine.
Send a note to ftphelp@eff.org if you have difficulties or are unable to
use FTP, Gopher or the Web. If you don't have access to a Gopher client,
but do have access to telnet, you can use another site's Gopher client by
telnetting to consultant.micro.umn.edu, login: Gopher. From there, select
"Other gopher servers", then "North America", "USA", "Washington DC",
"Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)". There are a couple of new e-mail
servers for accessing Gopher sites - start off by sending mail with a
subject and message body of "help" (no quotes) to gophermail@ncc.go.jp or
gophermail@calvin.edu. SunSITE also offers several public services via
telnet login, including Gopher (login: gopher) and World Wide Web
(login: lynx - select g http://www.eff.org/ to get to EFF). Email-only
users can get WWW files via email (you will need an HTML reader or WWW
browser configured for local file-reading); send a message body of:
SEND http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Agora/Help.txt
to agora@w3.org to use the WWWmail server.
* Outpost - EFF Online (the EFF BBS)
The EFF bulletin board system, Outpost - EFF Online, begun in March 1994,
supports 300-14400bps connections (V.32bis, V.42bis, 8 bits, no parity,
1 stop-bit - 8N1) on it's dialup lines. The system is available 22 hours
per day (3am-5am eastern time reserved for mail transfers and maintenance
routines). When fully operational, the board will be available 24 hours
per day, will support 4 lines at faster speeds, and will feature online
conferences from a variety of networks including FidoNet, Usenet/Internet,
and more, as well as the full selection of files available from EFF's FTP
archive, EFF membership materials, bulletins on the latest issues affecting
civil liberties in cyberspace, and other related files and services. The
data phone number for the system is +1 202 861 1224. Outpost's FidoNet
address is 1:109/1108. Access to the BBS is free (besides calling costs;
at present we do not have a toll-free number.) Other network addresses:
WishNet - 19:1202/101; StormNet - 181:193/1; IndraNet - 369:1011/2
New 2nd node: +1 202 861 1223 (300-14400bps V.32b/V.42b, 16800bps ZyXEL; 8N1)
NOTICE: After Aug. 18, 1995, the BBS will be down for a period, which
probably will not exceed more than a few months at most.
* The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link (WELL)
The WELL, based in the San Francisco area, is host to an active EFF
conference, as well as many other related conferences of interest to EFF
supporters. Telecom access is available through the CompuServe Packet
Network. If you have an Internet connection, you can reach the WELL via
telnet at well.sf.ca.us; otherwise, dial +1 415 332 6106 (data,
300-2400bps) or +1 415 332 8410 (data, 9600-14400bps). The WELL's (voice)
customer support number is +1 415 332 4335. To get to the EFF conference,
type "g eff".
* The Spring
The Spring is a new conferencing system in Austin TX, hosting many conferences
including a new EFF forum. Spring can be reached via telnet at spring.com,
and has local dialup access as well. The EFF forum is accessible by
simply following the menus into the conferences area, and choosing the
Select Conference item, specifying the EFF conference.
* CompuServe Information Service (CIS)
Our forum on CompuServe is also open. GO EFFSIG to join. Many of the files
on ftp.eff.org, as well as other items of interest, are mirrored in the
EFFSIG Libraries, and a lively debate and chat area exists with more
than 15 online message areas. CIS can be reached via telnet at
compuserve.com. CompuServe Customer Support is available at 1-800-524-3388.
* America Online (AOL)
EFF has opened up a forum on America Online. Go to keyword EFF to join.
Some basic EFF files are available, as well as a large and diverse
discussion and debate area. In addition, EFF may occasionally host or
take part in interactive discussions in the live "auditorium" area. You can
contact AOL Customer Support at 1-800-827-6364.
* GE Network for Information Exchange (GEnie)
The "Public Forum * Non-Profit Connection RT" hosts an EFF forum on GEnie,
including a stock of EFF newsletters and info in Library 13, and an EFF
discussion area (Category 7, Topic 17). Please support this volunteer
effort and add your thoughts to the forum. The Public Forum is keyword
PF (or page 545). GEnie's voice sign-up number for new users is 1-800-638-
9636; the sign-up code (which will get you some free time online to check out
the system) is MHC524.
* Byte Information Exchange (BIX)
An EFF forum is available on BIX. The online EFF area is located at topic
"eff" in the "security" conference, and BIX can be reached via telnet to
x25.bix.com or bix.com. Like our area on GEnie, the BIX forum is a
volunteer activist effort - please participate, and help make this a great
virtual community of activism and discussion!
* Other Services, BBSs and Networks
From time to time, EFF-oriented resources may appear on other systems; for
instance, Illuminati Online's Metaverse service will feature an EFF
"virtual office", while FidoNet locally gates both comp.org.eff.talk and
comp.org.eff.news in several areas. If you have difficulty finding online
material from the listed sources, try shopping around and you may find
what you are looking for. All EFF materials are redistributable, and can
be found on many BBS systems around the globe. System operators
interested in carrying our material should contact ask@eff.org, Stanton
McCandlish at 1:109/1108 (FidoNet), or call 202-861-7700 and ask for Stanton.
Membership in the Electronic Frontier Foundation: Why You Should Join EFF
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every day decisions are being made that will affect your life online -
decisions about what sorts of technology you can use to protect the
privacy of your communications; decisions about what services you will
be able to get over the emerging national information infrastructure;
*decisions that are made before you even know that there are choices.*
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been working since July 1990 to
ensure that the civil liberties guaranteed in the Constitution and the
Bill of Rights are applied to new communications technologies. Our
members join EFF to make sure that they are informed about the issues
and debates that will shape the future of electronic communications.
EFF members enjoy the following benefits:
* subscription to our frequent electronic newsletter and action
bulletin, _EFFector_Online_;
* online bulletins that will keep you informed about the key legal,
legislative and social developments affecting your online
communications;
* an online response mechanism to make themselves heard on key issues.
* EFF's legal hotline, which, in the event that your civil liberties are
violated, can help you find legal information and assistance.
EFF is a respected voice for the rights of users of online
technologies. We feel that the best way to protect your online liberties
is to be fully informed and to make your opinions heard. EFF members
are informed, and are making a difference. Join EFF today!
More information about the details of the form and commonly asked questions
follow the form itself.
* MEMBERSHIP FORM
Print out in monospaced (non-proportional) font and mail or fax to:
Membership Coordinator (membership@eff.org)
Electronic Frontier Foundation
P.O. Box 170190
San Francisco CA 94117 USA.
+1 415 668 7171 (voice)
+1 415 668 7007 (fax).
Or upload to our Internet ftp site: ftp.eff.org, /incoming
(when uploading, please name the file uniquely, e.g. jane_smith.form.)
Feel free to delete portions of the form you won't use before printing to
reduce form length, and add more address lines if needed.
------- MEMBERSHIP FORM -------- cut here ---------------
I wish to join the Electronic Frontier Foundation at the following
annual tax-deductible membership rate:
___ Fellow $500 ___ Benefactor $250 ___ Pioneer $100
___ Advocate $65 ___ Supporter $40 ___ Student/Low-income $20
___ SysOp/Recruiter - $10 (see sysop sub-form below).
I am ___ a new member ___ renewing: member number___________
I wish to make an additional tax-deductible donation in the
amount of $__________ to further support the activities of EFF.
I would like ___ EFF t-shirts at $10 each. (XL only)
___ I'm renewing at a higher rate and would like a free shirt.
PAYMENT METHOD:
___ Check or money order payable to Electronic Frontier Foundation.
___ MC ___ Visa ___ AmEx Card Number: ______________________
Expiration Date: ____________ Signature: ________________________
Name: _________________________ Organization: _____________________
Address: __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
E-mail address: ___________________________________________________
___ EFF may distribute my name & contact info, only to organ-
izations sharing similar goals. (See privacy policy below.)
___ I am interested in local "Electronic Frontier" activism.
___ I am interested in volunteering/interning with EFF.
I got this form from ______________________________________________
-- end of form ------------- cut here ---------------
Please tell us where you found this form, so we see how far it goes.
SysOp/Recruiter members should place their name, system/service name,
and member number in the "I got this form from" line when distributing
the form via their systems, publications, etc. This is how the
fulfillment of the recruitment requirements is tracked.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a U.S. nonprofit, 501(c)(3)
organization supported by contributions from individual members,
corporations and private foundations. Memberships and donations are
tax-deductible. Merchandise (e.g. t-shirt) orders are not tax-deductible.
EFF's tax exemption number is 04-3091431.
EFF is a nonpartisan equal opportunity membership organization. Membership
will never be denied to anyone because of race, color, religion, national
origin, political affiliation, etc. (In fact, EFF has never denied membership
to anyone for any reason.)
* PRIVACY POLICY:
EFF occasionally shares our mailing list with other
organizations promoting similar goals. However, we respect an
individual's right to privacy and will not distribute your
info without your explicit permission. Under no circum-
stances will your information be sold, rented or given to
advertising companies, nor revealed to government agencies.
NOTES about local activism and volunteers: EFF will begin compiling a
(private) list of people interested in local "Electronic Frontier"
organizing and activism, to better help local groups get started.
Initially we'll just collect names and email addresses, and later put
people in the same area in touch with eachother when there are enough
people to get the ball rolling. EFF also from time to time seeks
volunteers and interns, on both a local in-person basis, and a virtual
over-the-Net basis. If you are an attorney interested in doing local pro
bono legal work in support of civil liberties online, please contact
EFF staff counsel Shari Steele (ssteele@eff.org), who maintains a (private)
list of attorneys to refer people to.
NOTES about credit cards: EFF does NOT recommend sending credit card
info via email, unless it is encrypted. See our PGP encryption key, below.
When submitting credit card info via email, please PGP-sign your membership
form in lieu of a regular signature. RIPEM, RSA, or other cryptographic
signatures are also acceptable, but PGP is preferred. If you do not
have access to PGP, aren't inclined to encrypt your form, etc., please
fax your membership form or send it via postal mail.
NOTES regarding Student membership: This works on the honor system -
we do not request copies of school paperwork or the like. This membership
price range is also open to those under the poverty line.
NOTES about EFF t-shirts: This is the classic EFF shirt, printed front
(EFF logo) and back (large artwork) in two colors on white cotton
shirts. Available for $10 to new and non-members; members who renew
at a higher rate above Supporter membership (e.g. "upgrade" from
Supporter to Advocate, or from Student to Pioneer) receive a free shirt if
requested!
NOTES regarding SysOp/Recruiter membership: System Operator &
Recruiter members are required to bring in 10 or more new members to
renew at the "SysOp/Recruiter" membership rate (otherwise "Supporter"
rates apply). Send queries to membership@eff.org for more info. NOTE:
CIS, AOL, etc. forum sysops and co-sysops ARE eligible for SysOp
membership, as are system administrators at Internet access providers,
and the moderators of echomail conferences, mailing lists, and Usenet
newsgroups. Print publishers, librarians, and any others who wish to
recruit are also eligible for this membership category.
* IMPORTANT: SysOp/Recruiter members should include the mini-form below
with their membership applications.
Recruitment is usually fulfilled by distributing EFF membership forms
via the SysOp/Recruiter member's system (or forum, or publication, or
place of business, as applicable.)
Business persons who are not interested in active recruitment but are
interested in supporting the Foundation with monetary or in-kind
donations should contact EFF directly (membership@eff.org via email).
EFF has a program whereby, for your special donations, you may be listed
as a supporting online business (or library, or individual, etc.) on our
World Wide Web site, with a link to your own site. This is great
recognition for you, and your donations help us protect your civil
liberties in new media! For more information, contact membership@eff.org.
Frequently asked question: "How come I don't get monthly full-color
glossy newsletters, and mouse-pads and posters and widgets when I join?"
EFF devotes all funding to our work (and overhead, of course). We do
not feel it is right to spend your donations on gimmicks. From time to
time, we do produce bumperstickers and such as part of our educational
mission, and if and when a company donates some useful product or service
for EFF members (e.g. t-shirts, discount coupons, etc.), we will be happy to
include such things as part of the membership benefits, provided they
are appropriate, and do not add appreciably to overhead. At EFF your
money goes to WORK, not to waste.
Frequently asked question: "How come, as an EFF member, I don't vote on
what EFF is doing, who the board members are, etc.?" EFF was incorporated
as a different sort of non-profit. The organization is not a populist
group such as a trade association. We have a set and certain mission, and
EFF members are those who support our mission and want to see it succeed.
Your membership dues are actually a donation in support of the
organization's goals, not a payment for representation of changing
agendas. EFF cares very much what our members think and feel, and
we always welcome your feedback, positive or negative. EFF also supports
the creation of independent local "Electronic Frontier" organizations,
in lieu of rigidly-controlled chapters. If you are interested in starting
such an organization, please contact EFF online activist Stanton McCandlish
(mech@eff.org).
**** SYSOP MEMBERSHIP SECTION ***********************************
* *
* Please include this section with your membership application, *
* if joining as a SysOp/Recruiter member. Delete parts that *
* don't apply, if you wish. *
* *
* Data Ph.: _________________ Speed/Protocol: _______________ *
* (duplicate above line for multiple nodes if you wish.) *
* Other access means: _________________________________________ *
* (e.g. for Internet service, AOL forum, etc.) *
* BBS Info: BBS/Service/Name: ________________________________ *
* SysOp(s)/Proprietor(s)____________________________ *
* Network Address(es): _____________________________ *
* BBS Notes (OS, modem types/speeds, Internet connectivity, *
* access requirements, hours, fees, software, focus or special *
* interests, unique features, etc. Or, publication/business/ *
* library info): *
* ____________________________________________________________ *
* (duplicate above line to add more info as needed). *
* *
* ____ Include my BBS/service in the EFF Member Service List. *
* *
*****************************************************************
EFF PGP PUBLIC KEY FOR ENCRYPTION
=================================
This is the ASCII-armored PGP 2.62us public key for the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF). It is compatible with PGP vers. 2.2 - 2.7.
PGP is an ecryption (data security encoding) program, available for
DOS, OS/2, Unix, Macintosh and several other platforms. PGP is the
de facto Internet standard for encryption, and is available from many
BBSs, FTP sites, and other online services. (If you have trouble
locating PGP, see ftp.eff.org, /pub/Net_info/Tools/Crypto/README.Dist).
Note that mail sent with this key will be considered addressed to
EFF in general, not to a specific person, unless otherwise noted in
plaintext. To send encrypted personal mail to someone at EFF, for
whatever reason, please use that person's own key, or arrange some
other method of communication.
This key is provided principally for the sending of sensitive legal
information, and the transmission of credit card numbers over the
Net securely when becoming a member of EFF. It takes us time and
effort to decrypt, so please don't use this key trivially. If
sending something other than a membership form, please begin your
"Subject:" line with "URGENT -" (unless it's non-urgent of course).
Thank you. Please expect a delay, as the message will have to be
transferred to another system for decryption (we do not keep PGP
or our secret keys on our Internet systems for security reasons.)
To add this key to your PGP key ring, save the key as a text file
called pgpkey.eff, then use the following DOS or Unix commandline
(several RISK architectures may also use this commandline),
in your PGP directory:
pgp -ka pgpkey.eff pubring.pgp
If your public key ring has another name, use that instead of
"pubring.pgp". You may need to specify a full path to PGP, or
otherwise modify the above command. If you have trouble, please
refer to the PGP documentation and/or ask your local system
administrators for help.
For MacPGP, pick "Add Key" from the "Key" menu, select
pgpkey.eff as the file to get the key from, and pubring.pgp (or
whatever your public keyring is named) as the file to add the
key to.
To encrypt a message, please see the PGP documentation, and
remember that you will almost certainly need to generate the
result as an ASCII-armored file, so you can email it
(non-ASCII-armored PGP ciphertexts are binary, and will get
mangled if you try to email them.)
*** NOTE! PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS *INSIDE* THE
ENCRYPTED MESSAGE any time you send us crypto-mail. Please
also include it in plain text just before the beginning of
the encrypted text. Otherwise, we may not be able to reply,
if the original email headers are lost and/or we encounter
difficulties decrypting your message.
The key itself:
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6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=2A8+
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
[Final note: beware line wrapping - key will not work if mangled!]