EFF: San Francisco May 6 Internet Blocking Panel Discussion

[Will Doherty]

Media Advisory

Contact:
Katina Bishop
Director of Education & Offline Activism
Electronic Frontier Foundation
+1 415 -436- 9333 x101

Join the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) in a
Panel Discussion on Internet Blocking in Schools and Libraries

WHO: Electronic Frontier Foundation: Will Doherty, Online
Activist and Lee Tien, Senior Staff Attorney; James C.
Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center: Jim Mitulski; N2H2: David
Burt, Market Researcher; San Francisco Board of
Supervisors: Mark Leno; San Francisco Public Library:
Susan Hildreth; Santa Clara University: Tom Shanks,
Ph.D, Professor.


WHAT: "BayFF" Panel Discussion on Internet Blocking
in Schools and Libraries: Law, Litigation, and Community
Response

WHEN: Sunday, May 6, 2001 at 2:00 PM Pacific Time

WHERE: San Francisco Public Library
Room: Koret Auditorium
100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Tel: 415-557-4400 (for directions only)

This event is free and open to the general public.

With the United States Congress' passage of legislation
requiring the use of Internet blocking technologies in all
public schools and libraries participating in certain
federal programs, it has become clear that these schools and
libraries are facing a variety of challenges. This presentation,
panel, and discussion session will provide a lively forum for
discussion of Internet blocking technology and policy.

Panelists:

Will Doherty is the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Online
Activist. He spearheads online outreach and grassroots
organizing on EFF's pioneering work to protect Internet free
speech and privacy rights. Doherty also currently serves as
Founder and Executive Director of the Online Policy Group,
dedicated to "one Internet with equal access for all." Doherty
has designed and implemented Internet strategies and
websites for many nonprofit community and advocacy
organizations.

David Burt is currently employed as a market researcher
and analyst at N2H2, a leading Internet filtering company.
Mr. Burt joined N2H2 in April 2000 after nearly three years as
president of Filtering Facts, an organization devoted to the study
and promotion of Internet content management software.

Susan Hildreth is the City Librarian for the San Francisco
Public Library.She has served as both Acting City Librarian
and Deputy City Librarian since July 1998. She has
previously worked with the California State Library, the
Sacramento Public Library, the Placer County Library and
other public libraries in northern California. She is active in
both the American Library Association and the California
Library Association and is an advocate for the library's role
as a provider of all types of information for all users.

Other Particiants:

Tom Shanks, Ph.D., is Senior Fellow in Business and Public
Policy at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and Associate
Professor of Communication at Santa Clara University in Santa
Clara, California. He is also a Senior Scholar with the
Washington, D.C., Ethics Resource Center. Shanks is a
nationally-recognized expert in ethical decision-making and has
conducted workshops and teaching seminars on ethics and
values for corporate and nonprofit leaders, business and
professional organizations, educators, engineering
professionals, health care providers, and students.

Lee Tien is a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, a non profit public-interest organization based in
San Francisco. He specializes in free speech law, including
intersections with intellectual property law and privacy law.
Before joining EFF, he also litigated FOIA cases. He has
published articles on children's sexuality and information
technology, anonymity, surveillance, and the First Amendment
status of computer software.

Mark Leno is a member of the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors. He recently introduced a Board resolution that
prohibits the use of Internet blocking software on computers
owned by the City or County of San Francisco.

This event is sponsored by: Electronic Frontier Foundation,
San Francisco Public Library, James C. Hormel Gay and
Lesbian Center, Friends and Foundation of the San Francisco
Public Library, Online Policy Group, and Mark Leno,
Member of Board of Supervisors, San Francisco.

The San Francisco Public Library is located across the
street from the Civic Center BART/Muni stop. For directions
to the event, you can use free services like:
http://www.mapquest.com or http://maps.yahoo.com
to generate driving directions or maps. For CalTrain and
Muni directions,please call their information lines. You can
subscribe to receive future BayFF announcements. To
subscribe, email majordomo at eff.org and put this in the text
(not the subject line): subscribe bayff.

Continuing over 10 years of defending civil liberties online,
EFF presents a series of monthly meetings to address
important issues where technology and policy collide. These
meetings, entitled "BayFF" (Bay-area Friends of Freedom),
kicked off on July 10, 2000, and will continue on a monthly
basis. For more information, see:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation:
http://www.eff.org

BayFF Meetings Info Page:
http://www.eff.org/bayff

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the digital
world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free expression,
privacy, and openness in the information society. EFF is a
member supported organization and maintains one of the
most-linked-to websites in the world: http://www.eff.org