Date: Thu, 14 Jan 93 22:00:18 EST From: mcmullen@MINDVOX.PHANTOM.COM(John F. McMullen) Subject: File 3--Newsbytes on EFF Reorganization The following will appear on Newsbytes. Newsbytes is a copyrighted commercial service and this article is distributed to the recipients with the express permission of the authors. Electronic Frontier Foundation Has Major Reorganization 1/15/93 CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1993 JAN 15 (NB) -- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has announced major reorganization changes under which its Cambridge, MA office will close and several persons, including staff counsel Mike Godwin, will leave the organization. In the revised organization, Jerry Berman, director of EFF's Washington office and Interim EFF Executive Director will become permanent Executive Director. This move ends a search process for an Executive Director to replace EFF-founder Mitch Kapor, who stepped down as Executive Director in December 1992. The functions of the Cambridge office will be transferred to EFF's Washington office. The announcement of the changes also provided clarification on Kapor's role, saying "In December, we announced that Mitch Kapor would be leaving the job of Executive Director. He wanted to devote more time and energy to specific EFF projects, such as The Open Platform Initiative, focusing less on administrative details and more on EFF's strategic vision. Some will read between these lines and draw the conclusion that Mitch Kapor is withdrawing from EFF. That is absolutely not the case. Mitch remains thoroughly committed to serving EFF's agenda. We believe, however, that his energies are better devoted to strategy and to developing a compelling vision of future human communications than in day-to-day management." John Perry Barlow, co-founder of EFF, will also assume more day to day responsibilities and "will replace Mitch Kapor as Chairman of EFF's Executive Committee, which works closely with the Executive Director to manage day to day operations." Kapor will remain as chairman of EFF's Board of Directors. Barlow told Newsbytes "With the movement of the offices to Washington, we were concerned with the natural gravitational pull of the Beltway mentality. The board felt that my day-to-day involvement would counter this tendency. The bohemian credentials are pretty well established." Barlow continued "The board was faced with a constant pull within the organization between those who wanted to focus on an advocacy position and those who wanted to be a grass-roots driven group. While we want to have close ties to the grass-roots and learn from all groups using cyberspace, we are not a representative organization driven by a democratic process. We clearly would not be able to foster our view of free expression if we were bound by a majority-rule type of organization." Barlow also said "We also encountered the type of problems that any organization has with two policy making offices. There is always a tendency for dispute. We, therefore, decided to combine our functions into the Washington office. We have misgivings about these decisions; we on the board took what we felt was the best solution to keep the organization on track towards its goals. We now have to work at carrying out these objectives." Barlow's emphasis on a focus on the initial goals of the organization was mirrored in the phrasing of the EFF press release which begins "The Electronic Frontier Foundation was founded in July, 1990 to assure freedom of expression in digital media, with a particular emphasis on applying the principles embodied in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to computer-based communication." The same statement also enumerates details of the problems concerning the two locations alluded to by Barlow -- "Maintaining an office in Cambridge and another in Washington DC, has been expensive, logistically difficult, and politically painful. Many functions were duplicated. The two offices began to diverge philosophically and culturally. We had more good ideas than efficient means for carrying them out. " Barlow's comments to Newsbytes concerning the pull toward a grassroots "bottom-up" type of organization and the board's countering of that pull is reflected in the decision of the board not to continue along the path toward local chapters. EFF currently has a local chapter in Austin, Texas and others have been in formation in Berkeley, California and New York City. The EFF statement said "We have labored mightily and long over the whole concept of chapters, but, in the end, the Board has decided not to form EFF chapters. Instead, EFF will encourage the development of independent local organizations concerned with Electronic Frontier issues. Such groups will be free to use the phrase "Electronic Frontier" in their names (e.g., Omaha Electronic Frontier Outpost), with the understanding that no obligation, formal or informal, is implied in either direction between independent groups and EFF. While EFF and any local groups that proliferate will remain organizationally independent and autonomous, we hope to work closely with them in pursuit of shared goals. The EFF Board still plans to meet with representatives of regional groups in Atlanta next week to discuss ideas for future cooperation." >From the moment of the EFF announcement of the changes, there has been a flow of criticism on on-line services such as the WELL (Whole Earth "Lectronic Link) concerning both the centralization in Washington and the severing of EFF staff counsel Mike Godwin from the organization. Godwin has been, perhaps, after Kapor, the most visible member of EFF, representing EFF at conferences and user groups and providing a legal resource to members of the on-line community. The EFF statement on Godwin's position said "We recognize the enormous resource represented by Mike Godwin. He probably knows more about the forming Law of Cyberspace than anyone, but differences of style and agenda created an impasse which left us little choice but to remove him from his current position. EFF is committed to continuing the services he has provided. We will discuss with him a new relationship which would make it possible for him to continue providing them." Godwin told Newsbytes "I will still be working with EFF and will be representing EFF at the trial in the Steve Jackson Games case which begins next week. The EFF board had some difficult decisions to make and, while I might have made some different decisions, everyone who believes in EFF owes the board a chance to pursue its direction. The organization has all the potential that it ever had and, if I did not believe that, I would not be negotiating with it to continue an affiliation. I believe in EFF and will continue to support its activities." Also leaving EFF in the re-organization are Gerard VanDerLeun and Rita Rouvalis. VanDerLeun and Rouvalis have been responsible for the communications function of EFF's Cambridge office. Cliff Figallo, director of EFF's Cambridge office, repeated for Newsbytes a statement that he had posted on the WELL, saying "I will say that even though this is an outcome that I dreaded, having moved across the country at great sacrifice to serve the online constituency, I believe that the board (of which I am a member) acted responsibly, intelligently and bravely in making these decisions and taking these actions. There was no sense wimping around with half-solutions. Choose your course and Go Fer It. A good board does that. There were, and still are, doubts and reservations, but that's why there is diversity of viewpoint on a good board. You just take your best shot. For a long time the board tried to integrate two divergent agendas out of a desire to be careful and serve both agendas. It was killing the organization." Figallo, formerly the executive director of the WELL told Newsbytes that he will be remaining with EFF during the transition period and will continue to be the voice of grass roots to the EFF board. He also said that he is not yet certain as to his long term plans. Figallo will be attending the upcoming Atlanta meeting with the local groups that have been working with EFF. The board of directors of EFF is composed of Kapor, Barlow, Berman, Figallo, David Farber of the University of Pennsylvania, Stewart Brand of the Whole Earth Review, John Gilmore of Cygnus Support and Esther Dyson of EDventure Holdings. (Barbara E. McMullen & John F. McMullen/Press Contact: Christopher Davis, Electronic Frontier Foundation, ckd@eff.org/19930115) Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253