Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 21:56:29 -0800
Subject: BURN! CENSORED: NOW UP AGAIN AT GROUNDWORK
Delivered-To: rc-AT-vom.com
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2000 10:03:55 -0700
From: Groundwork Collective <gwbooks-AT-groundwork.ucsd.edu>
To: strider-AT-fornits.com
Subject: (en) BURN! UP AGAIN at GROUNDWORK
BURN! CENSORED: NOW UP AGAIN AT GROUNDWORK
see: http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/burn
http://www.sindominio.net/burn
Groundwork Books
La Jolla, California
June 9, 2000
After seven years online, the UCSD Communication department chair Carol
Padden has censored the project hosted at burn.ucsd.edu. She has made
her decision against the wishes of the majority of department faculty
and graduate students and without consulting or even informing any of
the department faculty or students involved with the project, reportedly
under pressures from the UC president Richard Atkinson. No explanation
or justification for the shutdown was given, nor was any opportunity
for a hearing or reconsideration of the decision. Host records were
simultaneously removed from campus DNS servers, rendering burn.ucsd.edu
nonexistent. Only a few hours advance warning was given to BURN! project
representatives, leaving them no way to even contact most system users
to inform them of what had happened or to arrange for moving to another
address. When students retrieved the server hardware from the department
chair's office, the CPU board no longer functioned and the Master Boot
Record on the primary hard drive had been damaged. After ordering the
machine offline, the department chair left on a trip to Finland for two
weeks. The other faculty and graduate students have spent the last week
debating what to do.
>From informal communication with people in the department, and from
statements by UCSD's campus spin doctors, we know that the University had
received some complaints about BURN.UCSD.EDU from right-wing elements in
Colombia, who objected to BURN's publication of information on the FARC-EP
(Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia-EjÈrcito del Pueblo), and
found in this an excuse for censorship. The university also claims that
they didn't know who was responsible for the server, and therefore had no
place to direct these complaints. This is patently false. More than ten
BURN! members attended a department course-group meeting late last year,
where they formally designated one student to be their official liason
with the department. Last fall, a memo was also sent to the current
department chair reminding her of who this designated representative
was, and providing contact information. Both paper and email copies
of this memo were also given to each department faculty member. Also,
the BURN! main homepage had a large disclaimer explaining that BURN is
a student project and that the university and communication department
are not responsible for its contents. E-mail addresses to contact the
BURN! project appeared prominently in several places, as well as hyperlinks
to a web-based "corkboard" for public comments. In addition, the standard
e-mail addresses postmaster-AT-burn.ucsd.edu and webmaster-AT-burn.ucsd.edu
have always functioned and were monitored. By making these claims,
university administrators are trying to obscure their eager complicity
with right-wing Colombian elites in censoring the views of the FARC-EP
and denying everyone access to the many other unique and hard-to-find
resources published on BURN!
Because The Groundwork Collective opposes censorship, we have decided to
publish the materials formerly hosted on burn.ucsd.edu when it had its
home in the UCSD communication department. The Groundwork Collective does
this for two reasons: first and foremost, we are opposed to censorship
of any kind and it is dangerous to allow anyone get away with it for
any reason; second, the Groundwork Collective has been a registered
student organization at UCSD for over 25 years and has a binding legal
contract with the university. As such, the university cannot possibly
claim that it does not have a place of contact to direct complaints
against the site. There should now be no reason for censorship of any
kind as the Groundwork Collective has formally responded to all official
concerns supposedly created by the previous publication of the site. If
they now try to censor the Grounwork Collective, it will be interesting
to see how the university's excuses change.
In the event we are censored, there are webpages maintained at
http://www.sindominio.net/burn
http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/burn
which will always contain current information on where BURN! can be found.
Yours in struggle,
Groundwork Collective
<gwbooks-AT-groundwork.ucsd.edu>
-----------------------------------------------------------------
--------------- previous messages regarding BURN! ---------------
To: cpadden-AT-ucsd.edu, commtalk-AT-weber.ucsd.edu
From: *STRIDER* <strider-AT-fornits.com> (by way of *STRIDER*)
Subject: Burn = This situation needs to be fixed ASAP!
Cc: DeeDee Halleck <dhalleck-AT-ucsd.edu>, burn-AT-groundwork.ucsd.edu,
burn-censored-AT-groundwork.ucsd.edu
Bcc: Tom Burghardt <tburghardt-AT-igc.org>, change-AT-pacbell.net
X-Attachments:
This situation needs to be fixed ASAP!
I have been receiving and utilizing invaluable information via a "burn"
resource for a very long time.
I have *numerous* links to burn archives through my website - an "article
server" which currently indexes over 4,800 articles; and I would never be
able to correct all those broken links!
....discouraged to hear from my world-wide subscribers, including many
journalists, that my links are not working... very sorry to have to explain
to them that the burn.ucsd.edu server was abolished for political
reasons... no, its not good that those in power can take that away, and try
to control what is shared on the net... especially "educational
institutions" - i mean: aren't they supposed to support a flow of ideas and
opinions?
Please see that free speach is upheld and supported by re-instating the
BURN server as soon as possible - every voice deserves a medium, and this
established vehicle should never have been subjected to whatever politics
and power-play have come into play here.
Thank you!
*STRIDER* Sector Air Raid Warden at /RENEGADE/
/RENEGADE/ news_service: http://fornits.com/renegade/
DEDICATED TO SPIRIT, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM
---
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2000 21:47:53 -0800
To: Select List <strider-AT-fornits.com>
From: *STRIDER* <strider-AT-fornits.com>
Subject: ALERT: BURN! information. Note: please forward widely
Cc: MainLineNews-AT-onelist.com, bay_area_activist-AT-onelist.com,
Earth First! alert <earthfirstalert-AT-onelist.com>
On wednesday May 31th, 2000, the Burn! machine was disconnected...
"It was one of the largest progressive/radical server Web sites around.
Often gave support to various International struggles like the Zapatistas.
Was an major outlet for such movements. Tended towards a philosophy of
anarchism.
Major resource for the left." [i did not type this - just some cut&paste /s]
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
special thanks to others who have provide the material that follows
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For those interested in supporting one of the longest standing free speech
sites on the internet, please get involved and send your letters of
support today. FYI, BURN! is a server which was started in April of 1993
to function as a resource for groups all over the world, ranging in
political opinions, who would not have otherwise had secure access to
the internet.
here is the initial page setup for helping the BURN! server get back
on-line.
http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/~cwheelma/ [text of that page pasted in below /s]
please send letters of support and post this address wide and far. i am
also attaching a letter of support from UCSD Communications Proffesor and
founder of the Deep Dish TV network Dee Dee Halleck.
###########################################################################
________________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
http://www.ainfos.ca/
________________________________________________
Today (wednesday May 31th, 2000), about 15:00 (local time) the Burn! machine
has been disconnected, and cannot be reached at http://burn.ucsd.edu anymore.
This decission was taken by the Department of Communication of the University
of California, San Diego (http://communication.ucsd.edu), where the Burn!
machine used to operate. The reason was the "unusual increase of the protest
calls that the Department of Communication regularly receives". It seems that
this increase was caused by the attention payed by Burn! to the FARC in
Colombia. It seems that this increase is not only quantitative, but also
qualitative: they were from important people in the university.
The UCSD is a private institution. Last week, there was a meeting between a
Burn! comrade and the direction of the Department, trying to find a solution.
I guess this meant to remove the info about the FARC. The page was no
changed, and, because the "persistence of pressions", the director of the
Department of Communication, "very sorry", disconnected the server. I don't
know what the Burn! comrades plan to do.
Those who want to express their concerns, can write to the director of the
department:
Carol A. Padden
e-mail: cpadden-AT-ucsd.edu
Tel: (858) 534-2843
Fax:(858) 534-7315
###########################################################################
Dear Professor Miller,
I have been quite distressed with the situation vis a vis the student
server which has been housed in the Communication Department, the
so-called Burn web site. I am writing to you because there is an
emergency concerning this server. Carol is away for another week or so and
I am contacting you to see if you could help. I would rather discuss this
with you via phone. I am on sabbatical at 914 679 2756 if you could give
me a call.
Meanwhile I will try to give you some background. This server
has been an on-going project of numerous students over the years, many of
whom have worked with me. I have met on several occasions with various
chairs of our department concerning this or that problem that has come up,
and I hope that I was able to serve as a useful liason between the
students and the department in those cases. In the recent case, I
understand that there was some sort of threatening messages sent to
various administrators. No one from the department notified me of this
situation, although I have been in regular contact with the department
almost daily. (I have several students who are doing independent study
videos with me this term, even though I am technically away.)
I understand that no one notifed Angelica Ramirez who is the official
student representative of this site. Nor did department faculty or staff
write to the email address which was on the site about the situation.
Rather than have any sort of procedure and rational discussion with those
who have been most involved, the site was closed. For a site which is
visited by several thousand international visitors each day, this sort of
perfunctory closing is nothing short of a disaster. I am sure that the
incidents of threats (if that is what they were) warrent discussing and
reevaluation of the situation vis a vis the department and the students.
However, to close the site without even a forwarding address or an
explanation is a real curtailment of free speech in a brutal and arbitrary
fashion.
While the closing will be confusing and inconvenient for the
users here in the industrialized world, the problems associated with this
sort of shutting down is most acutely felt in developing countries. For
many people in the third world, access to a computer and a modem is often
quite an arduous task. Some have to pay fees to access computers, and
often use is metered and the modems are very slow. In addition there are
the tenuous line and switchng connections in poor countries: and service
which might be cut off for various political reasons. When a familiar web
sit, with daily information that is used in the volume that Burn was, is
cut off it can cause a great deal of frustration and expense, as people
try to log on again and again, to no avail. That is why we need to have
immediately a forward and/or some sort of explanation posted so that the
users don't just fall into an information void. The students have posted
some explanatory messages on the groundwork server. The address is
http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/~cwheelma
They have contacted me and asked that
the burn address be reinstated with a forward to this site, so that the
thousands of daily visitors can have some idea of what is
happening.
I am forwarding to you a letter which I sent to the department which
outlines my own use of the site for research. I know of many art
historians, Latin American scholars, grass roots community groups who have
found the site not only useful, but quite necessary to their work. This
is an historic use of the world wide web. Many around the world from East
Timor to Argentina, from Bosnia to South Africa have been regular visitors
to this important information node. The abrupt closing, without even a
forward or an explanation puts the university in quite a bad light in
regards to free speech. I have received many inquiries from journalists
in regards to the closing. The magazine Wired and several on-line news
sites want to do articles on it. I have deferred discussing the situation
with national press until I have a chance to see if there will be a
reconsideration. I understand that the students are organizing a meeting
this week. When Carol returns, hopefully there can be a fuller discussion
of the entire situation.
In the meanwhile, it is quite important that, at
the very least, a forward to the informational site be posted, so that
those around the world who rely on this information base can be made aware
of the situation. There has been much talk about the need for the
university to reach beyond the ivory tower, to interact with the world.
This is a case in which student initiative has created a viable open and
interactive information center that has been used not only around the
world, but by theUS security apparatus (judging from the many brousers
with a gov. or mil. address. That it ruffles some feathers only
demonstrates that the information posted there is current and important.
To react with censorship is against the interests of the faculty and
students of this institution, and against the principles of freedom of
speech, so central to our democracy.
Sincerely,
DeeDee Halleck
Subject: Closing Burn
Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2000 12:07:53 -0400
From: DeeDee Halleck <dhalleck-AT-ucsd.edu>
Organization: Deep Dish TV
To: commtalk-AT-weber.ucsd.edu
Dear Faculty and Graduates,
As the faculty member who has been most directly concerned with the Burn
web site, I am disturbed that the site was closed without first contacting
me. I was not informed about the notices which were sent to and from
various UC administrators. This is a site which was initiated by students
who were working with me and has been continued by students with whom I
have been working for several years. For many people around the world,
Burn has been a model of alternative communication. Most mainstream
discussion of new technology centers on business uses: on e-commerce and
initiatives by for-profit companies. However, there is a community of
internet researchers who study the uses of the internet by activists, by
community groups and by individuals for whom the web offers a unique space
for international exchange. In this community, the Burn web site is seen
as an important model.
It is well known as pioneering in a unique form of
interactive posting and transparent discourse. During the past year I have
been in contact with web producers and internet journalists from all over
the world. I attended an international congress in Amsterdam entitled The
Next Five Minutes which centered on the use of the web as a tool for
activism and as a window on international grass roots activities. The Burn
web site was brought up at the Amsterdam conference as a unique site which
has influenced web use around the globe. In Toronto the "tao" site was
formed using Burn as a model. This site has been an important center for
grassroots communication in Canada and around the world. At the present
time I am on sabbatical working on a project which is a direct
continuation of the pioneering work of Burn. The indymedia.org site which
was initiated in Seattle during the WTO protests has had several million
visitors and serves as a discussion board for environmentalists, union
members and activists.
On June 17, I will be presenting a paper at a
public media conference at the University of Maine about this sort of web
activism. The Burn site is an integral part of this research. Burn has
provided an important outlet for breaking news (during the various crises
of Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Bosnia, East Timor etc), for political art (the
archive of posters from the Spanish Civil War ), for environmental
information and for community exchange. Among the special features of its
archive were perhaps the most comprehensive collection on line of graphics
and texts from May 68 in Paris. These graphics were used recently by
Paper Tiger in the design of some refrigerator magnets! (See
www.papertiger.org where on the front page, one of the graphics was
updated to address Guilliani's New York City).
Although a site which has
not flinched from radical political issues, one of the interesting aspects
of Burn has been its non-sectarian nature: it has posted anarchist
archives, Marxist-Leninist manifestos, and Situationist texts. It has
been a uniquely open site for a variety of political perspectives. I
realize that this sort of access to a variety of political views and news
will often provoke reaction and dissention, but I hope that in the
interest of supporting open communication, our department can speak up for
open dialogue and free speech. This has been an important source of global
dialogue. It is also a key aspect to my intellectual research. I am
requesting that the server be immediately reinstalled.
Sincerely,
DeeDee Halleck
--------------------------------------------------------------------
text of http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/~cwheelma/
June 2, 2000
The BURN! project has had a home in the UCSD communication department since
April 1993. During
this time, we have become a source of unique materials created by a wide
variety of social movements
from all over the world. A few weeks ago, right-wing groups in Colombia
began a letter-writing
campaign aimed at getting our server shut down. On May 31, with no
explanation whatsoever and less
than 24 hours advance notice to us, our server was disconnected and our
hostname removed from
campus DNS servers. We have no way to contact many of our users to even
explain to them what is
happening.
But we have a lot of support, and we're still optimistic about getting our
server's connection restored
within the communication department. We are very interested in offers of
legal assistance. Letters to
Carol Padden, the communication department chair are also very helpful.
Please send copies to us, and
to Richard Atkinson, the UC president, who, we understand, phoned the
department chair and
pressured her into pulling our plug.
We are presently working on setting up mirrors in various places. Stay tuned.
You can reach the BURN! Collective here:
burn-AT-groundwork.ucsd.edu
Send public messages to our mailing-list:
burn-censored-AT-groundwork.ucsd.edu
List archives contain information about BURN!,
background information on our situation, and breaking news.
You can read them here:
http://groundwork.ucsd.edu/pipermail/burn-censored/
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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special thanks to:
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Change-Links Progressive Newspaper
change-AT-pacbell.net
http://www.labridge.com/change-links/
Subscribe to our list server. Email change-links-subscribe-AT-egroups.com
(818) 982-1412
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