[ga] Press Credentials and INET2002

[Richard Perlman <perl@lucent.com>]

The following message was forwarded to me for response - you are receiving
this message because your e-mail address, or a list you subscribe to was
listed somewhere in that message.  The response, included below, was
originally prepared for an ISOPC mailing list, but is being resent here,
since it appropriately addresses the topic in question - ISOC/INET press
credentials policy.

Richard Perlman
ISOC - VP for Conferences
> ===============  Copy starts here ================
> Subject:  FC: Internet Society denies press credentials to online
> publication
>    Date: Sun, 02 Jun 2002 16:35:35 -0400
>    From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
>      To:  politech@politechbot.com
>     CC:  , mbyrd@foretec.com, jrh29@columbia.edu,
>         observer@westnet.com
>
> [I hope this is a simple misunderstanding and the good folks at the
> Internet Society can clear it up. Disclaimer: I ran for the board of
> directors of the Internet Society four years ago. (I lost.) --Declan]
> 
> ---

To all those concerned with issues regarding Press Passes for INET2002:

This morning I have been able to assemble what I think is a complete account
of the issues surrounding the request for Press credentials for the Amateur
Computerist. The rest of this letter outlines what I have learned and my
response to the situation.

The request for two press passes for INET2002 from the "Amateur Computerist"
was received by Foretec on May 19th.  At that time (less than a month before
the conference) Press Credentials had already been issued to 46 persons from
31 different organizations.  Note that contract between ISOC and Foretec
specifies an explicit limit of 50 press passes for the conference.  Four
passes were being held in reserve for last minute requests from major media
organizations (Network/National TV, Radio etc.).

After speaking with the people at Foretec who are managing press
credentials, it is clear that what they had intended to state in their
letter to Amateur Computerist was that the remaining passes were being
reserved for high visibility organizations.  It is unfortunate that the
message created the incorrect impression that this selectivity applied to
all 50 passes - it clearly did not, as can be seen from the list of
organizations below.  People working long hours do sometimes make mistakes.
Both Foretec and ISOC apologize for any confusion that may have been caused
by the wording of the e-mail response to the Amateur Computerist.  An offer
to be placed on a waiting list was extended to the "Amateur Computerist, but
no response to that offer, or for that matter, any other message has been
received from them by either by Foretec or ISOC.

I can also report that the information and opinions regarding past
involvement of Amateur Computerist or the principals of that organization in
previous INET conferences was not known to Foretec and did not play any part
in the decision to deny the request for press credentials.  After reviewing
the correspondence between Foretec and the Amateur Computerist, I am
convinced that the decision to deny the press credentials was correct, based
on the small number of passes available at the time of their request and the
information provided by Amateur Computertist about the nature and
distribution of their work.

Accordingly, while I do apologize for the misunderstanding created by the
letter to the Amateur Computerist, it is my opinion that this matter was
otherwise handled fairly, objectively and appropriately by the Foretec
staff.  

Richard Perlman
ISOC - VP for Conferences

List of organizations issued Press credentials for INET 2002
============================================================
Associated Press                                    USA
CIO Radio and Magazine                              USA
CNET News                                           USA
Diario ABC Color                                    Paraguay
Direction Informatique et Les Affairs               Canada
E-Commerce Magazine                                 India
Europe Magazine                                     EU
eWeek                                               USA
Financial Times                                     USA
Focus Magazine                                      Germany
Foreign Policy                                      USA
Government Computer News                            Washington DC
Himalmedia Publications                             Nepal
Hosting Tech                                        USA
Howard University TV                                Washington DC
Information Services International - Dentsu, ltd.   Japan
Internet News                                       Italy
InfoWorld                                           USA
ISOC's On the Internet                              International
Network World                                       USA
New York Times                                      USA
Newsweek                                            USA
Perl Magazine                                       India
Radio Netherlands                                   Netherlands
San Jose Mercury News                               Silicon Valley
The Sunday Tribune                                  Ireland
The Washington Post                                 USA
WAMU- Press                                         Washington DC
Washington Internet Daily                           Washington, DC
Washington Technology                               Washington, DC
WIRED / Politechbot.com                             USA/Washington, DC

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