[ga] Re: Press Credentials and INET2002

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

Richard,
Thanks for your note. Before I received it, I had already posted a followup 
here:
http://www.politechbot.com/p-03616.html

-Declan


At 02:32 PM 6/3/2002 -0700, Richard Perlman wrote:
>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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