Changes between Version 3 and Version 4 of MAGNet

Timestamp:

Jul 21, 2011, 7:08:27 PM (14 years ago)

Author:

Hilary Goldstein

Comment:

--

MAGNet

@@ -3 +3 @@
 Provide a brief description of your organization and the constituency you work with: *
 
-May First/People Link MF/PL) is a membership organization that redefines the concept of "Internet Service Provider" in a collective, politically progressive and collaborative way. Built entirely on free and open source software and maintained with the security concerns and features needed by activists groups, our network allows members to host web sites, email accounts, mailing lists, databases, and just about any Internet-related service used by the movement. 
-May First/People Link's members are organizers and activists, individuals and organizations.  Now over 500 members and growning, ur membership draws from a wide range of social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental issues and movements.
+May First/People Link is the largest progressive Internet Technology organization in the United States and among the oldest providers of
+Internet services in the world. With over 550 members, about 400 of them organizations, the organization brings to the Internet service industry
+an alternative approach: members pay dues, which are pooled to purchase equipment and pay maintenance costs, and all members share those
+resources by hosting their websites, email accounts and mail lists with us. An MF/PL member does not pay for any of these resources, no matter how many they use.
+
+MF/PL has also revolutionized the concept of technical support as a "shared responsibility" of members; has organized and developed a special team of technologists who work on the organization's infra-structure; and we are a member-run organization with yearly membership meetings and an elected Leadership Committee making key strategic decisions.
+
+Aside from our basic mission -- sharing and protecting members' Internet resources -- May First is active in many campaigns and activities
+principal among them the World Social Forum and the U.S. Social Forum:we are in the leadership bodies of both and provide extensive technology
+work and resources to both movements. We are also very active in the international Climate Change movement. MF/PL is a member of the Association for Progressive Communications and sponsors and does workshops in about a dozen conferences and events every year.
 
 How do you see the intersection of social change and media justice?: *
 
+Our work is primarily Internet focused.  The Internet is among the social justice movement's most potent communication tools. The Internet has already played a critical role in combatting disinformation, expressing new ideas, delivering truth and bringing committed people together. 
 
+Many commercial providers and corporate interests don't want the Internet to belong to everyone. For them, the Internet is a way of selling your products and services and that vision dictates their approach to your use of the Internet and the development of its technology.
+
+Corporations have attempted to block political email in the name "fighting spam," prioritize commercial traffic over non-commercial traffic, and otherwise limit the use of the Internet as a tool for distributing information vital for our movements for social justice.
+
+We believe it's important to develop the Internet in ways that empower progressive movements and communities to use it effectively, to develop technologies and approaches to services and tools that enhance our movements' communications and organizing.  
 
 What strengths and experiences can you bring to the network?: *