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2016 Campaign Proposal

Primary Goal

To implement the agreements reached at our membership meeting, the LC should develop and implement a major campaign around surveillance, privacy, data protection and secure access.

Strategy

To unify all sectors of the left and progressive movements who understand that Internet freedom, privacy, secure and full access and data protection are critical to their work and success to develop unified and coodinated work on the issue.

Goals

1. Statement written and circulated nationally and internationally
2. Centralized communications campaign resources
3. Training Program

Plan

The Declaration

Prepare a one-page (or so) document making a statement about privacy, surveillance and access to be circulated among friends as a potential "buy-in" and that would then be the subject of a meeting in March.

Prelim Meeting

In March -- organize a meeting of MF/PL reps, MAGNet/CMJ, Free Press, MMP, EFF, AMP, PTP, Center for Digital Democracy, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Rancho Electronico, NESRI, Black Lives Matter, Environmental Indigenous Network, Center for Constitutional Rights, National Lawyers Guild, U.S. Human Rights Network. This would probably be an on-line convergence for at least some people.

The agenda would be:

1. discuss the publication and circulation of a unified statement that would have a "sign-on" organizing strategy
2. report on whatever plans for campaigns around these issues people may already have and how we can all support those
3. a modest plan for shared activities -- materials, press work, radio programming, local/national lobbying, possible UN and international work

May First's "Reclaim the Internet" Workshops

In these workshops. we present alternative uses of software and systems that will better protect privacy, data and secure access and offer software we use or have designed to enable this. Additionally, we would prepare materials that reflect the information provided at these workshops to be distributed during the workshops and independently to those not attending those events.

"Special" Convergences

In our typical attendance at and involvement in conferences we should try to make our "workshops" into collaborative meetings with some action people can take during the session: a sign-on or something.

These are our planned convergences for the year although we aren't sure that Rightscon or Netroots Nation will accept a workshop proposal from us. Netroots Nation is now using a voting format for its workshops and so we can mobilize our membership to vote for ours.

• U.S. HR Network -- Jackie Smith and Rob Robinson attended
• RightsCon -- proposal submitted, under consideration
• Left Forum -- trying to secure one of the four opening sessions
• Allied Media Conference -- special "convergence" workshop during conference and we are also participating in the MAGNet network gathering preceding the conference
• Netroots Nation (July 14-17) -- Proposals not being accepted yet but this year the organizers, heavily under criticism for their elitism, are using a "voting" system to determine workshops. For an organization our size, this could be our chance to break into this conference that has traditionally blocked us.
• Center for Media Justice Body Camera Campaign -- We are organizing a convergence meeting of grass roots organizations in New York City
• International Convergences -- we should try to attend as many international convergences as possible particularly because some of our current LC members travel to these events all the time. Here we can