************************************************************************ General Information about the Electronic Frontier Foundation ************************************************************************ The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was founded in July, 1990, to assure freedom of expression in digital media, with a particular emphasis on applying the principles embodied in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to computer-based communication. >From the beginning, EFF was determined to become an organization that would combine technical, legal and public policy expertise, and would apply these skills to the myriad issues and concerns that arise whenever a new communications medium is born. By remaining faithful to this initial vision, EFF has become an organized voice for the burgeoning community of nationally and inter- nationally networked computer users. We perform the multiple roles of guardian, advocate and innovator, to serve and protect the public interest in the information age. We have defended civil liberties in court. We have shaped the policy debate on emerging communications infrastructure and regulation. We have increased awareness both on the Net and among those law enforcement officials, policy makers and corporations whose insufficient under- standing of the digital environment threatened the freedom of Cyberspace. Yet there is still much to be done. Goals of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, 1993 EFF's mission is to understand the opportunities and challenges of digital communications, in order to foster openness, individual freedom and community. We expect to carry out our mission through activities in the following areas: POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND ADVOCACY. EFF has been working to promote an open architecture for telecommunications by various means, including the Open Platform Initiative, the fight against the FBI's Digital Telephony wiretap proposal, and efforts to free robust encryption technologies from NSA control. FOSTERING COMMUNITY. Much of the work we have done has been directed at fostering a sense of community in the online world. Because we realize that we know far less about the conditions conducive to the formation of virtual communities than is necessary to be effective in creating them, we will devote a large portion of our R & D resources to developing better understanding in this area. LEGAL SERVICES. EFF was born to defend the rights of computer users against overzealous and uninformed law enforcement officials. This continues to be an important focus of EFF's work. We provide legal information to individuals who request it and support for attorneys who are litigating. We maintain print and online legal archives, disseminate this information, and make it available for downloading. Our board and staff are continuously engaged in writing and speaking about these issues. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT. We have started many projects over the years as their need became apparent. Going forward, EFF will allocate resources to investigate and initiate new projects. To ensure that our projects have the greatest impact and can reasonably be completed with the resources available, EFF will sharpen its selection and review process. Structure of EFF EFF currently maintains offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. In June, all operations will be consolidated into our Washington office. EFF's Cambridge office currently deals with member services, some legal services and our online communications. The Cambridge office also maintains the central library and our main computing facilities, including our Internet site, eff.org, which hosts our mailing lists; ftp.eff.org, home of our anonymous ftp archives; and our Gopher server, which enables users to locate and download files using the Gopher client program. EFF's Washington office is charged with policy-making, coalition building, forming congressional liaisons, and the administration of the Communications Policy Forum. EFF's legal services and publications functions are also coordinated out of Washington. EFF is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. We are an operating foundation and do not make grants. EFF is a membership organization with both individual and corporate members from throughout the United States and the world. How to Connect to the EFF Internet and USENET: General information requests, submissions for EFFector Online, and the like can be mailed to eff@eff.org. If you receive any USENET newsgroups, your site may carry the newsgroups comp.org.eff.news and comp.org.eff.talk. The former is a moderated newsgroup for announcements, newsletters, and other information; the latter is an unmoderated discussion group for discussing the EFF and issue relating to the electronic frontier. For those unable to read the newsgroups, there are redistributions via electronic mail. Send requests to be added to or dropped from the eff-news mailing list to eff-request@eff.org. Mail eff-talk-request@eff.org to be added to a redistribution of comp.org.eff.talk by mail; please note that it can be extremely high- volume at times. A document library containing all of the EFF news releases, John Barlow's "Crime and Puzzlement", and other publications of interest is available via anonymous FTP from ftp.eff.org. Mail ftphelp@eff.org if you have questions, or are unable to use FTP. To be on a mailing list specific to a discussion of technical and policy pub-infra-request@eff.org. The WELL: There is an active EFF conference on the WELL, as well as many other related conferences of interest to EFF supporters. Access to the WELL is $15/month plus $2/hour. Outside the San Francisco area, telecom access for $4.50/hour is available through the CompuServe Packet Network. If you have an Internet connection, you can reach the WELL via telnet at well.sf.ca.us; otherwise, dial 415 332 6106 (data). The WELL's voice number is 415 332 4335. CompuServe: Our forum on CompuServe has also opened recently. GO EFFSIG to join. Many of the files on ftp.eff.org, as well as other items of interest, are mirrored in the EFFSIG Libraries. America Online EFF is planning to host its own area on AOL. Cliff Figallo (Fig on AOL) is coordinating the creation of this area. A selection of EFF information files already exists in the Awakened Eye Sig which is also in the MCM Forum. Our Addresses Electronic Frontier Foundation, Inc. 666 Pennsylvania Avenue S.E., Suite 303 Washington, DC 20003 +1 202 544 9237 +1 202 547 5481 FAX Internet: eff@eff.org Electronic Frontier Foundation, Inc. 238 Main St. Cambridge, MA 02142 +1 617 576 4500 +1 617 576 4520 FAX Internet: eff@eff.org MEMBERSHIP IN THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION In order to continue the work already begun and to expand our efforts and activities into other realms of the electronic frontier, we need the financial support of individuals and organizations. If you support our goals and our work, you can show that support by becoming a member now. Members receive our bi-weekly electronic newsletter, EFFector Online (if you have an electronic address that can be reached through the Net), answers to your legal questions, special releases and other notices on our activities. (Because we believe that support should be freely given, you can receive these things even if you do not elect to become a member.) Your membership dues and other donations are fully tax deductible. ============================================================= Mail to: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Inc. 238 Main St. Cambridge, MA 02142 I wish to become a member of EFF. I enclose: $_______ $20.00 (student or low income membership) $40.00 (regular membership) $100.00 (Corporate or organizational membership. This allows any organization, if it wishes, to designate up to five individuals within the organization as members.) [ ] I enclose an additional donation of $_______ Name: Organization: Address: City or Town: State: Zip: Phone: ( ) (optional) FAX: ( ) (optional) Email address: I enclose a check [ ]. Please charge my membership in the amount of $ to my Mastercard [ ] Visa [ ] American Express [ ] Number: Expiration date: Signature: ________________________________________________ Date: Our privacy policy: The Electronic Frontier Foundation will never sell any part of our membership list. We will, from time to time, share this list with other nonprofit organizations whose work we determine to be in line with our goals. However, you must explicitly grant us permission to share your name with these other groups. Member privacy is our default. I hereby grant permission to EFF to share my name with other nonprofit groups from time to time as it deems appropriate [ ]. Initials:___________________________ Last Update: 16 February 1993 **********************************************************