[liberationtech] Please welcome Cuba bloggers...

[Larry Diamond]

Robert, 
I share you concern, but it is not clear what we can do about it, for the reasons Yosem explains. I think there has been some sensitivity, from time to time, about the need to take certain discussions "offline" from the general listerve. Any time someone posts something that is specifically intimidating or inappropriate, we can intervene and not allow it to go forward. But I don't know how to deal with the problem of penetration by intelligence agencies except with more transparency, including about the actions of these agencies. 


If you have any specific suggestions of people we can invite to the listserve or encourage to become vocal, please do let us know. 


best, 
Larry 

Larry Diamond 
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution & Freeman Spogli Institute 
Director, Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law 
Peter E. Haas Faculty Co-Director, Haas Center for Public Service 
Stanford University 
Stanford, CA 94305-6055 
tel 650-724-6448 fax 650-723-1928 
ldiamond at stanford.edu, www.stanford.edu/~ldiamond 
http://cddrl.stanford.edu/ and http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/haas 



----- Original Message -----
From: "Yosem Companys" <companys at stanford.edu> 
To: "Robert Guerra" <lists at privaterra.org> 
Cc: "Liberation Technologies" <liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu> 
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2011 4:29:36 PM 
Subject: Re: [liberationtech] Please welcome Cuba bloggers... 

Hi Robert, 


I appreciate your concern, but here are a few things to keep in mind: 


1) Liberationtech is a public list, so anyone can join. To the extent that agents of repressive regimes are interested in "infiltrating" the list, they can already do so. 
2) Members may always choose to forward list emails to others. We can't control that. 
3) Even if the list were private, the Majordomo mailman technology isn't secure (see http://www.greatcircle.com/majordomo/OLD/majordomo.CERT-Advisory ). Thus, as is the case in most places online, we cannot provide security assurances to list members. 


We already tell activists who choose to join the list to take the necessary precautions they take elsewhere. In fact, we even encourage them to use anonymous (or fake) email addresses, if they feel more comfortable doing so. 


Best, 


Yosem 





On Sat, Apr 16, 2011 at 3:56 PM, Robert Guerra < lists at privaterra.org > wrote: 





I would ask that the list take into consideration research by OpenNet, The Information Warfare Project, and Freedom House that indicates that in many non-democratic regimes bloggers are paid to represent and promote a pro-govt agenda and view. 


I would recommend that a variety of voices - both from inside and outside the repressive countries be sought and invited to this list. Otherwise, we'll have people on here who are well known govt agents who might have threatened, intimidated and lead people to have been arrested or worse. 


Having open discussion about "liberation technologies" with those who support repression, well, will make it unsafe for many ... 


Something to keep in mind. 


regards 


Robert 






On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 9:05 PM, Yosem Companys < companys at stanford.edu > wrote: 


Hi All, 


Some Cuba bloggers have joined our mailing list. Please welcome them. Here's a post they want to share with you: 


http://www.yohandry.com/index.php/component/content/article/57-yohandry/284-decision-por-la-qcosaq 


Best, 


Yosem 
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