[IMC-US] re: US IMC

[max]

hi deva-

thanks for sharing you ideas.  I can answer some of the questions, but the
answers to others still haven't really been decided yet since this project
is sort of still in its infancy.

1. email verification- you bring up some good points and I think that
removing the email verification part of dada would be quite simple were we
to decide we wanted to do that.

2. syndication- syndication is and has been worked on for quite a while. 
there has been progress made, but folks have run into various tech-related
roadblocks.  our current plan is to continue moving forward with trying to
get syndication working, but not to view that as a prerequisite to getting
the site live.  if you can lend a tech hand, you should join the tech list
(anyone else too!) (
http://lists.cu.groogroo.com/cgi-bin/listinfo/imc-us-tech )

3. public domain - I have no idea, but I suspect that we can create an
appropriate policy.  the site is currently hosted on the michiganIMC server,
but that might change. 

4. there are no current costs involved, beyond hosting. 

5. there is a design that was tentatively agreed upon but it disappeared and
hasn't been able to get implemented again because of bugs in the software
that haven't yet been fixed.  there were also some great banner proposals
that disappeared due to a stolen laptop. 

6. no real discussion on editorial policy yet. 

7. regarding the idea of making it a bio-regional IMC, I don't think that's
the idea behind IMC-US.  in some of the discussions a while back many people
agreed that the site content should focus not only on issues located within
the US, but issues that exist as a result of US actions in other parts of
the world.  

that's about all I can answer.  hope that helps.

max 

---

> 
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 16:02:05 -0700
> From: deva <drdartist at riseup.net>
> Subject: [IMC-US] US IMC
> To: imc-us at ucimc.org
> Message-ID: <DDD2DEC8-B4E8-11D8-8D09-003065B56556 at riseup.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> 
> Hi People,
> 
> One concern I have about the US imc that is being set up. (I assume 
> this is it - http://us.indymedia.org/ )
> 
> I very much do not like the email verification approach of the Dada 
> software. Well, specifically, I do not like that it is pushed upon 
> users. On the publish page of dada sites it says "If you do not 
> validate, users will be encouraged to distrust your information."
> 
> The trustworthiness of information has nothing to do with a verified 
> email address. So this statement is pushy and misleading. For any local
> 
> imc that wants to make such a statement, that is up to them. I do not 
> like it, but it is not my business. However, the US imc is now supposed
> 
> to have some representation of all us local imc's so on this site I 
> wish to oppose it being there, or any effort to push people into using 
> a login system.
> 
> Also, does defaulting to public domain, allow any corporate media 
> outlet to make use of the material as it wishes? If so, that is not a 
> good default at all.
> 
> Has there been discussion about a syndicated us-featurewire on the 
> front page? That seems more useful than a national newswire.
> 
> I have some other questions:
> 
> Where is this site proposed to be hosted?
> What costs are involved?
> Where would that money come from?
> Is this the right list to talk about design issues?
> Has there been discussion about editorial policy?
> 
> Here in Portland we are changing our cities list. There are categories 
> such as Europe, United States, Canada etc. We are adding Cascadia which
> 
> will have all the northwest imc's including Vancouver and Victoria. For
> 
> the time being, and to prevent confusion, we are keeping the NW IMC's 
> in their respective country listing, but eventually may move away from 
> the country listings into a more bio-regional approach. This is a first
> 
> exploratory step.
> 
> Culturally, and environmentally Portland has more in common with 
> Vancouver BC, than with an east coast imc. We share common interests of
> 
> forest issues, salmon, dams, hydroelectric power, weather, climate, 
> earthquakes, indigenous rights etc.
> 
> Would it be better to have a North America IMC instead of a US IMC?
> Should there be regional IMC's (that include Canada and Mexico?) that 
> collect features and stories from those regions rather than a US IMC?
> Do we want to encourage the national concept and such a big scale or 
> rather stay smaller and more locally focused?
> 
> These are some questions currently being discussed here in Portland.
> 
> cheers
> deva
> 
> 
> ************************************
> 
>