28/11/98:SUBSCRIBING BURMANET(REPOS (r)

[kzy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Thank for the message below but I am wondering what role have you taken to
coordinate?  It will be credible if those are post officially as a
Burmanet coordiantor.  Without saying so, I wonder there will be hundreds
of thousands of individual regulations for the Burmanet.

Yours sincerely,
Kyaw Zay Ya



On 23 Jun 1998 uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> /* Written 28 Nov 11:00am 1997 by drunoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:reg.burma */
> /* ----------------" Subscribing BurmaNet "---------------- */
> 
> SUBSCRIBING BURMANET
> --------------------
> BurmaNet was founded in 1994 by Strider ( One activist named
> Douglas Steele from Georgetown University) to accelerate
> communication between Burma activists around the world. At that
> time, there had already been a Burma specific bulletin board
> (soc.culture.burma) and other Internet bulletin boards that were
> carrying Burma related messages. The users were apparently
> frustrated by the junk mails that commonly flooding those
> bulletin boards and therefore an alternative means of
> communicating and getting information was sought: hence the
> BurmaNet mailing list was created.
> 
> ANONYMITY OF SUBSCRIPTION
> -------------------------
> There were few brave Burmese that had spoken-out on the
> internet against SLORC around 1994. The majority of Burmese
> expatriates, however, seems preferred receiving the
> news/information anonymously. In later years, the subscription
> list also was automated, thus enable the users to subscribe
> anonymously. The rule is that a user can remain anonymous as
> long as he/she do not post messages to the list. Since its 
> creation, There has been increase in number of contributors 
> to the BurmaNet, especially of the Burmese origin. The BurmaNet 
> mailing list become the most comprehensive source of news and 
> activities regarding Burma.
> 
> Nowadays, the BurmaNet mailing list was fully automated and
> maintained by IGC (Institute for Global Communication) technical
> staffs. The original list-owner of BurmaNet (strider@xxxxxxxxxxx)
> also changed hand over the years. Hence, the BurmaNet mailing
> list become a fully automated and un-moderated forum for
> discussions.(The subscription process to BurmaNet, as I have
> tested recently, is quite pleasant and flexible to new
> subscribers: Thanks to the IGC technical staffs.)
> 
> IT'S LIKE A DAILY NEWSPAPER
> ---------------------------
> Subscribing a totally un-moderated mailing list, such as
> BurmaNet, is similar to subscribing a daily newspaper. One
> particular difference of the internet mailing list and a daily
> newspaper is that the internet mailing list allows you to
> "post" the messages. The internet mailing list, therefore, is
> like the newspaper that give you a regular column for your
> articles.
> 
> FLEXIBILITY AND SECURITY
> ------------------------
> Although the use of e-mails(internet mailing list) being
> flexible, it also come-up with the cost of insecurity. For
> example, an e-mail message can be interrupted or being altered
> or partly be deleted. Or a third person may send e-mail without
> your knowledge if your account is un-secured. There is, in
> principle, no such thing as complete privacy on internet: any
> competent hacker, in theory, can find out about what you "post"
> and to whom you "post", etc. In fact, personal e-mail messages
> may never be considered as totally reliable. One exception to
> that is when you post the message to a mailing list. In this case,
> the message sent is arriving to multiple recipients, by which
> the authenticity of a message may become much more credible.
> 
> WEB-PAGES, BULLETIN BOARDs AND MAILING LISTS
> --------------------------------------------
> The messages carried by personal Web-pages, in contrast to
> e-mails, are much more secured and credible. This is partly
> because the original messages (HTML files) always remain in
> your own directory and therefore less chance of being altered by
> a third party. Web-messages are not intrusive to the users:
> a user can visit a Web-site at his/her own choice. The access to
> a Web-pages can, however, be blocked in theory.
> 
> The Internet bulletin boards, such as soc.culture.burma,
> soc.culture.thai and soc.rights.human etc., on the one hand are
> more powerful means of disseminating information. Then again,
> these bulletin boards are much more chaotic: any person may
> check the bulletin board at his/her own will, and can respond
> anyway he/she likes. Nevertheless, on the part of communicator,
> it is more satisfactory means than the use of Web-pages. The
> access to bulletin boards can also be restricted, possibly by a
> service provider, to the users.
> 
> Communicating via an internet mailing list (for example,
> BurmaNet) can be much more satisfactory than above two-methods.
> This is because a mailing list, in fact, is representing group
> and the subscribers do have a strong sense of community. The
> message a user send will go directly to each mail-box of all
> users. On the other hand, a message on the mailing list, in a
> sense, is much more intrusive. Unlike Web-pages and bulletin
> boards, the mailing lists (e-mails) can be much more difficult
> to block at all times.
> 
> STATUS D.O.A. MAILS
> -------------------
> It is such a privilege, of course, to become a "Being" in this
> "information age". One can easily express views on internet to
> make one's stand-point known to the colleagues (or mailing list
> users). It will, however, be naive to assume that every message
> appear on the  mailing list is getting an equal attention.
> I, for example, do read BurmaNet everyday. However, different
> attention is given to different senders (Though, I still collect
> most postings on BurmaNet in my own archive.). Some messages are
> to be read seriously. The others are left just to check heading
> or skimmed through the contents. One or two exceptional senders
> will receive D.O.A. treatment, i.e messages DELETED ON ARRIVAL!
> 
> LIMITATIONS OF MAILING LISTS
> ----------------------------
> The un-moderated internet mailing lists, such as BurmaNet, are
> the best forum to collect/disseminate information. For advocacy
> purpose, the activists may send-out/respond-to the activities.
> The usefulness of mailing list as a discussion/debate forum,
> however, can be contentious. Not all the users on the list are
> likely to be interested in every conversation made by a few
> persons on the list. (Here, a professionally conducted debate or
> discussion on the list, of course, is not in question.)
> Therefore, a general discussion may probably be better made at a
> smaller/direct lists that goes to each participant.
> 
> SOME HELPFUL HINTS
> ------------------
> Although BurmaNet is not "owned" by anybody and all subscribers
> have the "right" to send messages, some voluntary
> self-regulation may be required for the benefit of all users.
> Followings are some points for our friends' considerations:
> 
> 1. AVOID SENDING MULTIPLE MESSAGES: This is most common by the
>    standard news senders. The users do appreciate to be able to
>    read the news readily available from the mailing list.
>    However, sending one combined message (with an easy find
>    index please) instead of sending 4-5 messages will be more
>    appreciated.
> 
>    The same news item being posted simultaneously by different
>    users may not necessarily be a bad thing. Because the same
>    news being received from different places (sources), the
>    credibility of news read is assured. Mind you, most internet
>    users seems to have access to standard news database of one
>    kind or another, therefore can check if there is discrepancy
>    in postings of the same news item.
> 
> 2. AVOID "GARBAGE IN - GARBAGE OUT" STYLE POSTINGS: Users
>    appreciate the appearance of message being neat and tidy. For
>    example, a message directly downloaded from a Web page may
>    need some tidying-up: Columns and TABS may need re-adjusting,
>    headers may need to be stripped-off etc. Furthermore, an
>    average user may expect a contributor to be more responsible
>    in its postings to a list: at some point, the contributor
>    should be more selective on topic or interest. Someone
>    constantly downloading and sending relevant or irrelevant
>    pieces of information to a list can easily put the users off.
>    Therefore, please do read the whole messages before you send
>    to the mailing list.
> 
> 3. AVOID PRIVATE CHATTING/GREETING: This is more accidental in
>    most cases. For example, a netter in Australia may greet its
>    folks in Netherlands: in that case, it is better not to use
>    the return-path on BurmaNet mailing list - the reply message
>    may accidentally arrives to all users. The messages which
>    considered to be private should send via a separate e-mail.
> 
> 4. AVOID USING OBSCURED MAILS: BurmaNet mailing list operates in
>    a highly politically-charged environment. Therefore, no one
>    on the side of democracy should contemplate using obscured
>    mails (such as hotmail.com etc to hide the identity). In
>    fact, it is difficult even for most experienced persons  to
>    distinguish between a "Creep" and an "Activist" if obscured
>    mails are used. If secrecy in distributing information is
>    required, Strider is the most experienced and appropriate
>    person to be contacted (it is completely safe.).
> 
> 5. CAREFULLY SELECT YOUR REPLY METHOD/MESSAGE: When you are in
>    agreement or disagreement with someone on the net and
>    chosen to reply a message, it is advised you carefully
>    prepared your reply message. In most cases, private reply is
>    more appropriate. If you choose to reply publicly, be polite
>    in both TONE and CONTENT so as not to cause distress to other
>    users.
> 
> With best regards, U Ne Oo.
> 
> /* Endreport */
> ___________________________________________________________________
> !                     drunoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx                         !
> !          http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~uneoo              !
> !                    ***** NOW ALSO ON *****                      !
> ! http://freeburma.org/ (A one stop homepage for all Burma info.) !
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