:: Susan Waters: Executive Director InternetBar.org ::

As a virtual bar association operating in cyberspace, we spend a lot of time and energy thinking about things like digital identity, trust, and avoidance of cybercrime. These are important issues when we are thinking about how intrusive the Internet can be, and how annoying all those unsolicited and unwanted intrustions on our life can be, particularly when we have no way of verifying the identity of the intruders.

However, when your computer crashes and must be rebuilt, as mine just was, you begin to understand how blind and unconnected you are without the Internet and its related technologies.

I spent 15 days “unconnected,” and I’m just beginning to recover. Part of the time I was travelling, so the rebuild didn’t start until 10 days after my crash. It didn’t matter as much when I was out of town because I was out of town. But, when I got back on the weekend and had to wait until Monday to take my computer to experts who could “heal” it, and then it took until Friday to get it working, I was frantic, depressed and lonely.

How would I ever catch up on my work? Did I lose out on an ebay auction? (Yes.) If my bid had been successful, would I get a reputation as a slow payer because I didn’t know I’d won the item for 4 days (not a problem in this case since I was outbid). Would I be late on paying any of my regular bills? And so on.

I came to understand deeply something I knew before: I am completely dependent on technology for my livelihood and for contact with the outside world, but I’m not competent to fix things beyond the most basic of problems. Knowing that I am not alone in this place is small consolation when it is my computer that has failed me.

Ah, I guess I know for certain that I’m living life on the edge!

Susan Waters, EDM, CAE
Executive Director

On June 2, The Economist reported on a ruling by the European Court of Justice regarding transfer of data about airplane passengers to the US. The Court ruled that the data could not be transferred but chose to rule on a legal point rather than address the issue of passengers’ rights to privacy.

The US has traditionally allotted more rights to its citizens and residents than much of the rest of the world, and, correspondingly, limited the power of government over its wards. However, since the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrow Building in 1995 and the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93, the US has been moving away from privacy rights in the name of greater security. The Patriot Act gave broad new powers to law enforcement in the US, something we are just beginning to understand (and which many object to). Europe, which has lived with the reality of terrorist attacks much longer than the US, has increased privacy rights at the same time the US was giving them up.

I find this interesting. How can Europe, with much more experience than we Americans in fighting terror, actually protect its members’ privacy more in the current atmosphere, while the US says that some privacy must be relinquished in the name of safety? Are we in the US exercising prudence, or just reacting like surprised children who have finally learned (as most do around the age of four) that we are not immortal?

Or is the issue here the release of private data by commercial firms, even if to other governments? The EU in 1998 adopted privacy requirements of firms that are very like those already existing in the US. The US government is expanding its suveillance of citizens, residents and visitors, no doubt. And, Americans are becoming uneasy about the power we have granted to the government, albeit somewhat unknowingly. In Europe, it seems, the governments have had surveillance powers much longer than the US government, but they are beginning to restrict the way private firms deal with consumer information. Most consider what is happening a divergence between the US and Europe on privacy matters. I think it may rather be a convergence that is expressed by an expansion of government power in the US, and a limitation of private action in Europe.

Maybe the debate on privacy is mislabeled. Perhaps we need to look to the recipient of private data and the origin of the disclosure to understand the global dynamics.

Susan B. Waters, EDM

Recently I took a quick trip across the U.S. and back in two days. That was grueling enough, but the return trip turned into a difficult one. I was scheduled to be awake for 22 hours that day if all had gone well, something I probably shouldn’t do.

The first leg of my trip was delayed, with the promise that it would leave sometime that day, but no estimated time for departure. As I waited in the customer service line to rebook, a process that was taking about 40 minutes per customer, I called the airline and rebooked on the phone, so all I needed was to exchange the boarding passes. I waited in line for 2.5 hours to do that, then they said they’d transfer my bag to the new itinerary.

I wasn’t surprised when I arrived home in San Francisco to find that my bag had not come with me. I wasn’t too surprised, either, to find out the the flight I had originally been scheduled on had been cancelled, contrary to the assurances given to the passengers. So, I filed my claim for the missing bag and limped home.

The next day I called and was told that my bag would arrive in San Francisco at 2:30 that afternoon, and be delivered to me. Of course it wasn’t.

When I called the next day, I was told that there was no claim for the bag, and the baggage service had no way to know where to deliver it. I, of course, said there was a claim, I had a copy, and the day before the customer service representative had no problem locating the claim and telling me where my bag was and when it would arrive. However, it had not been delivered. This representative repeated that there was no claim for the bag and the service had no way to know where to deliver the bag. I pointed out that my baggage tag has my name, address, phone number, etc. The person hung up the telephone.

My bag was delivered the next day.

A difficult return trip was made much worse by the delayed bag, which it took four days to get back, and my frustration level is high. I sent an email to customer service detailing this experience and complaining about the poor service and the poor attitudes of the customer service representative I spoke to on day 3. I received an answering email telling me what a valued customer I am.

So, why am I writing this? Because this is an insignificant dispute in the scheme of things, but poor management of unmet expectations created high levels of frustration and anger at this airline, which may affect future buying decisions. Think about what it fees like to be helpless and frustrated about something much more important.

That’s where online dispute resolution (ODR) can be so helpful. If the parties can agree on a civil system to resolve disputes, then perhaps future experiences can be put to rest without generating such negative feelings, not only about the circumstances, but about the other party.

ODR can resolve problems quickly, easily, without requiring life-changing scheduling, and at moderate expense. Wouldn’t this be a better way to resolve disputes than creating frustration and anger as the current system does?

Susan B. Waters, EDM

Today I participated in a session about business ethics, and the over-riding issue that emerged was the importance of authenticity to creating and sustaining trust.

What is authenticity? Simply put, it is doing what you say you will, supporting those you commit to, and being trustworthy. In our ethics discussion, we talked about the sense of betrayal when a trusted mentor or ally flees from disagreement or conflict, leaving one vulnerable to others without the expected support of the mentor or ally. When that happens, one cannot have the confidence of support or conviction, and alternatives narrow.

Who among us has failed to meet the challenge of supporting someone as promised when controversy emerged and it became difficult to do so? As humans, we seem to want to avoid conflict, which has the effect of avoiding resolution of conflict or disagreement.

Thinking in terms of personal integrity and commitment to others is a personal challenge. I know that I sometimes struggle when something becomes much more difficult than I expected, but that is the challenge of ethical management and ethical living.

I hope one day when people think of the kind of person I was (or perhaps still am), they will say that she had the fortitude to stand up for her convictions, the courage to support others when there was controversy or conflict, and that her word could be trusted. What better legacy can I leave?

Susan Waters

In the February 27, 2006 issue of the New Yorker Magazine, Jane Kramer has an article in Talk of the Town that discusses the controversy, protests, riots, and deaths associated with the publication by a Danish newspaper of 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. It appears that this grew out of a search by a children’s book writer seeking an illustrator for a book about Islam for Danish school children could not find one because the project was seen as too dangerous by the illustrators the author contacted.

The Koran, which embodies the words of Allah as dictated to the Prophet Muhammad, states that there shall be no likeness of God, but does not reference depictions of the Prophet. That prohibition appears in the Hadith. But, as Persia and India adopted Islam, paintings that included depictions of the Prophet were created and used in religious devotions and in telling the story of Islam.

The tragic story of today arises not so much from the actual Danish publication of the cartoons, but from worldwide coverage of the controversy. More than 25 European papers and only a few American ones have published some or all of the cartoons. I have not seen them myself, but have read about them. Surely, some of them are offensive even if the depiction of the Prophet were not banned by religious tradition.

Ms. Kramer concludes by saying that the myth of multicultural Europe may have been shattered, but not because of a clash of civilizations. Rather, she says democracies survive only by their faith in themselves. She says, “Democracies preclude contending absolutisms and the dicta of fixed identities. They have to do with identity in flux, with culture, and cultures, constantly transforming, molting into something new — something surprising and different and open-ended and free.”

As we struggle in this new century with the issues of identity, and InternetBar.org is established precisely to struggle with those issues, this controversy demonstrates how un-ready the world is to have issues of identity challenged in provocative and insensitive ways. This does not mean that we cannot have respectful and thoughtful discussions about identity and how we must navigate into the future around these issues. It seems to me that these discussions are vital to moving all of us forward and past nationalistic, religious, or other reasons for conflict. We must seek to generate collaborative relationships that foster understanding and respect across our divides and which demonstrate the unifying human conditions that affect us all. Here at InternetBar.org we are trying to do just that. Join us in these efforts, and let me know what you think about this.

All the best,
Susan Waters

In today’s USA Today there is an article called “DNA rewrites history for African-Americans.” Basically, it discusses the quest by African Americans to discover their ancestries and reveals the complexity of ancestry for many Americans. As a nation of immigrants, this may not be surprising, but the details may be for individuals who choose to have their DNA analyzed.

A secondary theme of the article is that some people are finding that the oral history of their family, or the mythology of their family origins, may not be factual. For some, this can be interesting; for some, disappointing; for others devastating. As an example, the article cites 9 US African American celebrities, all who believed that they had Native American ancestry. Only 2 did. Oprah Winfrey, one of the celebrities with that belief who did test positive for Native American ancestry, said that in her generation of African Americans, it is considered desirable to be “a little Indian.” She is, 7 others are not.

In my family, there is an oral tradition that says that during the French and Indian War, an ancestor of mine was taken by the Indians to Canada where she grew up, married, and had a family. When our family located her, she refused to return to the United States, and the family. Later, her daughter did so, was reunited, married, and continued in our family line. So, I may be “a little Indian.” This is a family story that I have always considered interesting, but never fully relied upon. Now, I could check it out for as little as $95.00. Will I? I don’t know. After all, it is a great story!

The point, I think, is that families and also nations sometimes make decisions about identity based on traditions that may or may not be accurate. Those decisions about identity can lead to other decisions that sometimes lead to argument, conflict, and even war. I wonder if there is a lesson in this story that argues for the complexity of human relationships, their inter-connectedness, and their potential to be a unifying, rather than separating, force. It is worth considering, I think. What about you?

All the best,

Susan

As we in the United States celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, and remember the suffering of the Pilgrims as they began to settle what would become our country, and also remember that they took time after the harvest to give thanks for their survival, and shared their celebration with the Native Americans, it is also a time to reflect on the accomplishments of InternetBar.org.

Our Cyberweek program was successful and generated many thoughtful comments in the discussion forums. We will continue those discussions on our Web site.

InternetBar.org’s Africa Committee has become extraordinarily active, and will soon have its own home on the IBO Web site. We are fortunate to have made friends like Ayo Kusamotu, who are so dedicated to our goals and to bringing hope to Africa. Their efforts are very consistent with our American Thanksgiving spirit.

We are seeking funding to continue and expand our efforts and to support both IBO and those who have embraced our goals and vision. Let this Thanksgiving provide the support to launch IBO into the next year with even more to offer.

For me personally, my association has brought joy and hope for a better future for the world. I wish everyone a rich and rewarding time as we celebrate our achievements and look forward to much more to come.

All the best, Susan

As Executive Director of InternetBar.org, I have been consumed by producing our first Cyberweek program, with the help of many others whose names you will see on the site, and also the technical work of Chris Burbul and Vanessa Haakenson. Go to Cyberweek, through October 28, to participate by going to http://www.cyberweek.internetbar.org.

This program is rich with content on issues such as e-lawyering, best practices for using technology, ethics and an exciting InternetBar.org Africa Committee forum. Participants come from around the globe and we are hoping that many others join us during the coming 10 days.

Check it out! After you get to the site, you will see two links below each description: Presentation will take you to content that we have posted in advance. Discussion Forum will take you to a large number of discussion topics. Just log in and participate.

All the best, Susan Waters

Check back often as updates are made to the site. The goal of the blog is to give Susan an opportunity to share in a informal way the trials and tribulations of getting a new association off the ground. It is also a place for her to share her insights into the direction and growth for the organization.