[New-imc] IMC JAPAN new-imc internal deadline Mon 31.03.2003 01:00 GMT

[boud]

Hi everyone, 今日は、
  i'm delighted to say that IMC Japan looks ready for internal new-imc
approval!

IMC JAPAN new-imc internal deadline Mon 31.03.2003 01:00 GMT 

Their answers to the principles of unity and membership criteria,
including mission statement and editorial policy, are here in Japanese:

日本語に：
http://japandada.bandwidthcoop.org/newswire/display/47/index.php

and in English below.

Their main mailing list is here:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listwork/imc-japan

The archives can be read uncorrupted here:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-japan/2003-February.txt
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-japan/2003-March.txt
etc.

(mailman 2.0.13 corrupts iso-2022-jp into pseudo-random Chinese...)

and they have some "emergency" specialised lists, see:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-japan/2003-March/000840.html
e.g.
http://www.mail-archive.com/decide%40tokyoprogressive.org/

また、ね！
バウド


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PRINCIPLES OF UNITY
1. The Independent Media Center Network (IMCN) is based upon principles of
equality, decentralization and local autonomy. The IMCN is not derived from
a centralized bureaucratic process, but from the self-organization of
autonomous collectives that recognize the importance in developing a union
of networks.

We understand the principles above; we agree and we will actively encourage
other collectives in our area to organize and join the IMCN.

2. All IMC's consider open exchange of and open access to information a
prerequisite to the building of a more free and just society.

Knowledge is power, power to the people.

3. [All IMC's respect the right of activists who choose not to be
photographed or filmed.]

Agreed.

4. All IMC's, based upon the trust of their contributors and readers, shall
utilize open web based publishing, allowing individuals, groups and
organizations to express their views, anonymously if desired. **see
appendix: Open Publishing document --> still in proposal phase, at this
address:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-communication/2001-April/00170
7.html
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-communication/2001-April/00087
4.html

Agreed.

5. The IMC Network and all local IMC collectives shall be not-for-profit.

Agreed.

6. All IMC's recognize the importance of process to social change and are
committed to the development of non-hierarchical and anti-authoritarian
relationships, from interpersonal relationships to group dynamics.
Therefore, shall organize themselves collectively and be committed to the
principle of consensus decision making and the development of a direct,
participatory democratic process] that is transparent to its membership.

Agreed.  Our collective's decision-making process will be by consensus
based on modified consensus.  The following definition was found on IMC
Melbourne's site:
Modified Consensus Decision-making (this applies to sub-collectives
[sub-working-groups] as well as the collective as a whole):  A facilitator
will be chosen at the commencement of a meeting. After discussion the
facilitator will check for Consensus.  If consensus cannot be reached the
first time, further discussion occurs.  The facilitator then checks for
consensus again.  If there is still no consensus, the facilitator will call
for a vote on the proposal.  A 75% vote will pass the proposal.

 7. [All IMC's recognize that a prerequisite for participation in the
decision making process of each local group is the contribution of an
individual's labor to the group.]

Labour contribution to, and consistent involvement with Indymedia Japan, are
prerequisites for participation in the collective's decision-making
process.  To vote in the collective's overall decision making process it is
required that individuals have attended at least 2 of the last 4 face-2-face
meetings.  Entry to the overall decision-making process of the collective is
open to anyone and at any time via active participation in
sub-working-groups.

8. All IMC's are committed to caring for one another and our respective
communities both collectively and as individuals and will promote the
sharing of resources including knowledge, skills and equipment.

Agreed.

9. All IMC's shall be committed to the use of free source code, whenever
possible, in order to develop the digital infrastructure, and to increase
the independence of the network by not relying on proprietary software.
Agreed.

10. All IMC's shall be committed to the principle of human equality, and
shall not discriminate, including discrimination based upon race, gender,
age, class or sexual orientation. Recognizing the vast cultural traditions
within the network, we are committed to building [diversity] within our
localities.

Agreed.

MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA
[THIS IS THE CURRENT DRAFT OF THE IMC MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA.  FUTURE DRAFTS
WILL BE SENT AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.]



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IMC MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA - DRAFT Each IMC and Global Working Group is
expected to:

a. Agree in spirit to the NIMC Mission Statement and Principles of Unity,

Agreed.

b. Have a committed membership substantial enough to sustain a functional
IMC,

We currently have a core membership of 14 people who attend all F2F meetings
here in Tokyo.  We've also had F2F meetings with people in Osaka and people
in other areas of Japan have expressed an interest.  We anticipate that IMC
Japan will eventually devolve into further autonomous groups.  We have
organized into sub-working-groups answerable to the collective as a whole.
We are engaged in outreach to NGO's, NPO's, local grassroots groups,
student groups, etc., encouraging them to use our site as a forum to
exchange views, communicate and educate.  We've been handing out flyers at
demos and have been encouraged by the response. Many individuals are aware
of Indymedia.org and are excited at the prospect of a local IMC.  We
anticipate wide contribution.

c. Have open and public meetings (no one group can have exclusionary
"ownership" of an IMC),

Agreed, our meetings are open and public.

d. Work toward developing a local Mission Statement or Statement of Purpose.
Network Mission Statement may be adopted or used on an interim basis,

For the time being, we have adopted the mission statement of IMC Adelaide.
This was done with Adelaide IMC's consent.  We are working towards
producing our own interpretation.

IMC-Adelaide Provisional Mission Statement

The Independent Media Centre is a grassroots organisation committed to using
media production and distribution as a tool for promoting broader awareness
of contemporary social and political issues.  It is our goal to assist the
empowerment and autonomy of people under-represented in mainstream media,
and to illuminate and analyze local and global issues that impact upon
ecosystems, communities and individuals.  We seek to generate alternatives
to the biases inherent in the corporate media controlled by profit, and to
identify and support positive achievable models for a sustainable and
equitable society.

e. Establish and publish an editorial policy which is developed and
functions through democratic process, and with full transparency,

Again, we have adopted from Adelaide.  We are working on our own
interpretation.



Editorial Policy (under development)

Aims & Policy

The Indymedia website aims to provide a facility for the publication of a
wide range of news and critical opinion as digital text, audio and video. We
want to encourage free debate and discussion, limited only by the freedom of
all.

Identity & Responsibility

Users may contribute anonymously, but we hope they will make use of a
consistent handle to allow them to build up an audience attuned to their
particular views.

We allow users to create a unique 'handle' which will be password protected,
so we can offer some assurance to the readers that separate articles on the
Adelaide site, signed by the same person(s) with the same handle, are in
fact by the same person(s).

We expect users to take responsibility for their contributions, and hope
that they will want to identify themselves.

For those who wish to receive email, we also have the (non-anonymous) option
of using real name linked to an email address. *

We reserve the right to remove any and all material that is racist, sexist
or promoting hatred and intolerance.

Copyright & Re-distribution

Contributors maintain copyright over their works; they assign us the rights
to electronic publication on the website.

We encourage contributors to allow further re-distribution and copying of
their articles, provided the content is unchanged and correctly attributed.

Defamation & Corrections

*[Individual contributors should recognize that they are responsible for the
predictable consequences of their own actions.]
*This is an addition by us (Japan IMC).

We expect the contributors to be aware of defamation and to avoid publishing
such statements.  While we do not guarantee the accuracy of anything on our
site, we will not knowingly publish defamatory material.

We offer anyone who feels they have been defamed equal space and access on
our site, with prominence equal to that of the original offending statement.

Independence, Passion & Bias

We do not subscribe to the myth of the "objective" observer, but we ask
contributors to be fair and accurate in their descriptions.

We do not believe that there are only two sides to every story, nor do we
see it as our task to constantly provide a counter view.


f. Agree to the use of Open Publishing as described in the NIMC Editorial
Policy [editorial collective comments: "We did agree that the term "Open
Publishing" was one that is still being defined by the Global Network
Collective, and we would wait and see what the results were before rewriting
this criteria],

Agreed.

g. Adopt a decision-making policy that is in alignment with consensus
principles which include open, transparent and egalitarian processes,

Agreed.  Our collective's decision-making process will be by consensus
based on modified consensus.  The following definition was found on IMC
Melbourne's site:
 - Modified Consensus Decision-making (this applies to sub-collectives
[sub-working-groups] as well as the collective as a whole):  A facilitator
will be chosen at the commencement of a meeting. After discussion the
facilitator will check for Consensus.  If consensus cannot be reached the
first time, further discussion occurs.  The facilitator then checks for
consensus again.  If there is still no consensus, the facilitator will call
for a vote on the proposal.  A 75% vote will pass the proposal.”
Labour contribution to, and consistent involvement with Indymedia Japan, are
prerequisites for participation in the collective's decision-making
process.  To vote in the collective's overall decision making process it is
required that individuals have attended at least 2 of the last 4 face-2-face
meetings.  Entry to the overall decision-making process of the collective is
open to anyone and at any time via active participation in
sub-working-groups.

h. Have a spokesperson(s) willing and capable of participating in the global
decision-making process and meetings as a rotating liaison/representative,
with a clear understanding of the responsibilities that come with this role,

Our spokesperson(s)/liaison representative(s) are currently:
Technical group - Paul Arenson
General liasion - Kaori Mizuno

Our representatives will be rotated.

i. Participate in the key IMC Network Communication Methods that pertain to
the health and vitality of the Network and that contribute to the work of
the IMC. Assure that at least one person from your local IMC participates at
any given time on the IMC-Communications list,

Agreed.

j. (NOT FINALIZED): Have no official affiliation with any political party,
state or candidate for office (comments: but individual producers have
freedom to do whatever they like and local IMCs can "feature" stories about
various political parties and initiatives),

Agreed.  We are a motley crew without any official affiliation.

k. IMCs shall in no way engage in commercial for-profit enterprises. [We
could add: The IMCN is committed to the decommercialization of information
and will disassociate from any local IMC that decides to become a for profit
media corporation.]

Agreed.

l. Display a i logo on your website and literature.

Agreed.

m. Include the IMC Network current & Cities List on your site, preferably
on the front page.

Agreed.

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