The Amateur
Computerist
http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/
Fall 2022 Toward 25 Years of the Netizen Book (Part 2) Volume 35 No. 2
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 1
Computers & Society Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 4
Researching the “Net” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 7
New Net Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 16
Graduation Presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 17
Good Press Coverage of the Net and Netizens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 20
Original Call for a Netizens Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 23
New List: Netizens Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 31
Proposed Netizens List Charter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 33
Netizens Netbook Finally in a Print Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 41
Bastille Day Celebration in NYC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 43
Call for Submissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 44
Oral History of the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 46
Introduction
The year 2022 marks the 25
th
Anniversary of the May 1, 1997 pub-
lication of the print edition of Netizens: On the History and Impact of
Usenet and the Internet by Michael Hauben and Ronda Hauben. This issue
is again part of the celebration of that Anniversary. The articles here are
mostly posts to the Usenet online discussion system made by Michael
Hauben from 1992 to 1997.
The first posts are a request for references or suggestions for a
Computers & Society class Michael was taking. Michael wrote that com-
puters and concurrent technologies have had a significant impact on com-
Page 1
munications and that he was interested in the impact that this will have on
people’s lives. These posts were part of the process by which the ideas for
the Netizens book were explored and by which some of the articles in the
Netizen book got written.
The second article is a speech Michael gave in April 1994, based on
one of the chapters of the Net Book, “The Netizens and the Wonderful
World of the Net: An Anthology” put online in January of that year. It
begins, “Welcome to the 21
st
Century. You are a Netizen, or a Net Citizen,
and you exist as a citizen of the world …” and is the early draft for
Chapter One of Netizens: On the History of Usenet and the Internet.
The next article, “New Net Book” was the post on Usenet announc-
ing the event that launched the Net Book. Michael wrote, “This Net Book
is for those who want to contribute to the care and nurture of the Net.” His
post gave details how to access the Net Book from a gopher server or on
his homepage.
That article is followed by Michael’s speech at a party celebrating
his and his friends graduation from Columbia College in 1995. In that
speech Michael begins telling of his connection with Japan and his
Japanese netizen friends. He describes how, two days before the party, a
camera crew from TV Tokyo came to the Columbia University campus to
interview him for a documentary. Michael explained his understanding of
netizens to the TV Tokyo interviewers. He told them, “The internet is not
about computers and isolated experiences, it is a very social, human
experience.” Later, after that documentary aired in Japan, a few computer
science students in Japan contacted Michael. Some of the result of those
contacts is told in other posts in this issue. Also in that speech, Michael
explained that he came to Columbia wondering why are Americans so
complacent. After four years at Columbia and being active on the Internet,
he had an answer. He wrote, “By connecting to others with similar
interests, questions and problems, along with people with different
understandings, it is now possible to try and do something about the
world, and to gain some power in how one lives his or her life.”
The next four articles are posts resulting from Michael’s Fall 1995
visit to Japan which was upon the invitation of Professor Shumpi Kumon.
On Jan 1, 1996 there was a Japanese newspaper article about netizens and
Michael’s visit. It quoted Michael extensively and concluded, “The dis-
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coverer of Netizen is also a person of practice.” With a computer science
student in Japan, Michael issued a call for a Netizens Association, doc-
umented in three articles here. The Japanese student argued if there are
netizens around the world they need their international association. In the
post, “Original Call for a Netizens Association,” Michael tells the story of
Professor Kumon’s invitation and the trip that resulted and his collabora-
tion with Hiroyuki Takahashi who proposed the need for the Netizens
Association. In “Proposed Netizen List Charter,” Michael shares most of
the first 40 responses that the call for a netizens association received.
In May 1997, Michael was able to joyously post, “Netizens Net
Book Finally in a Print Edition (-:”. Then on July 14, he announced the
“Bastille Day Celebration in NYC” of the newly published print edition
of the Netizens book. From the cover of the book, he quoted Martin
Greenberger, “Michael and Ronda Hauben sketch out a provocative
declaration of Netizen rights in their appendix to this engrossing, well
researched, and very useful book.” Michael also quoted Tom Truscott,
“Netizens is an ambitions look at the social aspects of computer network-
ing. It examines the present and the turbulent future, and especially it
explores the technical and social roots of the Net.”
In the post, Michael gave the time, place and subway information for
the celebration. He saw the choice of Bastille Day was, “In recognition of
Bastille Day and the efforts for people around the world to gain influence
in the developing of democracy around the world.” For Michael, the
internet and netizens gave the people of the world a chance for more
democracy.
To carry on the work Michael began, in 2002 Ronda Hauben posted
a “Call for Submissions that Develop or Explore the Concept of Netizen.”
She wrote: “It is now 10 years later. We would like to document the
further development and application of the concept of netizen (and of the
vision of the future of the net) that developed since Michael’s research in
1992/1993. Also we want to project into the future about what the
emergence of the netizen can mean to the further development of the
Internet and of our society in general.”
More recently, on March 14, 2022 a tribute to Michael and his work
appeared in Chinese as a blog post by Dr Fang Xingdong. We conclude
the issue with an English machine translation of the blog post. Dr. Fang is
Page 3
the director of the OHI (Oral History of the Internet) project. On the blog
he said there is a suggestion that the project “publish a book for the story
of their family of three.” The Amateur Computerist would welcome such
a book.
[Editor’s Note: The following were posted to Usenet on Oct 5 and Oct 8, 1992. They are
a request for references or suggestions and other help about the progressive impact
computers have had on communication. Post like these were part of the process by which
some of the articles in the Netizen book got written.]
Computers & Society Class
by Michael Hauben
I am taking a Computers & Society Class right now and need to
figure out what would be important to write my term paper about. I am
also thinking of proposing a major or concentration on Computers &
Society. For this paper I am thinking about writing on the progressive
impact computers have had on communications. So, I would appreciate
any references or suggestions anyone might have to offer. By suggestions
I mean what people think would be a worthwhile question in the combina-
tion of computers and communications that would be worth focusing on.
The Following are just notes I made to myself. But if you feel there
is a way further to build on them, please let me know.
Thanks!
Michael,
Paper Topic Ideas for Computer & Society
My paper will focus on the developing role and importance of
telecommunications (or maybe the combination of computer and com-
munication technology.) Possible topics would be:
1) The Equalitarian role computers play in communications. (How
conferencing plus BBSs allow anonymity and thus remove many
intimidations putting ideas in the front. Also because anonymity
allows as
Page 4
many people as possible to participate in whatever time frame. Basically
allows anyone who wants to speak the right to speak.) Facilitation of
freedom of speech.
2) How computer networks facilitate the transfer of information and flow
of information. More specific? Spreading information to a wider body of
people. allowing people to become more educated.
3) Making the world a smaller place … allowing for new international
communities to form. (based on common interests, backgrounds, or
abilities.)
4) What Usenet is and what it might or could become, or what direction
it is going in? What potential exists?
Or is my question: did telecommunications help bring the Berlin wall
down and the events in eastern Europe? Also remember how students in
China (Tianiman Square) and France utilized the new telecommunications
technologies.
Help needed with Communications and Computers
by Michael Hauben
I am taking a Computers & Society class and the following is the
proposal I handed into my teacher. I appreciate if anyone has any
comments on it. Or can help me with references and/or a better clarifica-
tion or sharpening of a topic. Thanks, Michael
Computers & Society Term Paper Proposal
Computers and concurrent technologies have had a significant
impact on communications. I am interested in writing on the impact that
this combination is having and will have on people’s lives. The combina-
tion of computers and communications has led to enormous networks that
transmit and carry numerous different types of information and data. In
Computers, Communications and Society, Murray Laver wrote:
Cost apart, territorial distances are no longer a barrier … . If the
present trend continues, then by 1980 more than 90% of the
world’s computers would be linked to communication systems.
This combination promises to be exceptionally important because
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its effect will not be confined to one section of technology, nor to
technology alone. The collection and exchange of information
underlies all that we do, and the structures and functions of
industrial society depend absolutely on its prompt and ample
supply. A major change in information techniques is bound to
affect every aspect of out lives – economic, social, political and
domestic – and we need to be alert and aware of what is happen-
ing if we aspire to direct its course. (Oxford, 1975, p. 1)
This flow of information can selectively be accessed, allowing the
individual to make the information suit him or her. This is a fundamental
change from the traditional mode of the mass media making the individual
conform to it. The world is becoming more accessible while at the same
time growing in size. New international communities are forming (based
on common interests, backgrounds, and abilities.)
The combined efforts of people interested in communication has led
to the development and expansion of the global communications system.
Ithiel de Sola Pool in Technologies Without Boundaries wrote:
The system becomes part of the largest machine that man has
ever constructed – the global telecommunications network.
The full map of it no one knows; it changes every day.
(Cambridge, 1990, p 56)
This system has grown because of the interest people have in
communicating with the world outside of themselves. The voluntary
nature of this system has lead to an enormous collection of generally
helpful resources in other people and collections of information.
A current material example of the fundamental powers of this
communications and information revolution is Eastern Europe. Much of
the changes there were assisted through the opening up of information and
communication. The organized form of Usenet News assists in the
connections. This example might possibly serve as a foundation for my
premises. A useful pointer is the following quote from “The Information
Technologies and East European Societies” in East European Politics and
Societies:
The perception of serious technological backwardness, and the
desire to end it, lie at the heart of Eastern Europe’s economic,
political, and social upheaval … . The computer and its related
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technologies have contributed most to the industrial world’s
rapid economic restructuring and have high-lighted Eastern
Europe’s economic deficiencies most clearly. (vol. 5, no. 3,
Fall 1991, p. 394)
My research will consist of materials from books and my personal
experiences. Along with this, I will interact with the Net and think of
interviewing people involved with the development of various parts of the
global communications network, along with personal observations from
people who participate in Usenet.
As an example of the helpful resources, I posted a message in several
newsgroups to gain help in figuring out a useful and interesting topic. In
response I received over 10 email responses from around the world
offering help.
[Editor’s Note: The following is a speech given to the Columbia University Student ACM
Chapter on April 24, 1994. It was based on a paper titled “The Net and Netizens: The
Impact the Net has on People’s Lives,” originally available as Chapter 7 of the Net Book
“The Netizens and the Wonderful World of the Net: An Anthology” at:
http://www
.columbia.edu/~hauben/project_book .html and later as the basis for Chapter 1 of the book
Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet, IEEE Computer Society
Press, 1997.]
Researching the “Net”:
On the Evolution of Usenet New and the
Significance of the Global Computer
Network
by Michael Hauben
I. You are a Netizen, or a Net Citizen
Welcome to the 21
st
Century. You are a Netizen, or a Net Citizen,
and you exist as a citizen of the world thanks to the global connectivity
that the Net makes possible. You consider everyone as your compatriot.
You physically live in one country but you are in contact with much of the
Page 7
world via the global computer network. Virtually you live next door to
every other single Netizen in the world. Geographical separation is
replaced by existence in the same virtual space.
The situation I describe is only a prediction of the future, but a large
part of the necessary infrastructure currently exists. The Net – or the
Internet, BITNET, FIDOnet, other physical networks, Usenet, VMSnet,
and other logical networks and so on – has rapidly grown to cover all of
the developed countries in the world. Every day more computers attach to
the existing networks and every new computer adds to the user base – at
least twenty five million people are interconnected today. Why do all these
people pass their time sitting in front of a computer typing away? They
have very good reason to! Twenty-five million people plus [in 1994] have
very good reason not to be wrong. [Twenty-five years later, in 2019, there
were 4.3 billion active internet users.]
We are seeing a revitalization of society. The frameworks are being
redesigned from the bottom up. A new more democratic world is
becoming possible. According to one user, the Net has “immeasurably
increased the quality of … life.” The Net seems to open a new lease on life
for people. Social connections which were never before possible, or which
were relatively hard to achieve, are now facilitated by the Net. Geography
and time no longer are boundaries. Social limitations and conventions no
longer prevent potential friendships or partnerships. In this manner,
Netizens are meeting other Netizens from far-away and close by that they
might never have met without the Net.
A new world of connections between people – either privately from
individual to individual or publicly from individuals to the collective mass
of many on the net – is possible. The old model of central distribution of
information from the Network Broadcasting or Publication Company is
being questioned and challenged. The top-down model of information
being distributed by a few for mass-consumption is no longer the only
News. Netnews brings the power of the reporter to the Netizen. People
now have the ability to broadcast their observations or questions around
the world and have other people respond. The computer networks form a
new grassroots connection that allows the excluded sections of society to
have a voice. This new medium is unprecedented. Previous grassroots
media have existed for much smaller-sized selections of people. The
Page 8
model of the Net proves the old way does not have to be the only way of
networking. The Net extends the idea of networking – of making con-
nections with strangers that prove to be advantageous to one or both
parties.
The complete connection of the body of citizens of the world that the
Net makes possible does not exist as of today, and it will definitely be a
fight to make access to the Net open and available to all. However, in the
future we might be seeing the possible expansion of what it means to be
a social animal. Practically every single individual on the Net today is
available to every other person on the Net. International connection
coexists on the same level with local connection. Also the computer
networks allow a more advanced connection between the people who are
communicating. With computer-communication systems, information or
thoughts are connected to people’s names and electronic-mail addresses.
On the Net, one can connect to others who have similar interests or whose
thought processes they enjoy.
Netizens make it a point to be helpful and friendly – if they feel it to
be worthwhile. Many Netizens feel they have an obligation to be helpful
and answer queries and follow-up on discussions to put their opinion into
the pot of opinions. Over a period of time the voluntary contributions to
the Net have built it into a useful connection to other people around the
world. The Net can be a helpful medium to understand the world. Only by
seeing all points of view can any one person attempt to figure out either
their own position on a topic or in the end, the truth.
Net Society differs from offline society by welcoming intellectual
activity. People are encouraged to have things on their mind and to present
those ideas to the Net. People are allowed to be intellectually interesting
and interested. This intellectual activity forms a major part of the
information that is carried by the various computer networks. Netizens can
interact with other people to help add to or alter that information. Brain-
storming between varieties of people produces robust thinking. Informa-
tion is no longer a fixed commodity or resource on the Net. It is constantly
being added to and improved collectively. The Net is a grand intellectual
and social commune in the spirit of the collective nature present at the
origins of human society. Netizens working together continually expand
the store of information worldwide. One person called the Net an untapped
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resource because it provides an alternative to the normal channels and
ways of doing things. The Net allows for the meeting of minds to form and
develop ideas. It brings people’s thinking processes out of isolation and
into the open. Every user of the Net gains the role of being special and
useful. The fact that every user has his or her own opinions and interests
adds to the general body of specialized knowledge on the Net. Each
Netizen thus becomes a special resource valuable to the Net. Each user
contributes to the whole intellectual and social value and possibilities of
the Net.
II. Licklider, the Visionary
The world of the Netizen was envisioned some twenty five years ago
by J.C.R. Licklider and Robert Taylor in their article “The Computer as a
Communication Device” Science and Technology, April 1968). Licklider
brought to his leadership of the U.S., Department of Defense’s Advanced
Research Projects Agency (ARPA) a vision of “the intergalactic computer
network.” Whenever he would speak of ARPA, he would mention this
vision. J.C.R. Licklider was a prophet of the Net. In his article Licklider
establishes several helpful principles which would make the computer play
a helpful role in human communication. These principles were:
1) Communication is defined as an interactive creative process.
2) Response times need to be short to make the “conversation” free and
easy.
3) The larger network would form out of smaller regional networks.
4) Communities would form out of affinity and common interests.
Licklider focused on the Net comprising of a network of networks.
While other researchers of the time focused on the sharing of computing
resources, Licklider kept an open mind and wrote:
… . The collection of people, hardware, and software – the
multiaccess computer together with its local community of
users – will become a node in a geographically distributed
computer network … . Through the network … therefore, all
the large computers can communicate with one another. And
through them, all the members of the supercommunity can
communicate with other people, with programs, with data, or
with selected combinations of those resources. (Licklider and
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Taylor, http://me mex.org/licklider.html, p. 32.)
Licklider’s understandings from his 1968 paper have stood the test
of time, and do represent what the Net is today. His concept of the sharing
of both computing and human resources accurately describes today’s Net.
The networking of various human connections quickly forms, changes its
goals, disbands and reforms into new collaborations. The fluidity of such
group dynamics leads to a quickening of the creation of new ideas. Groups
can form to discuss an idea, focus in or broaden out and reform to fit the
new ideas that have resulted from the process.
The virtual space created on non-commercial computer networks is
accessible universally. This space is accessible from the connections that
exist; whereas social networks in the physical world generally are
connected only by limited gateways. So the capability of networking on
computer nets overcomes limitations inherent in non-computer social
networks. This is important because it reduces the problems of population
growth. Population growth no longer means limited. Rather that very
growth of population now means an improvement of resources. Thus
growth of population can be seen as a positive asset. This is a new way of
looking at people in our society. Every new person can mean a new set of
perspectives and specialties to add to the wealth of knowledge of the
world. This new view of people could help improve the view of the future.
The old model looks down on population growth and people as a strain on
the environment rather than the increase of intellectual contribution these
individuals can make. However, access to the Net needs to be universal for
the Net to fully utilize the contribution each person can represent. Once
access is limited, the Net and those on the Net lose the full possible
advantages the Net can offer. Lastly the people on the Net need to be
active in order to bring about the best possible use of the Network.
Licklider foresaw that the Net allows for people of common
interests, who are otherwise strangers, to communicate. Much of the magic
of the Net is the ability to make a contribution of your ideas, and then be
connected to utter strangers. He saw that people would connect to others
via this net in ways that had been much harder in the past. Licklider
observed as the ARPANET spanned two continents. This physical con-
nection allowed for wider social collaborations to form. This was the
beginning of Computer Data networks facilitating connections of people
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around the world.
My research on and about the Net has been and continues to be very
exciting for me. When I posted my inquiries, I usually received the first
reply within a couple of hours. The feeling of receiving that very first
reply from a total stranger is always exhilarating! That set of first replies
from people reminds me of the magic of E-Mail. It is nice that there can
be reminders of how exciting it all is – so that the value of this new use of
computers is never forgotten.
III. Critical Mass
The Net has grown so much in the last 25 years, that a critical mass
of people and interests has been reached. This collection of individuals
adds to the interests and specialties of the whole community. Most people
can now gain something from the Net, while at the same time helping it
out. A critical mass has developed on the net. Enough people exist that the
whole is now greater than any one individual and thus makes the Net
worthwhile to be part of. People are meshing intellects and knowledge to
form new ideas. Larry Press made this clear by writing:
I now work on the Net at least two hours per day. I’ve had an
account since around 1975 but it has only become super
important in the last couple of years because a critical mass of
membership was reached. I no longer work in LA, but in
cyberspace.
Many inhabitants of the Net feel that only the most technically
inclined people use the Net. This is not true, as many different
kinds of people are now connected to the Net. While the
original users of the Net were from exclusively technical and
scientific communities, many of them found it a valuable
experience to explore the Net for more than just technical
reasons. The nets, in their early days, were only available in a
few parts the world. Now however, people of all ages, from
most parts of the globe, and of many professions, make up the
Net. The original prototype networks (e.g.: ARPANET in the
USA, NPL in the United Kingdom, CYCLADES in France and
other networks around the world) developed the necessary
physical infrastructure for a fertile social network to develop.
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Einar Stefferud wrote of this social connection in an article,
The ARPANET has produced several monumental results. It
provided the physical and electrical communications backbone
for development of the latent social infrastructure we now call
‘THE INTERNET COMMUNITY.’ (ConneXions, Oct. 1989
Vol. 3 No. 10. p. 21.)
Many different kinds of people comprise the Net. The University
Community sponsors access for a broad range of people (students,
professors, staff, professor emeritus, and so on). Programmers, engineers
and researchers from many companies are connected. A K-12 Net exists
within the lower grades of education which helps to invite young people
to be a part of our community. Special Bulletin Board software (for
example Waffle) exists to connect Personal Computer users to the Net.
Various Unix bulletin board systems exist to connect other users. It is
impossible to tell exactly who connects to public bulletin board systems,
as only an inexpensive computer (or terminal) and modem are required to
connect. Many common bulletin board systems (for example fido board)
have at least e-mail and many also participate through a gateway to
Netnews. Prototype Community Network Systems are forming around the
world (e.g.: In Cleveland – the Cleveland Freenet, In New Zealand – the
Wellington Citynet, In California, the Santa Monica Public Electronic
Network, etc.) Access via these community systems can be as easy as
visiting the community library and membership is open to all who live in
the community.
In addition to the living body of resources this diversity of Netizens
represent, there is also a continually growing body of digitized data that
forms a set of resources. Whether it is Netizens digitizing great literature
of the past (e.g.: the Gutenberg Project), or it is people gathering otherwise
obscure or non-mainstream material (e.g.: Various Religions, unusual
hobbies, fringe and cult materials, and so on), or if it is Netizens contribut-
ing new and original material (e.g.: The Amateur Computerist Newsletter),
the net follows in the great tradition of other public bottom-up institutions,
such as the public library or the principle behind public education. The Net
shares with these institutions that they serve the general populace. This
data is just part of the treasure. Often living Netizens provide pointers to
this digitized store of publicly available information. Many of the network
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access tools have been programmed with the principle of being available
to everyone. The best example is the method of connecting to file
repositories via FTP (file transfer protocol) by logging in as an “anony-
mous” user. Most (if not all) World Wide Web Sites, Wide Area Informa-
tion Systems (WAIS), and gopher sites are open for all users of the Net.
It is true that the current membership of the Net Community is smaller
than it will be, but the net has reached a point of general usefulness no
matter who you are.
All of this evidence is exactly why there could be problems if the
Net comes under the control of commercial entities. Once commercial
interests gain control, the Net will be much less powerful for the ordinary
person than it is currently. Commercial interests vary from those of the
common person. They attempt to make profit from any available means.
Compuserve is an example of one current commercial network. A user of
Compuserve pays for access by the minute. If this scenario would be
extended to the Net of which I speak, the Netiquette of being helpful
would have a price tag attached to it. If people had had to pay by the
minute during the Net’s development, very few would have been able to
afford the network time needed to be helpful to others.
The Net has only developed because of the hard work and voluntary
dedication of many people. It has grown because the Net is under the
control and power of the people at a bottom-level, and because these peo-
ple have over the years made a point to make it something worthwhile.
People’s posts and contributions to the Net have been the developing
forces.
IV. Network as a New Democratic Force
For the people of the World, the Net provides a powerful way of
peaceful assembly. Peaceful Assembly allows for people to take control
over their lives, rather than that control being in the hands of others. This
power has to be honored and protected. Any medium or tool that helps
people to hold or gain power is something that is special and has to be
protected. (See “The Computer as Democratizer,” Amateur Computerist
Newsletter, Vol. 4, No. 5, Fall 1992.) J.C.R. Licklider believed that access
to the then growing information network should be made ubiquitous. He
felt that the Net’s value would depend on high connectivity. In his article,
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“The Computer as a Communication Device,” Licklider argues that the
impact upon society depends on how available the network is to the
society as a whole. He wrote:
For the society, the impact will be good or bad depending
mainly on the question: Will ‘to be on line’ be a privilege or a
right? If only a favored segment of the population gets a
chance to enjoy the advantage of ‘intelligence amplification,’
the network may exaggerate the discontinuity in the spectrum
of intellectual opportunity. (Licklider and Taylor,
ex.org/licklider.html, p. 40)
The Net has made a valuable impact to human society. I have heard
from many people how their lives have been substantially improved via
their connection to the Net. This enhancement of people’s lives provides
the incentive needed for providing access to all in society. Society will
improve if net access is made available to people as a whole. Only if
access is universal will the Net itself truly advance. The ubiquitous
connection is necessary for the Net to encompass all possible resources.
One Net visionary responded to my research by calling for universal
access. Steve Welch wrote: “If we can get to the point where anyone who
gets out of high school alive has used computers to communicate on the
Net or a reasonable facsimile or successor to it, then we as a society will
benefit in ways not currently understandable. When access to information
is as ubiquitous as access to the phone system, all hell will break loose.
Bet on it.”
Steve is right, “all hell will break loose” in the most positive of ways
imaginable. The philosophers Thomas Paine, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and
all other fighters for democracy would have been proud.
Similar to past communications advances such as the printing press,
mail, and the telephone, the Global Computer Communications Network
has already fundamentally changed our lives. Licklider predicted that the
Net would fundamentally change the way people live and work. It is
important to try to understand this impact, so as to help further this
advance.
Page 15
[Editor’s Note: On January 12, 1994, a book party was held at Henry Ford Community
College in Dearborn, Michigan to launch an online book. The following short announce-
ment was posted on Usenet announcing the launch and giving details on how to access
the new book whose title was, The Netizens and the Wonderful World of the Net: An
Anthology. The announcement is at
http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/ACN6-1.pdf in the Ama-
teur Computerist Vol. 6 No. 1.]
New Net Book
In honor of the 25
th
Anniversary of the ARPANET and of the UNIX
operating system, and the 15
th
Anniversary of Usenet News, I am proud to
announce a Net Book. This Net Book provides some of the historical per-
spective and social context needed to understand the advance represented
by the global telecommunications network. This Net Book is for those
who want to contribute to the care and nurture of the Net.
The Book’s title is: The Netizens and the Wonderful World of the
Net: An Anthology.
Any comments on the book would be welcome, as it is currently in
draft form. We are making it available as we feel it will be helpful for
people, and your comments will help us to make the book more valuable.
In addition, it would be worthwhile to have the book published in a
printed edition. Any suggestions toward this would be appreciated.
A draft is now available via anonymous ftp at: wuarchive.wustl.edu
in the directory:
/doc/misc/acn/netbook.
The book is also available to browse via gopher on the gopher
server: gopher.cic.net in the directory (or by going through the menus):
e-serials/alphabetic/a/amateur-computerist/netbook
My .gopherrc entry looks like this:
Name=Netizen’s Net Book
Type=1
Port=70
Path=1/e-serials/alphabetic/a/amateur-computerist/netbook
Host=gopher.cic.net
URL: (For WWW browsers like Mosaic, lynx, cello, etc.)
gopher://gopher.cic.net/11/e-serials/alphabetic/a/amateur-computer-
Page 16
ist/netbook
or from my homepage at: http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/home.html
under the link to its title.
Click: here
-Michael Hauben,
[Editor’s Note: The following was presented on May 21, 1995 at a party celebrating the
graduation of Michael Hauben and some of his classmates from Columbia College. It ap-
pears at:
https://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/ACn24-1.pdf, pp. 36-38.]
Graduation Presentation
My graduation did not end at the May 1995 Columbia University
Commencement ceremonies. I did receive my Diploma on May 17, but my
graduation was not completed until May 19. On that Friday, I was
interviewed about the internet by a Japanese camera crew for a television
documentary to be shown on TV Tokyo. In speaking with these people the
result of my four years both here at Columbia and connected to the outside
world was revealed.
During the interview I described Netizens and the world-wide
community which the internet and Usenet News make possible. Netizens
are people who use the various computer communications networks and
feel they are citizens of this net. People desire to communicate with others
around the world. In order to communicate, to share information and to
have a discussion, it is necessary to share a common space and to accept
differences. People who connect to the internet willingly help others and
work collectively to have a place which allows their personal speech and
which allows the speech of others. It is in this spirit of an open forum that
we are holding this party today. The internet and other communications
networks are about people and are about people communicating with each
other. It is this understanding and experience which I shared with the
interviewers. The internet is not about computers and isolated experiences,
Page 17
it is a very social human experience.
I entered Columbia asking the question “Why are people, so com-
placent in this country?” I asked this question on my application essay in
1990 considering that people in Eastern Europe and China were fighting
their governments for a better life and a better world, while here at home
little seemed to be happening to combat the worsening times.
In thinking about this question, I chose the joint Philosophy
/Economics major as my prospective major. My introduction to the
Columbia bureaucracy came about when upon visiting campus, I dis-
covered this major had been turned upside down, and was now based in
the Economics Department rather than the Philosophy Department and
was renamed Economics and Philosophy. The emphasis was: similarly
shifted from classical philosophy to contemporary economics.
In arriving at Columbia and setting up my computer account, I
connected to the world by using Usenet Newsgroups. My Unix account,
[email protected], gave me access to Usenet Newsgroups which are
public discussion forums that are circulated around the world. It was in
discussions on these newsgroups that I developed my academic study. I
was fascinated by the internet and Usenet News and wanted to find out
more about this network which connected people from around the world.
It was on the internet and Usenet where I posed questions and
conducted research into what other people found valuable about being and
how it was important in their lives.
In researching these questions during different history and literature
classes, along with several independent studies, I became an active
participant of the Usenet Newsgroups and mailing lists. I submitted ques-
tions and thought pieces to these forums, and people around the world
responded with their opinions and thoughts. I became interested in the Net
itself, and I posed questions about it . Many people found they shared this
interest, and they connected to me and contributed their understandings of
the value of the Net to their lives. Many of these private electronic mail
messages and public Usenet responses were extremely thoughtful. I also
raised questions about how it was possible for such a medium to develop
where people were helpful to total strangers. In starting to research the
history of the internet and Usenet News, students and professors who were
part of that history sent me personal accounts and supporting documenta-
Page 18
tion.
My papers and research about the internet and Usenet have been
guided and helped by many real people around the world. When I finished
my papers, I contributed back to the Net by making them publicly
available and asking for comments and criticism. In addition to various
responses of that sort, I also received much encouragement and support.
People wrote thanking me for making my writings available.
Also, I received various requests from professors and others to
reprint and make my writings available to classes and other more public
forums. This support was of course in addition to help and encouragement
from my parents. All of this support came outside of Columbia. There
were two professors in the Computer Science Department, namely
Professor Unger and Professor Greenleaf, and there was Professor Garton
from the Music Department who were helpful, but there was very little
help from the university or computer science department as a whole. My
connection to the outside world and community is what has both made my
research possible, and provided feedback that this research was important
and valuable to others. I have mainly enjoyed the time I have spent at
Columbia because of the feedback I received from other people saying
they appreciated my effort, and that my writings have been useful for more
than just a grade.
Identification of this value to society came slowly but surely. People
sent various e-mail messages, and this was helpful, but did not feel to be
lasting. These past two years have been marked by various events which
have helped to solidify my understanding of the value. The word Netizen
started to appear both and in print. Papers I wrote were published in three
journals. Ronda and I gave several presentations in New York City and
Michigan from the book we put together. A radio station in California
interviewed me last semester. And currently Ronda and I are negotiating
with a publisher to publish our book in a printed form. Lastly, professors
from the Global Communications Institute in Japan have been communi-
cating with me about my participating at a conference in Japan later this
year. The interview on Friday was the culminating event which identified
that this work has been recognized as important.
After four years, I feel I have answered the question with which I
entered Columbia. The internet and Usenet News provides a place where
Page 19
people can communicate with other people at a grassroots level to make
their lives better and to attempt to make the world a better place. By
connecting to others with similar interests, questions and problems, along
with people with different understandings, it is now possible to try and do
something about the world, and to gain some power in how one lives his
or her life.
All in all, while Columbia has been a difficult place to live for the
last four years, it has been an honor to be able to contribute to the world
some understanding of how to make a better future.
[Editor’s Note: The following post appeared on Usenet on March 4, 1996. In it the author
gives the background to an article that appeared in Japanese in the Nishi-Nippon Press
on January 1, 1996. A translation into English of that article follows the author’s
introduction.]
Good Press Coverage of the Net and
Netizens
by Michael Hauben
I visited Japan in November 1995 to speak at the Hyper Network
Conference, Beppu Bay '95. The conference theme was “The Netizen
Revolution and the Regional Information Infrastructure.” The conference
theme was chosen in an attempt to understand what principles would help
expand the Internet in Japan.
While at the conference, a reporter from the Nishi-Nippon Shimbun
interviewed me. The article based on the interview about my research and
Netizens was published in the Nishi-Nippon newspaper New Years Day
special edition. It was special that it was published in the New Years issue,
as it helps to welcome a new era with the new year. The Nishi-Nippon
Press is located in Fukuoka City, Oita Prefecture.
Following is a rough translation of the article that conveys the
significance of the role Netizens have had in building the Net to be a
cooperative communications medium which benefits the larger commu-
Page 20
nity.
This translation is being distributed on Usenet with permission from
the publishers of Nishi-Nippon Shimbun.
Peace,
Michael
English Translation of Article in
Nishi-Nippon Shimbun,
January 1, 1996 Issue
by Michiko Sato
Translated by Mieko Nagano and Ken’ichi Nagano
Netizen Revolution
Do you know the word “Netizen”?
This is a new word made of “network” and “citizen.” Michael
Hauben (22), a graduate student of Columbia University in the USA first
advocated the word three years ago.
His definition is “Those people who are eager to create a better
society by exchanging creative opinions through personal computers.”
This word has spread with the explosive growth of the Internet.
Netizens are people from all types of backgrounds. Their activity extends
beyond considerations of country, race, gender or age.
This word is now being highlighted on a global scale through the
explosive proliferation of the Internet. From homes, communities, com-
panies, and schools, a vast number of Netizens are communicating using
the Internet beyond border, race, gender, and age.
How do they change the world?
The advocator Michael Hauben and some members of COARA, a
representative grass roots PC communication group, came to talk on the
value of Netizenship.
MAIN ARTICLE
Mr. Michael Hauben, the advocator of Netizen, speaks quietly, yet
Page 21
his claim is fully apparent.
“Systems of top down hierarchical communication are being
challenge. The distribution of communication will be emphasized from
now on. Everybody tries to communicate to make the society better”
He explains the definition of Netizen and continues “For example,
an ordinary person can be a reporter. One can send news to the rest of the
world.”
He was 12 years old when he first used computers to communicate
with other people.
“I joined a local network in Michigan. I became aware of the
activities of people to exchange opinions, to help each other, and to share
knowledge. That was a new experience for me,” he recalls.
This experience sent him to Columbia University’s computer science
department. One of the fruits of his research work is the concept of
Netizen. The new word has proliferated world-wide through the Internet.
“I was delighted to find that the concept of Netizen was being
discussed widely in Japan.”
He reflects on his first impression in attending the Hyper network
Beppu Bay Conference '95.
“Communication is the very basic tenet of Netizenship. The micro-
computer is a mere tool. Therefore, what is wonderful is that so many
people joined the session in Beppu to see each other.”
Prior to the conference, he received an e-mail welcoming him from
a COARA member. In return, he brought a cook book as a present. “I
browsed her home page and learned she loved cooking” he explained
simply.
The popularization ratio of PCs in Japan is remarkably reaching 15
% of the whole population. But this is still low compared with Western
countries.
“Also in the U.S., the PC became much more popular when the price
of personal computers was lowered. Besides price, there are a lot of
problems to be solved, such as improved interfaces, more and better
training and so on. But those problems will soon be solved and the Net
will spread further.”
“Just net surfing or making a home page for show does not make a
real Netizen. What is important is having a strong will to encourage
Page 22
discussions.”
The discoverer of Netizen is also a person of practice.
Michael Hauben Teachers College
Dept. of Communication
Amateur Computerist Newsletter,
WWW Music Index, http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/music/
[Editor’s Note: The following is a post that appeared on March 5, 1996 in the Usenet
newsgroup comp.dcom.telecom also known as TELECOM Digest. It contains a post to
that newsgroup on March 4, 1996 with the subject “The need for a Netizens Associa-
tion.”]
Original Call for a Netizens Association
Article: 52786 of comp.dcom.telecom
From: TELECOM Digest Editor
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: The Need For a Netizens Association
Date: Tue, 05 Mar 1996
Organization: TELECOM Digest, PO Box 4621, Skokie, IL 60076
An interesting message reached me today that I thought several of
you might be interested in. If you do wish to continue the discussion,
please send your comments direct to the author as shown below and not
to the Digest itself. Perhaps at some future point the author will be so kind
as to summarize responses for the Digest and submit them to me for
publication.
PAT*
From: [email protected] (Michael Hauben)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Page 23
Subject: The need for a Netizens Association
Date: 4 Mar 1996
Organization: Columbia University
Reply-To: [email protected]
The recent passing of the telecommunications bill in the USA
demonstrates the lack of understanding by Congress and the government
about the value of the Net and what it really is. In light of this, there seems
a need for people to organize and form a Netizens Association. The
following summary of a trip I made to Japan in November 1995 describes
the genesis for this idea. Please e-mail me or respond publicly if you have
suggestions or can help.
Hiroyuki Takahashi is the co-proposer for Netizens Association.
Toward a Netizens Association
/Michael Hauben
A little under one year ago, I received a letter sent through the
Internet, via electronic mail. The letter was sent by a professor from Japan,
and concerned studies we were both interested in. This communication
between people concerned common interests despite differences in age,
language, and culture. While Professor Shumpei Kumon knew English and
was studying global communication, there were still real barriers of
distance and time. I hope to show how the new technologies are helping
to alleviate these barriers and help bring us into a new age of communica-
tions where the old rules and ways are no longer the guiding rules and
ways.
What brought Professor Kumon and me together was our shared
interest in the globalization of culture and society through the emerging
communications technologies. The specific concern was about the emer-
gence of Netizens, or people who use computer networks who consider
themselves to be part of a global identity. The Netizen is part of a
developing global cooperative community. I first used the term “Netizen”
in 1993 after researching people’s uses for the Internet and Usenet.
Professor Kumon’s first communication to me follows:
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995
From: [email protected] (Shumpei Kumon)
Page 24
Subject: Netizen
Hi,
I am a social scientist in Japan writing on information revolu-
tion and information-oriented civilization. Since I came across
the tern “netizen” about a year ago. I have been fascinated by
this idea. It seems that the age of not only technological-
industrial but also political-social revolution is coming, com-
parable to the “citizen’s revolution” in the past. I would very
much like to do a book on that theme.
Yesterday, I was delighted to find your Netizen’s Cyberstop.
You are doing a great job.
shumpei kumon
Professor Kumon also asked if I was the first to use the term Netizen.
Part of his studies are socio-linguistics, so he is interested in the develop-
ment and use of language over time. Netizen had come to replace the term
netter or networker in Japan to describe people who use computer
networks.
In response to my return message, Professor Kumon offered his
understanding of Netizen as “people who abide in networks and are
engaged in collaborative propagation of information and knowledge just
as citizens abide in cities and are engaged in commerce and industry.” He
continued, “In this sense we can perhaps find the origin of netizens in
Europe of 13-15
th
centuries, just as first citizens in modern civilization
appeared in Europe of 12
th
century as commerce revived there.” Professor
Kumon concluded the message by asking if I was interested in visiting
Japan. He said he could make this possible.
At the time I did not know where this would lead, but I responded
that I would be very much interested in visiting. Japan was an unfamiliar
country for me. Previously in my education I did do some research into the
secondary education system, and found it to be a very stressful environ-
ment. Otherwise I had some general interest in the culture. However, I was
unfamiliar with Professor Kumon, and the institutions he was connected
to, the Global Communications Institute (GLOCOM) of which he was the
director and the International University of Japan. However, this contact
with him, and soon with his colleagues brought me to Japan. One of the
Page 25
planning directors of GLOCOM, Izumi Aizu, wrote me shortly after
Professor Kumon, and mentioned a conference in November to which they
might invite me. Before the real invitation actually arrived, several other
events took place.
Izumi Aizu arrived in New York City in late April, and we spoke of
many things. Most interesting was how he saw the Internet being a direct
challenge to traditional Japanese culture. While people normally go by
their last names in Japan, the Usenet and Internet culture encourages first-
name familiarity. Professor Kumon’s e-mail address was made up of his
first name, not his last. The style of writing in e-mail is usually informal.
The ease of use encourages people to use the medium as if it were in
between writing a letter and making a phone call. E-mail, Usenet and the
world wide web (WWW) encourage people to share their original thoughts
and creations with the world. I have been told that Japanese culture
encourages people to represent the larger grouping they are part of. The
concept and history of Netizen strikes a good mid-point between being
individualistic or having a group identity. Netizens represent themselves,
but as part of the larger group. The many-to-many technology gives
people the chance to represent themselves, but in the context of contribut-
ing to the whole community. During Izumi’s visit, we also briefly spoke
of some of the barriers to the spread of the Internet in Japan and the United
States. A big concern of Izumi’s was who could or should pay to spread
the Internet in Japan. There are other social and technical hurdles to
overcome in order to spread the Internet throughout Japan.
Izumi described more of the work of the HyperNetwork Society
which was connected to a network community in Oita Prefecture and
described some about the conference I was being invited to speak at in
November. He also asked if I was willing to be interviewed for a
television special that would be created for Japanese TV introducing
Netizens and describing the Internet.
Two days after my graduation from Columbia College in May, the
two film-makers arrived to conduct their interview and to film me and
Columbia. They explained that their film would be aired on TV Tokyo, a
NHK television channel on an educational TV show in July, 1995.
The airing of the TV program about the Internet, communications
and multimedia was very important to my later trip to Japan. My
Page 26
connection to Japan would broaden out from the initial contact by the
members of GLOCOM. After July 2, I received several e-mail messages
from other people in Japan.
A student in his final year of undergraduate study at Saitama
University wrote on the very day the TV show was on in Japan. In his e-
mail, Hiroyuki Takahashi explained that “I discovered your idea – Netizen
… . I feel attracted to your concept. I would like to talk with you about
netizen and so on. I want to spread netizen among networker in JAPAN.”
(email of July 2). He asked if he could copy to his public computer server
in Japan the documents about Netizens that I have publicly available
through my Columbia University web pages.
I responded yes, and wrote, “I am glad to hear you are trying to
spread Internet access to the public. We thus have a common goal. :-)”
(email July 2, 1995)
Hiroyuki wrote back “Yes we can collaborate on that purpose.”
He had apologized saying that his English was not very good. I
responded that “unfortunately, I speak no Japanese, but appreciate that we
can communicate.” Hiro wrote back saying “Nationality has no longer
senses on the network. Everybody stands on same starting points. :-)”
He wrote that there were many problems in trying to spread the
Internet in Japan as computer networking had grown a lot in the past two
years. He explained: “[In the] Last two years [the] computer network
environment in Japan grew up marvelously so most of Japanese included
mass media, market and ordinary men cannot catch up with the growth
and they are expecting too much.” Hiroyuki explained “So now I am
seeking how to spread network environments.” (e-mail July 4, 1995)
The connection to GLOCOM similarly flourished, and I was asked
to contribute a chapter to Professor Kumon’s planned book about Netizens
tentatively titled “The Netizen Revolution.” In addition, I submitted a
paper for inclusion in a newspaper special supplement whose theme was
“The Media Revolution.”
More people sent me e-mail, and I posted publicly to public
newsgroups like soc.culture.japan and fj.life.in-japan. This connection
with people from across the globe whose native language was different
was occurring because the computer and communications technology had
developed to 1) break down the geographic and time barriers, and 2) break
Page 27
down the social barriers which exist in all cultures, but which are
traditionally strong in Japanese culture. These changes are helping all
cultures and societies to become more global, in both making their
contribution to the larger world and to receive back from the world.
I heard from Izumi several times after July concerning the confer-
ence, and the final invitation arrived in August. Izumi invited me to make
a presentation on “Netizen concept and issues.” Izumi also mentioned that
there would be two other Internet conferences in Kobe that it might be
possible to attend.
In November, plans for my visit to Japan were worked out. I was
asked to prepare a 20 minute talk and to submit a description of my talk
for the conference program.
I wrote Hiro telling him I would be visiting Japan and asked if it
would be possible to meet him. I also posted on some Japanese Usenet
newsgroups asking if there were suggestions about my visit.
Hiro wrote back that he would be very happy to meet me. He said
that “We can discuss or talk about many things; netizen, internet,
computing and so on. I am very happy to see you :-)” (email Nov 16)
When I was in Japan, we met and had dinner. We spoke of many
things including the lack of professors at his University who understand
the computer technology. I learned that he and other students managed the
campus computers and networks. Hiro also worked toward introducing the
Internet and spreading its use in Japan. When I asked how I could help, he
mentioned that he wanted help to translate some of the netizens writings
into Japanese. I said I would be helpful if he had any questions. Then I left
Tokyo and went to the HyperNetwork conference in Oita. Similar to what
took place in Tokyo, I received an extremely warm and friendly welcom-
ing from many of the people from COARA and the BBC '95 conference.
My presentation in Beppu concentrated on describing the emergence of
Netizens and analyzing the development of the public communications
medium know as the Net. Following is a definition of Netizens presented
in the speech, “Netizens are the people who actively contribute toward the
development of the Net. These people understand the value of collective
work and the communal aspects of public communications. These are the
people who actively discuss and debate topics in a constructive manner,
who e-mail answers to people and provide help to new-comers, who
Page 28
maintain FAQ files and other public information repositories, who main
tain mailing lists, and so on. These are people who discuss the nature and
role of this new communications medium. However, these are not all
people. Netizens are not just anyone who comes , and they are especially
not people who come for isolated gain or profit. They are not people who
come to the Net thinking it is a service. Rather they are people who
understand it takes effort and action on each and everyone’s part to make
the Net a regenerative and vibrant community and resource. Netizens are
people who decide to devote time and effort into making the Net, this new
part of our world, a better place.” When I got back to Tokyo, Hiro came
to visit again, and he brought several members of his computer club with
him. The computer club was the Advanced Computer and Communication
Engineering Studying Society (a.k.a. ACCESS).
I had also received email from Mieko Nagano in November before
my visit to Japan who said she was housewife active in the community
network COARA which sponsored the Hyper network conference. Her e-
mail was an invitation to the conference from someone outside of
GLOCOM. In a later email she wrote that she was moved by my concept
of Netizen which she shared in my understanding would “help further the
growth of the Net by connecting a diversity of people who have various
opinions, specialties and interests. This worldwide connection of people
and other information resources of different sorts will help the world move
forward in solving different societal problems.” (email Oct. 29, 1995)
She wrote that she was not able to “comprehend high-class discus-
sions in the past conferences.” “I only enjoy,” she continued, “as a
ordinary housewife, communication with good-willed and good-sensed
people through COARA and/or E-mail on real name basis.”
“What is great for me,” she noted, “is that I can talk to the people all
over the world instantaneously and look around various sites full of
information including images and sounds.” (Oct. 29)
When I arrived at the hypernetwork conference, there were stickers
and hats declaring “Netizen in COARA.” After the conference, Mieko
explained:
Naming after NETIZEN, as Mr. Hauben advocated, COARA
members prepared in advance ‘Netizen sticker’ appealing to be
COARA constituent by attaching the logo on their chests of
Page 29
clothes and welcomed our guests. (email Dec 12, 1995)
After our visit, I wrote Hiro that I was very happy to have met him
and his friends from their computer club at his University. In his email
when I returned home he asked if there was a Netizens Association. He
wrote in a P.S. in an email of Dec. 6 “Netizen association is available? If
not in Japan, I want to make it.” I told him I did not know of any and
asked him what he had in mind for a Netizens association to do. He
responded:
I think [a] Netizen Association is a guide into tomorrow’s
Internet world. Internet and other network[s] have a flood of
electrical informations. So people cannot swim very good in
Internet. So Netizen Association tell or advise how to swim or
get selected information. The association act as guide. Oh, and
we have to spread information about concept of netizen. But
making association process has many difficult points, I think.
So we have to give careful consideration to the matter.
“Please let me know your idea,” he added. (email Dec. 12, 1995)
Hiro also wrote that he and his classmates had a “translation team”
that was “now reading carefully” through the Netizens article. “And next
Thursday and Friday,” he wrote, “our club has big presentation about
Internet in my university, so we are very hard [at work] this week.” (from
Dec. 9, 1995 email.)
Others wrote to explain their interest in the concept of Netizen. The
response was important because as I found out while in Japan, the word
‘netizen’ meaning ‘network citizen’ would have a different meaning in the
Japanese culture. The term or concept of citizen differs from the American
meaning as the individual finds meaning in the group organizational
setting and not separately. This means the meaning of the concept rather
than the surface of the term was understood.
While in Japan, I met many people interested in spreading the
Internet. Those involved, young or old, found it important to try and
connect people to the Internet as a way forward into the future. Young
people were happy to have a new tool to challenge the old conventions of
society. I was more surprised to find others of older generations still
interested in this new technological medium which was challenging the
traditional Japanese social customs. More importantly, however, was the
Page 30
global connections and broadening of people the Internet brings. Mieko,
Izumi, Professor Kumon and Hiro were all working toward making it
possible for the Japanese people, from any part of Japan, to be able to
communicate with others around the world.
Michael Hauben, Teachers College Dept. of Communication
Netizens Netbook,
WWW Music Index, http://www.columbia.edu/-hauben/music/
[TELECOM Digest Editor’s Note: Thank you for a very fine presentation to the Digest
readers today. I quite agree that a Netizen’s Association would be a marvelous idea. I
wonder what other Digest readers think of this proposal? I believe we should at this time
unanimously appoint Mr. Hauben as Chairperson or President of the Netizens Association
in the United States and encourage him to work with not only his counterparts in Japan
but to aid in beginning Netizen Association chapters or groups all over the world. And
Michael, you can count me in as a member from the very beginning. PAT]
* Pat Townsend moderated the TELECOM Digest, the Usenet newsgroup,
comp.decom.telecom. The TELECOM Digest was a long running newsgroup and email
distribution focused primarily on telephony technology and other aspects of telecommuni-
cations. The TELECOM Digest Archives are available at:
https://telecomdigest.net/arch
ives/back.issues/.
[Editor’s Note: The following is a post Michael Hauben made to Usenet newsgroup
nyc.general and others on April 3, 1996. It contained the list announcement for a netizens
association. It is at: https://groups.google.com/g/nyc.general/c/PJXRHE1jVJ4/m/KxUW
DoFJ83IJ.]
New List: Netizens Association
I posted to these newsgroups a month ago a call for the formation of
a Netizens Association. We are one step closer, as a mailing list is now
formed to plan and discuss some an association. Following is the list
announcement and in the next message I will send the proposed list
Page 31
charter.
Please e-mail me if you have any problems subscribing to the
mailing lists or any thoughts. My e-mail is [email protected].
Regards,
/Michael Hauben
NEW LIST ANNOUNCEMENT: NETIZENS ASSOCIATION
During a recent trip to Japan, I met a number of networking
enthusiasts who were interested in spreading the Internet in Japan. They
found the Netizen concept to be helpful in their efforts. One student who
I met in Tokyo, Hiroyuki Takahashi, suggested that there was a need to
form a Netizens Association. This association could work toward
educating people and helping them to gain literacy in both the technical
and social aspects of working, living and playing on the Net. In addition,
this Netizens Association would function as a forum to bring people
together to protect and advance the Net as a new public commons and
global community. I propose to work toward forming a prototype for a
local Netizens Association chapter. The success of a few such chapters
could lead to the spreading of chapters focused around educational
institutions or communities. This would be in conjunction with efforts by
people working for similar goals in other countries across the globe like
Japan, and Canada. (From Toward a Netizens Association: Proposed
Netizens List Charter)
In response to these common goals, it was proposed that a Netizens
Association be formed. Such an association would fill two purposes, 1) to
bring together netizens interested in nurturing the net and 2) to spread
knowledge and literacy to those not. To that purpose, the majordomo
mailing list [email protected] has been created. This list will begin
the discussion toward the principles, goals and questions for such an
association. I would hope local Netizen Association chapters would form
based on this list. These associations could help spread Net Literacy and
encourage both new and old users to contribute to the Net. Look to the
WWW page:
http://www.colum bia.edu/~hauben/netizen/ for more infor-
mation.
How to Join:
Page 32
send an e-mail message to netizens-request @columbia .edu with the
message body of: subscribe. If this does not work, send e-mail to:
[email protected] with a message body of
subscribe netizens. If neither way works, write me at:
[email protected]. To subscribe to the DIGEST version of
the list, send e-mail to [email protected].
Michael Hauben, Teachers College Dept. of Communication
Netizens Netbook,
WWW Music Index, http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/music/
[Editor’s Note: The following is a post Michael Hauben made to multiple Usenet
newsgroups on April 3, 1996. It contained the proposed Netizens List Charter for a
netizens association. It is at:
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.edu/c/GJq-0VVCF44/m
/B37yYZX1fYEJ.]
Proposed Netizens List Charter
Draft for Comment
The global computer communications network now stretches around
the world. However, there are many places within reach of the Net which
are currently not connected, either because of lack of money, of knowl-
edge, or of other factors impeding access. There are many Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) and services spreading, but these commercial entities do
not guarantee that everyone who would be interested in connecting with
the world will have the ability to do so. Also, the personal computer is not
affordable to a great number of people around the world. Just as it is
important to the American society as a whole to connect our nation
together, so there is a similar need in other countries and a need to form
a truly global and universal computer communications network. This is a
difficult undertaking but one currently more in reach than ever before.
There is a growing body of people who identify as members of a
global community which communicates electronically over the world-
Page 33
wide computer communications network. These people have come to
understand the value of the communication ability facilitated by the
Internet and identify as citizens of the Net, or as Netizens. Netizens are
people who work to contribute to the growth and collaborative community
of the Net. The word describes those who help newcomers on the Net to
understand the value of the Net by teaching how to utilize it and contribute
back to it. The idea of Netizen has now spread around the world and is
used in a variety of ways. The idea represents a helpful way to portray the
principles and the vision of the social advancement that the global
connection of netizens networking worldwide can make possible. It is
important to support this vision and these principles. There is a need, to act
toward making the community available to all. Infrastructure needs to be
established which would allow broad access and the chance to teach the
new literacy of both computer and other skills. The Internet is currently
under pressure from business and governments around the world to go in
a direction that strays from the guiding vision of the original ARPANET
pioneers who saw an intergalactic network that would be a public
intellectual utility. Usenet pioneers envisioned discussion groups being
made available around the world and at low cost as part of an emerging
WorldNet which would be world wide and multifaceted.
In response to a call for people interested in forming such an
association of netizens I received responses from about 40 different
people. The responses mainly came from North America, with a number
from Japan and Europe. The overwhelming sentiment however, where
ever the response came from, was “how can I help?” There was an
urgency present in the messages.
Concern existed with how to communicate successfully across
cultures and societal differences. “What needs to be accomplished?” was
asked. A desire was expressed to think globally enough to make such an
organization international in scope. So while benefits were seen in offline
organizing, it was important to tie these efforts together in a way which
contributed to a new global cooperative community. The grassroots
development was highlighted as a difference between this possible
association and current societies focusing on technology and the Internet.
It is important to bridge the gap between the discussion about access
and availability with offline grass-roots action and development. The
Page 34
component will guide the physical world development and feedback from
that experience will inform the discussions. Individuals in localities
concerned with the further development, expansion and accessibility of the
Net help the technology by spreading literacy and understanding about the
new global community breaking previous social and geographic bound-
aries. Given the vision of a future networked world and the tenuousness
of the current time in realizing this vision, it is important that concerned
individuals come together to discuss how to protect and expand the world,
while working with others toward making the networked future a reality.
During a recent trip to Japan, I met a number of networking
enthusiasts who were interested in spreading the Internet in Japan. They
found the Netizen concept to be helpful in their efforts. One student who
I met in Tokyo, Hiroyuki Takahashi, suggested that there was a need to
form a Netizens Association. This association could work toward edu-
cating people and helping them to gain literacy in both the technical and
social aspects of working, living and playing on the Net. In addition, this
Netizens Association would function as a forum to bring people together
to protect and advance the Net as a new public commons and global
community. I propose to work toward forming a prototype for a local
Netizens Association chapter. The success of a few such chapters could
lead to the spreading of chapters focused around educational institutions
or communities. This would be in conjunction with efforts by people
working for similar goals in other countries across the globe like Japan,
and Canada.
While I have global concerns and contacts, it is important to start
locally and concentrate on forming local associations that will help those
in particular areas learn about the value of networking and help them to
spread what they have learned to their schools and communities.
I also see the need to have public access to Usenet and email
available via public terminals in schools, libraries, and other public places.
Part of the work of a local Netizens Association might be to encourage
government, school and library officials to make such access available.
Also, I am forming a mailing list for people to discuss the principles
behind a Netizens Association. In addition, this list will be for communi-
cation about the formation of local chapters and the discussion about how
Netizens can support the Net and help work against ignorant actions
Page 35
against the Net by individuals or groups.
This is an important time in the development of a new form of
human communication that the computer makes possible. The recent
passage in the USA of the Communications Act of 1996 will be setting up
machinery in the USA to determine whether access will be available to all
or limited to the few. It is a struggle in all countries to make access
available to all who desire it. This is a call for people to come together to
discuss and work toward these goals.
Appendix
Following is a summary of the concerns and thoughts expressed by
those who responded to my initial post about the need for a Netizens
Association:
How serious is this effort to create “chapters” of the Netizen’s Assoc.? …
I think I can help you in a small way and, if, after reading my thoughts,
you still think so, let me know.
I … educate people on a daily basis about the net. I have started a
popular Internet Interest Group in the store and loved doing it. One of the
ways I stay informed is subscribing to the Cyber-Rights mailing list,
amongst others.
fascinating sub-study of the ability of the virtual world Netizens to have
an impact upon the physical world in which they interact.
We are so engrossed with what the technology can do, we fail to log
off in time to stand up for the potential in the physical world. It is no
wonder we get things like the CDA, we are children with new toys trying
to convince professional adults we are serious.
I would like to believe that the manifesto of the DigitaLiberty
people, technology will save us, will eventually become true. Maybe it
will for my child’s grandchildren. Today we need to act in the real world.
How would you feel about me putting together a Netizen chapter? I am
moving to a new city in a couple of weeks and the chance exists that I may
not have to work right away. In other words, time. The main purpose
would be to educate those offline or those but [who are only] reading the
ads.
Page 36
make me a netizen.
Has much research been done on “individual base reasoning,” I
wonder? When we think of membership to a race, country or region, we
are faced with a multitude of problems including overlapping, etc. But on
an individual basis, persons are members of their individual community
of one and also one of the 5.8 billion that make up our human population.
Of course, as a living being or glob of matter we are also members of
something bigger, but considering persons on an individual basis, human
level, as in a Netizen Association seems to be the natural flow of things,
and less problematic than race, nationality, etc.
I suspect that you are receiving overwhelming support for a Netizens
Association.
May I suggest one point that should be included in the mission
statement? – To minimize the damage to the benefits of existing cultures,
while facilitating the benefits of change to those cultures.
If there is anything that I can do to assist you please contact me.
Was anything I could do to assist in such an effort. Do you plan on
forming a mailing list (or is there already one to which I can subscribe)?
Have you been working at all at home on this idea or is this an
international thing?
I have all kinds of questions, reservations and concerns, but I shall
defer expressing them until I learn how the concept develops.
“netizen” phenomenon is to look at it in terms of it being an
incredibly successful “meme.”
What needs to be accomplished?
The degree of ignorance displayed by the “experts” giving presenta-
tions on the topic was, in fact, shocking. It seems to me very bad laws are
made on the basis of ignorance this profound. What do you suggest?
Page 37
I’d be interested in being on you mailing list, as long as you don’t
think I’ll get swamped.
I’d be very interested in joining if it doesnt cost a lot.
* It seems now that a day doesn’t pass without another attack from
a government on our ability to live freely on the Net:
– U.S. (encryption restrictions; CDA; state AG suits; …)
– China (Internet packet filtering; ISP licensing)
– Germany (newsgroup)
– Singapore (Internet packet filtering; ISP licensing)
* While you note a colleague said netizens “are especially not people
who come for isolated gain or profit” I would hope that you wouldn’t use
this to screen people out. My work is my life and I believe this is also the
case for others in our company as well as millions of other Netizens.
Certain people or disciplines may not like “profit,” but, being intellectu-
ally honest, profit (what’s left from the harvest after costs) is what lets us
eat.
I believe that the WELL and the River are held back because they
never developed the grand scheme for a truly global community.
I think it embodied very well a few aspects of the Internet, such as
fast global communication, and a sense of community.
Automatically assume that japan would have been up to date on this
latest technology.
I wanted to lend a hand. The Internet in western Japan has really
taken hold in the last six months, and I’m trying to promote its use esp.
among students and ESL/EFL learners.
Global Netizen Organization … . I certainly believe the spirit of the
NET, or ordinary people having an unfettered voice and being able to talk
with others all over the world will bring world peace and respect for all
cultures.
Also, tell me what would be involved in my being the “Canadian”
Page 38
connection for the Netizen Organization?
I think one needs a sharp aim if such an association will have any
chance of being more than a flea.
How about an adopt an “offliner” program? Get them up and running
& educate them on the importance of what they are using? If you do get
a mailing list going please subscribe me. I feel I must warn you that I
believe these can get in the way of real action.
I am used to groups such as the “Association for Computing
Machinery,” the Internet Society (a society promotes the Internet), and so
on. That is completely backwards from what the Netizens Association
would be, I would think.
I am working in the conventional communication fields and I feel
that our old society will be getting attacked and blamed by the netizens.
There will be some frictions between both societies, but I do not worry
about them. As people who are engaging in the communication fields
know the essence or the purpose of communication. They enjoy first to
make the pass road between unknown worlds, then to have a contact with
unknown people and finally to become close friends.
I feel the netizen idea is very similar to that of amateur ham radio.
Reminding the idea of young age, I would like to cooperate with netizens
to make the peaceful netizen world. Thank you for your message.
One of the problems which I think its problem is, growing Internet
in Japan seems forming “Japanese cyber space.” I know that there’s no
physical barriers in cyber space, but language barriers are hard to cross for
many Japanese. Many young people are excited by web, and start to surf
and making their web pages. But most of their web pages are made for
Japanese and they only surf for Japanese pages.
I am afraid that Japan is tend to be isolated and too nationalistic. If
they meet serious argument, they tend to misunderstand to be threatened.
So I think individual Japanese should communicate with individual people
outside Japan. And I strongly think THE NET is the only chance to do it.
Page 39
Those deeply involved become elitist and not only don’t wish to help
others become involved, but often want to discourage people from
becoming involved. In the case of the internet this should go the opposite
way.
Have Netizen organizations been formed or will they be? And what
would their duties be exactly?
Well, I think of anything you succeeded in demonstrating how the
net can transcend such traditional boundaries and how such a perceived
different group of people can share such universal goals.
What I am left confused with is the persuasive side of the e-mail
message. So if there’s any call to action message – specifically – em-
bedded, then I didn’t catch it. But again, I doubt that would be the main
thrust of what you wrote.
Don’t get me wrong, Michael, I’m not trying to discredit what you
are saying. I love the hope and excitement you exhibit talking about this.
But you need to examine more closely how cultures work, imho, to further
yr argument. Again, my opinions.
However, I’m curious and a bit confused about your idea of a
Netizen’s Association. Are you proposing a global group of Netizens that
can act as a political lobby for net rights/consciousness in individual
countries? Sort of like a Green Party comprised of Net regulars who wish
to move toward a global consciousness facilitated by the Net?
Is there some way to have a presence on Usenet as well as setting up
a mailing list to work toward a Netizens Association?
Michael Hauben, Teachers College Dept. of Communication
Netizens Netbook,
WWW Music Index, http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/music/
Page 40
[Editor’s Note: The following is a post Michael Hauben made to multiple Usenet
newsgroups on May 30, 1997. It contains his joyful announcement that Netizens: On the
History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet has appeared in a print edition. This post
is at:
https://groups.google.com /g/comp.edu/c/if-m9bfvsnc/m/5X 6rD0RXZOIJ.]
Netizens Netbook Finally in a
Print Edition (-:
The Netizens Netbook is now in print! After three long years, it is
nice to see at last a print edition. It is a tribute to the Net and the contribu-
tions and support of many of you that it has finally appeared in an “old-
world” book.
The draft remains at: http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/netbook/
which we will try and update when we get the chance to be the latest
version.
The book’s full title is Netizens: On the History and Impact of
Usenet and the Internet and the authors are Michael Hauben and Ronda
Hauben. The ISBN number is 0-8186-7706-6. The publisher is the IEEE
Computer Society Press.
If you do not see it in your local bookstore, you can ask them to get
copies in by giving them the above information.
We welcome people interested in reviewing the book or other
comments. Write Ronda at: [email protected] or
Thanks for the help and support!
/Michael,
The table of contents is as follows:
Foreword: By Tom Truscott
Preface: What is a Netizen?
Introduction: Participatory Networks
Part I – The Present: What Has Been Created and How?
Page 41
Chapter 1 – The Net and the Netizens: The Effect the Net has on People’s
Lives
Chapter 2 – The Evolution of Usenet: The Poor Man’s ARPANET
Chapter 3 – The Social Forces Behind The Development of Usenet
Chapter 4 – The World of Usenet
Part II – The Past: Where Has It All Come From?
Chapter 5 – The Vision of Interactive Computing and the Future
Chapter 6 – Cybernetics, Time-sharing, Human-Computer Symbiosis and
Communities: Creating a Supercommunity of Communities
Chapter 7 – Behind the Net: The Untold Story of the ARPANET and
Computer Science
Chapter 8 – The Birth and Development of the ARPANET
Chapter 9 – On the Early History and Impact of UNIX: Tools to Build the
Tools for a New Millennium
Chapter 10 – On the Early Days of Usenet: The Roots of the Cooperative
Culture
Part III – And the Future?
Chapter 11 – The NTIA Conference on the Future of the Net Creating a
Prototype for a Democratic Decision Making Process
Chapter 12 – “Imminent Death of the Net Predicted!”
Chapter 13 – The Effect of the Net on the Professional News Media: The
Usenet News Collective and Man-Computer News Symbiosis
Chapter 14 – The Net and the Future of Politics: The Ascendancy of the
Commons
Chapter 15 – Exploring New York City’s Community: A Snapshot of
NYC.General
Part IV – Contributions Toward Developing a Theoretical Framework
Chapter 16 – The Expanding Commonwealth of Learning: Printing and the
Net
Chapter 17 – ‘Arte’: An Economic Perspective
Page 42
Chapter 18 – The Computer as Democratizer
Bibliography
Glossary of Acronyms
Appendix
Proposed draft Declaration of the Rights of Netizens
Michael Hauben, Teachers College Dept. of Communication
Netizens Netbook,
WWW Music Index, http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/music/
[Editor’s Note: On July 14, 1997 a book party was held in NYC to celebrate the pub-
lication in May of that year of Netizens: On the History and Impact of Usenet and the
Internet. Below is an announcement of that event that was posted in soc.culture.french.]
Bastille Day Celebration in NYC
In recognition of Bastille Day and the efforts for people around the
world to gain influence in the developing of democracy around the world,
we have chosen Bastille Day to celebrate the publication of the print edition
of Netizens.
Labyrinth Books and the IEEE Computer Society present a reading,
book discussion and party celebrating the release of Netizens: On the
History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet by Michael Hauben and
Ronda Hauben.
Martin Greenberger, Director of the Center for Digital Media, UCLA,
writes, “Michael and Ronda Hauben sketch out a provocative declaration
of Netizen rights in their appendix to this engrossing, well-researched, and
very useful book. The Haubens reserve the term Netizen for positive
contributors to the Net, the good citizens whose heroic precursors from the
1960s are richly chronicled in a flowing historical and sociological account
that is not to be missed.”
Page 43
Thomas Truscott, co-developer of Usenet, says, “Netizens is an
ambitions look at the social aspects of computer networking. It examines
the present and the turbulent future, and especially it explores the technical
and social roots of the Net.”
Join us at Labyrinth Books
536 West 112
th
Street
NYC (between Broadway and Amsterdam)
on Monday, July 14
th
at 6:30 pm.
For a look at the contents of the book, go to http://www.columbia
.edu/~hauben/netbook/, to see an early draft version.
Call 212.865.1588 for more information.
This event is free, and refreshments will be served. To reach
Labyrinth Books, take the 1/9 subway line to 110
th
Street and walk two
blocks north, and turn right on 112
th
Street.
Michael Hauben, Teachers College Dept. of Communication
Netizens Netbook,
WWW Music Index, http://www.columbia.edu/~hauben/music/
[Editor’s Note: The following is a call for submissions posted on the Usenet newsgroup
comp.decom.telecom on Sept 2, 2002. It can be seen at:
https://groups.google.com/g
/comp.dcom.telecom/c/rPUqiE2yeK0/m/JZRQ51G_eBMJ.]
Call for Submissions that Develop or
Explore the Concept of Netizen
The emergence of the netizen was formulated by Michael Hauben as
part of the research he was doing in 1992/1993. He recognized that there
were people who considered themselves to be citizens of the net
(net.citizen). These users were seeking to spread access for all to the Net.
They understood the importance of the Net in spreading human to human
computer facilitated communication. These users recognized the need to
Page 44
contribute to make the Net a valuable resource for all.
Michael formulated the concept in an introduction to the new world
that was being born . (See introduction and conclusion to “The Net and the
Netizen: The Impact the Net has on People’s Lives,” first posted in 1993,
and then published in a print edition in 1997 and also available at:
Some of Michael’s early research appeared on Usenet and then in the
Amateur Computerist newsletter. His research inspired others to apply or
develop the concept of netizen.
It is now [2002] 10 years later. We would like to document the further
development and application of the concept of netizen (and of the vision of
the future of the net) that developed since Michael’s research in 1992/1993.
Also we want to project into the future about what the emergence of the
netizen can mean to the further development of the Internet and of our
society in general.
We are seeking submissions, including articles, poems, cartoons,
stories, plays etc. that develop or explore the concept of Netizen that has
emerged along with the development of the Internet and Usenet.
Submissions are due Sept 30, 2002. Please write and let us know if
you will have a submission or if you have an idea/interest/suggestion for
the upcoming issue.
Long live the netizen and netizenship.
Send submissions to:
Ronda Hauben
Editor: The Amateur Computerist
[TELECOM Digest Editor’s Note: I personally would like to see all the regular
contributors here get essays to Ronda ASAP for this upcoming issue of ACN. She and
Michael are good people to have around. Their book a few years ago, ‘Netizens’ was
widely read and admired by many of us. Do what you can for her please. PAT]
[Editor’s Note: On March 14, 2022, Dr Fang Xingdong, head of the OHI (Oral History of
Page 45
the Internet) project in China posted about Michael Hauben and his family on the blog-
china website in Chinese. Earlier that day, Ronda and Jay Hauben had a zoom session with
Dr. Fang and his staff introducing themselves and answering questions about Michael. The
following is a machine translation into English of Dr Fang’s blog post. The original can
be seen at:
https://fxd.blogchina.com/794986680.html.]
Oral History of the Internet A Special
Interview: “Netizen” Michael Hauben
On February 27, I received an email from Ronda Hauben, saying that she had seen
books published of Internet oral history interviews and that she had learned about the Oral
History of the Internet project during a WeChat video with Academician Hu Qiheng. Later,
I also received an email from Academician Hu Qiheng. Of course I am no stranger to them.
I knew about them in the 1990s. Ronda Hauben’s son, Michael Hauben, coined the term
“Netizen,” and in 1997 the two co-authored a splendid Internet history book, Netizens: On
the History and Impact of Usenet and the Internet.
Michael, who was born on May 1, 1973, proposed to study computing at the age of
5; in the first grade of primary school took his work to participate in the science exhibition
only for senior students, and became the only junior student to participate in the exhibition;
At the age of 10, he used a TV as a monitor and a Timex Sinclair computer with 3K
memory, and wrote games on this computer together with his father Jay Hauben; he
became active in major BBSs in the early 1980s and was in one of the earliest computer
user groups. In 1993, the term “Netizen” was coined during his undergraduate studies. The
term was coined in his article titled “The Net and Netizens: The Impact the Net has on
People’s Lives,” which quickly spread. He was not yet 20 years old then.
At the university level, although Michael Hauben was a computer major, he
preferred courses such as philosophy and ethics, and was a music lover, rather than courses
such as economics. In the late 1990s, with the rise of the Internet wave, the whole world
was in a frenzy for the commercialization of the Internet. As an important capital market,
New York is undoubtedly the center of the myth that the Internet benefits. However,
Michael Hauben has always focused on the spirit of openness and sharing of the Internet,
rather than the commercialization opportunities brought by the Internet. His speeches and
writings adhere to the pure Internet spirit. The evolution of his mother, Ronda Hauben, also
reflects this rare purity. In an article titled “What the Net Means to Me,” Michael firmly
believes that the Internet will remain public, open, and non-commercial. “The Internet
means personal power in a world where there is little or no personal power.” “The Internet
is, by its very nature, communication between individuals … a vehicle for the dissemina-
tion of people’s ideas and aspirations.”
He entered Columbia University in 1991, majoring in computer science, graduating
in 1995. He obtained his master’s degree in 1997, and also published the book “Netizen”
in the same year. Michael Hauben, or his family of three, is not only the creator of the
word “netizen,” but also endows the word with a soul, which is the best embodiment of the
Page 46
Internet spirit of openness, sharing, freedom and equality or the spirit of “netizen.” Their
love for the Internet, their enthusiasm and passion for spreading the Internet to the world,
is very contagious. However, it is very deplorable that in 1999 Michael Hauben was
involved in a car accident and passed away in June 2001 at the age of 28. After the tragic
loss of their only child, Ronda Hauben and Jay Hauben took up the unfinished mission of
their son and continued to work hard to promote the spirit of “Netizen” around the world.
The story of Ronda Hauben’s family of three fits perfectly with the original
intention of the Oral History of the Internet Project. Therefore, this video interview is of
special significance. Zhong Bu said that our project will publish a book for the story of
their family of three. Today’s interview is the first, Ronda Hauben and Jay Hauben share
the story of the three of them. This interview method is also the first time. When they
talked about the story of their beloved son, the two complemented each other, and many
vivid stories emerged, which made us deeply infected. Their parent-child relationship is
so harmonious, the parents are willing to give Mike all the assistance they can.
Doing the oral history of the Internet is indeed a very hard job, but at this time, our
inner harvest is unparalleled. I hope that our work is for the Internet and the world, and we
can dig out more wonderful people and things. Through their stories and their lives, the
true meaning of the Internet spirit will be more manifested, and the brilliance of the
Internet spirit will be further reflected.
This year, the Internet Oral History Project turns 15 years old, and this harvest is
undoubtedly our greatest motivation. The first interview, was in the morning in China, an
hour and a half passed quickly, and it was already late at night in New York. It can’t be too
late, so, we look forward to the second time for further in-depth chat.
[At the bottom of the blog post was this statement about Internet Oral History by Dr Fang
Xingdong]
Whether history is created by the masses or heroes of the times, it is always created
by people. Whether it is the times that create heroes, or the heroes who create the times,
create history and change the course of history, it is often a part of individuals who stand
out. At an important juncture in the historical process, they did not miss the critical
moment entrusted by the times, relying on their own personal characteristics and unique
effort and made unique contributions and impossible miracles. They are the representatives
of the historical process, and they are the models that condense the changes of the times.
Focusing on and deeply penetrating them can better restore the splendor of history and
show the unique creativity of human beings. It is no exaggeration to say that these people
are the instigators and leaders who pushed China from a semi-agricultural and semi-
industrial society into an information society. It is the hero and heroine who promotes the
entire human race from industrial civilization to higher information civilization. Their
personal achievements and significance of the times will continue to be highlighted and
recognized over time.
Page 47
EDITORIAL STAFF
Ronda Hauben
William Rohler
Norman O. Thompson
Michael Hauben (1973-2001)
Jay Hauben
The Amateur Computerist invites submissions.
Articles can be submitted via e-mail:
mailto:[email protected]
Permission is given to reprint articles from this issue in a non profit publication
provided credit is given, with name of author and source of article cited.
The opinions expressed in articles are those of their authors and not neces-
sarily the opinions of the Amateur Computerist newsletter. We welcome
submissions from a spectrum of viewpoints.
ELECTRONIC EDITION
ACN Webpage: http://www.ais.org/~jrh/acn/
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