Hamish MacEwan bio / election statement
"Open and uncapturable" are the key tenets of InternetNZ and the core values that led to the Internet becoming the incredible and diverse success that it is. As such, I believe InternetNZ needs an open and uncapturable president. Owing no allegiance to any organisation or political party gives me that luxury.
I accepted nomination for president not because of any concern with the potential of other candidates, but to ensure you get the widest choice possible for that role. In order to fulfill that promise of choice, I have also accepted nomination to continue my role as an Internet Councillor should you decide that is a better position for me.
The Internet has rapidly moved into the mainstream and now its services impact on a much wider range of people. A range that InternetNZ should encourage to widen even further through associations with like-minded organisations such as the 20/20 Trust. InternetNZ should also be making direct contributions to the continuing success and expansion of Internet connectivity and range of services.
There are considerable threats to the notion of open and uncapturable. These fall collectively under the umbrella of content control. Spam, CAI (child abuse images), copyright infringement, cyber-bullying or "hate" speech all share this general intent. Despite the good intentions and good reasons for control of such material, it is not something that the Internet per se is responsible for. These are social problems, caused by human actions, and technological solutions for such activities are rarely successful and often have unintended consequences that damage more than aid. Solutions to these problems lie where they always have, in addressing the perpetrators not the tools they use. InternetNZ needs to apply extreme caution when faced with the temptation of following the herd in this area.
InternetNZ has also moved to become more mainstream and my feeling is that this has been to its detriment. Even while acknowledging the unique nature of InternetNZ, plans for restructuring that used a more typical model were proposed and accepted by the membership. These changes have led to a long and difficult time for the organisation and we are only now restoring some of the successful structures of the past. New ideas will not always work, and there is no shame in trying and failing where the intent and process were sincere and well considered. While InternetNZ may need to work and cooperate with other organisations, including Government, to sustain its mana and impact, this must not compromise those unique qualities that the organisation has inherited from the technology it advocates. While philosophical purity may be condemned as naive, this is not as bad an outcome as losing principle to mere political pragmatism.
As I see it the role of president has two potential models. "Chairman of the Board" or "Leader." In the former, the president's role is to conduct debate and discussion on issues and represent the views of members in general and council on specific matters. The latter imbues the president with more autonomy to direct and conduct the business and profile of InternetNZ as they see fit. I trust the membership to elect and support whichever model they think is appropriate to the demands on InternetNZ at the time. My personal preference is for the "Chairman of the Board" model, optimally using the diverse skills from a fantastic set of people, staff, councillors and the members to achieve the aims of the organisation. Despite the discomfort that may arise from being required to toe the consensus line, I'm prepared to make that sacrifice <grin>.
In
closing I would like to thank you for the privilege of serving as a
councillor for the last two years and assure you that I would, given
the opportunity, happily work in any capacity with your choice of
Officers and Councillors. I invite you to write or call if there is
anything you would like to discuss further.
Hamish MacEwan
http://tr.im/HKM
027 253 4984
