SURVEY? THAT'S HOW WORKS BEEN DONE

[uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: SURVEY? THAT'S HOW WORKS BEEN DONE ON INTERNET.

Date: Fri, 7 Mar 1997 14:05:13 +0930 (CST)

On 1 Mar 1997 wstrobel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> From: Warren Strobel <wstrobel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> Internet-Burma Activist Survey
> 
> 	Warren P. Strobel
> 	Tiffany Danitz,
> 	PROJECT DIRECTORS
> 
> Age Group:> 36 - 50
> 
> Sex:> Male
> 
> Education Level:> Doctorate 
> 
> Occupation: Unemployed
> 
> Number of months/years in this field? 5 years
> 
> Country of Origin: Burma
> 
> Country of Residence: Australia
> 
> Language:
> What is your first language? Burmese
  Second language? English
> 
> In what language do you communicate on the Internet? English
> 
> Have language requirements ever posed a problem for you in using the
> Internet? No. It is not necessarily my/our English is in the best shape; 
  but  the most Internet users are not only kind enough to read incorrect 
  English, but they are also intelligent and able to pick-out the political 
  contents from the postings.
> 
> Activist Activity:
> What campaigns are you involved in? Human Rights.
> 
> What was the first campaign you ever worked on? Protection of Refugees 
  rights. 
> 
> Other comments on your personal activist history? 
  See my home home page at http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/~uneoo
> 
> Burma:
> How long have you worked on Burma? 5 years
> 
> How did you first get involved? Involving in the movement is, like many 
  other people, a gradual process. It is even difficult to define when it is 
  started. Most Burmese, however, start their anti-government activities 
  on 1988 pro-democracy uprisings.
> 
> When did you begin using the Internet for your activism? In about 1991/92,
  one student from U.S. started sending standard news (reuters, AP etc) 
  through his private mailing list. This has benefited a lot of Burmese
  who need information for action.

  In 1993/94 Strider distributed various rebel announcements/communiques
  to the soc.culture.thai, which began Internet activism on Burma. On 
  1994 soc.culture.burma fourm was created; the burmanet-l started on 
  mid-94 I think.

> How has the Internet effected your activist work (please be as specific as
> possible)? It is vital for getting/distributing information.
> 
> Source of your e-mail/Internet access:> College account & Personal account
> 
> Internet Usage:
> How much total time a day/week do you spend on the Internet? 1.5hrs/day
> 
> How much time a day/week do you spend on the Internet regarding Burma? 
   1 or 2 times/day
> 
> Are you concerned about SLORC monitoring of the Internet? Have you ever
> experienced any attempt by SLORC or anyone else to sabotage an action
> planned on the net or information transmitted on the Net?
  
  Generally speaking, it is not much concern about SLORC monitoring 
internet, since politics cannot be done in a completely secret manner.
There were instances of Slorc agents trying to disrupt the net (BurmaNet 
especially) by flooding with bogus-mails. This can cause great inconvenience
to the subscribers.

The other thing which I saw as disruption to a mailing list - not
necessarily a deliberate action - was the subscribers being provoked by
inflammatory comments. In this case, the exchange of words on the net can
be quite distressful to the subscribers. 

There are also concerns about the accuracy of news/communications on the 
net. This problem, however, can be overcomed by cross-checking with other 
postings, and verify with standard news resources, if necessary.

> 
> Have you personally been able to use the Net to communicate with people
> inside of Burma? No.
> 
> Have you ever used the Net to:
> Lobby local/state or federal legislators? No. I think the net is most 
  convenient for dissemination and information collection only. The formal 
  communications, such as letters to legislators, should be made in more 
  secured form of communication (such as snail-mails or perhaps faxes.)

> Set up meetings re: Burma?> Organize actions re: Burma? Yes, there are 
  quite a lot of activity coordinations on the net.
> 
> Is the Net indispensable to your work/ your network? The Net, perhaps 
  e-mails, are quite indispensible for the campaign. The Net here means not 
  only of established mailing-lists and forums, such as BurmaNet or 
  soc.culture.burma, but also include private mailing lists by activists. 
  All of them are very important for good information flow.

> 
> 	Thank you for taking the time to complete and return this survey.
> 
>