podo
Well-Known Member
In light if the recent events regarding Hellkom, and Telkom's spurious threat of legal action against its creator, Gregg Stirton (a.k.a. MaD), I would like to call on all forum members to help take action.
I would like to propose that we set up an account under the auspices of MyADSL, specifically for handling donations that go to helping forum members defend themselves against legal action brought against them due to Telkom (or Sentech) slamming activities, and to fund logistics for a wider campaign of public dissatisfaction, including legal protest marches at appropriate times and places.
There is a great financial case for this. For instance, if we could get 2 000 donations of as little as R100, we would already have R200 000 to help people like MaD and TheRodent defend themselves against this sort of injustice, and to print large posters for display at our public demonstrations.
I further want to propose a plan of action for general public demonstrations, to help bring media attention to the problem and to let the public, and the government, know about the issues at hand. With the MyADSL membership growing steadily, I am certain we would be able to find more than enough people to demonstrate. Of course, I am not advocating anything illegal or uncivilized. We would always co-ordinate our actions with police and local municipalities, gain the appropriate permits, and so forth, to make sure we remain on the right side of the law.
Demonstrations can be organized at important events where we might receive the best media attention, for instance, in front of a court where legal action is being taken by, or against, one of our members, or, in front of trade conferences, at telecommunications expos, in front of parliament when they are discussing telecommunications, in front of courts where the S.N.O. issue is being decided, in front of Telkom head offices, etc. With the kind of national membership we have, I can even envisage simultaneous demonstrations around the country, for instance, a large group in front of Telkom's Pretoria offices, a large group in front of their Cape Town offices and another large group at ICASA's head office, all at the same time. You won't get a much louder message than that.
As I have suggested in the thread regarding the threats against MaD, we might also want to enlist the help of others for all of these demonstrations. The general public, if interested in telecommunications issues, are welcome to attend. I would also want to invite telecommunications advocacy groups, representatives from large business, free speech groups, where applicable, and trade unions who's members are affected by Telkom's current policy. A set of large, co-ordinated actions involving forum members and all of these groups will really serve to drive our message home.
An excellent case in point for this is the 2002 Civil Disobedience Campaign undertaken by the T.A.C. to force government to provide anti-retroviral drugs to H.I.V. positive mothers. I am aware that our cause is not nearly as noble as that which the T.A.C. had to fight for, but they did win, eventually, and so can we.
Willie Viljoen
Web Developer
Adaptive Web Development
I would like to propose that we set up an account under the auspices of MyADSL, specifically for handling donations that go to helping forum members defend themselves against legal action brought against them due to Telkom (or Sentech) slamming activities, and to fund logistics for a wider campaign of public dissatisfaction, including legal protest marches at appropriate times and places.
There is a great financial case for this. For instance, if we could get 2 000 donations of as little as R100, we would already have R200 000 to help people like MaD and TheRodent defend themselves against this sort of injustice, and to print large posters for display at our public demonstrations.
I further want to propose a plan of action for general public demonstrations, to help bring media attention to the problem and to let the public, and the government, know about the issues at hand. With the MyADSL membership growing steadily, I am certain we would be able to find more than enough people to demonstrate. Of course, I am not advocating anything illegal or uncivilized. We would always co-ordinate our actions with police and local municipalities, gain the appropriate permits, and so forth, to make sure we remain on the right side of the law.
Demonstrations can be organized at important events where we might receive the best media attention, for instance, in front of a court where legal action is being taken by, or against, one of our members, or, in front of trade conferences, at telecommunications expos, in front of parliament when they are discussing telecommunications, in front of courts where the S.N.O. issue is being decided, in front of Telkom head offices, etc. With the kind of national membership we have, I can even envisage simultaneous demonstrations around the country, for instance, a large group in front of Telkom's Pretoria offices, a large group in front of their Cape Town offices and another large group at ICASA's head office, all at the same time. You won't get a much louder message than that.
As I have suggested in the thread regarding the threats against MaD, we might also want to enlist the help of others for all of these demonstrations. The general public, if interested in telecommunications issues, are welcome to attend. I would also want to invite telecommunications advocacy groups, representatives from large business, free speech groups, where applicable, and trade unions who's members are affected by Telkom's current policy. A set of large, co-ordinated actions involving forum members and all of these groups will really serve to drive our message home.
An excellent case in point for this is the 2002 Civil Disobedience Campaign undertaken by the T.A.C. to force government to provide anti-retroviral drugs to H.I.V. positive mothers. I am aware that our cause is not nearly as noble as that which the T.A.C. had to fight for, but they did win, eventually, and so can we.
Willie Viljoen
Web Developer
Adaptive Web Development
]