My fellow project for CIS, Without My Consent, just reached the one-year anniversary of its June 2011 launch. We recently gained our 501(c)(3) status and are now working with 5 national law firms and 3 law schools to help build out the substantive resources found at the site. The NY Times, Forbes.com, USA Today, and CNET have all recognized our work. None of this would be possible without the generosity of time of many, and of course the financial support we've received from the public.
Our mission to empower victims of online harassment is even more relevant today than when we began this project. With online harassment coming in many forms -- from the recent coordinated and highly public harassment of feminist videographer Anita Sarkeesian, to the coming (and going) of the notorious privacy invading site, Is Anyone Up, to the criminal trial and sentencing of Dharun Ravi -- we see the serious impact of this conduct on numerous aspects of our culture. Victims are faced with reputation damage that is sometimes irreversible. The public is faced with questions of how law enforcement and prosecutors should use their limited resources and bring justice for victims through criminal cases. And online services selected by harassers to play out their attacks are faced with the high costs of managing their communities.
The importance of documenting the issue of online harassment, it's impact on individuals, the public and businesses, and providing meaningful resources for solving it is vital. That has been a key focus for Without My Consent and now that our foundation has been set, we remain focused on these issues going forward.
With this in mind, we are excited to announce that Without My Consent will be be hosting its first event and fundraiser in San Francisco on July 18th from 6-9 pm at the 111 Minna Gallery. The event will include a dynamic panel moderated by SF Chronicle tech journalist James Temple. The panel will focus on the issue of online harassment from the perspectives of victims, businesses, and the public, and offer strategies for confronting this new class of harm.
Please register to attend at our Eventbrite registration page. And please help us get the word out! Our main goal for the event is to raise $10,000. This will help us in building out and maintain a collection of relevant laws and legal resources for the 50 United States that cover online harassment. (We've published two jurisdictions, have three more in the hopper, and hope to finish the United States by next summer.) With the money raised from this event, we can work on updating the site to publish all this great new content, and also conduct a survey to help document the problem and the harms. Please come to celebrate our success on July 18th. Enjoy a dynamic panel discussion and socialize with the Bay Area's tech, social justice and legal advocacy-minded attendees. And, don't forget to make a tax-deductible donation to help us reach our campaign goal of $10,000.If you can't make it, please share information about our event with others who may be interested, and consider a donation anyway! Every little bit will help raise funds and get the word out.Thanks for your support!