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W3C Bars Public From Public Conference

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the tricky-word-speak dept.

xk0der writes "Danny Weitzner, one of the W3C's policy directors and event co-chair, repeatedly claimed in a follow up telephone conversation that, by "public," the W3C actually means "closed to the public." Weitzner was the person who personally barred my colleague from entering the conference." The story is worth a read- it's very strange. Personally I think this guy is just vying to replace Tony Snow at the White House.

7 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. public, who are invited by Bizzeh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    its the same public as any other public thing like this... the general public can get an invite. but cannot walk in from the streets.

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    1. Re:public, who are invited by Otter · · Score: 5, Insightful
      I was going to suggest that "public" means that discussions from the conference can be openly discussed afterwards, in contrast to some I've been to where the proceedings were confidential.

      But maybe you're right. The article is so vague and makes so little effort to explain the W3C's side that it only really serves as a platform for flamebait, which is how Taco seems to have decided to use it.

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    2. Re:public, who are invited by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, in most countries, public means that the public can just walk in. It means open for everyone. The other invitation-only "Public", as you describe it is just the same as the Davos Conference hosted by the World Economic Forum. I think most people agree is NOT a very public Conference, although, they anyone who gets an invititation is welcome and they try to invite all who are relevant.

  2. Orwellian Doublespeak by TheWoozle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Weitzner, a lawyer and Washington insider before moving to the W3C, said making an event discussing government transparency less transparent was necessary because government officials could then speak more freely "without wondering how the press would interpret what they have to say." "There are times when in order to have an open exchange of ideas, you need to provide an off-the-record environment, which is what we did," Weitzner said.

    So now we can add "Secrecy is Transparency" to the list.

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    1. Re:Orwellian Doublespeak by Kadin2048 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I can understand what they're doing, but calling it "public" is a load of crock. It's a closed session. They should call it that.

      If you want to bar the press, bar the press -- but don't say it's a "public" meeting, because that's a bald-faced lie. (Anyone know how to translate that concept into Washingtonese?)

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  3. W3C's purpose? by jrumney · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Public or not, what exactly is the W3C doing organizing a conference on Government Transparency in the first place? Shouldn't they be working towards the next set of standards for the Web or something? Or are they losing focus and trying to become the regulators of everything that touches the Web?

  4. Article is painfully vague by Short+Circuit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article...er...blog entry is painfully vague, and even the summary fails to include a link to the W3Cs comments. Am I supposed to take a blogger's comments at face value, with only a few choice out-of-context quotes?

    There better be a Slashback article in response to this...

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