Think Tanks and the Internet As think tanks try to push policy making in their desired direction in such diverse fields as health, education, taxation, regulation and national security it is not surprising, that also the Internet has entered their issue list: RAND, a center-right U.S. think tank not only argues for the usage of certain guidelines concerning the use of e-mail, but has also released a research report - sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense - entitled "Strategic Information Warfare: A New Face of War". In November 1999 RAND has furthermore launched a co-operation with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) aimed at combating the threat of cybercrime. ICCs practical expertise and RANDs research and analytical capacities shall aid at finding solutions to fight hackers, industrial spies, and other criminals who may exploit the Internet to attack commercial and public-sector systems. Another of the big players in the elite of think tanks, the conservative Washington D.C. based Cato Institute quite surprisingly has started to defend human rights in Cyberspace. Jonathan D. Wallace' "Nameless in Cyberspace: Anonymity on the Internet." sees the constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of speech and expression in the United States under attack by proposals to limit or restrict the use of anonymity on the Internet. Yet another conservative think tank, the U.S. based Center for Strategic and International Studies in June 1999 has initiated a Conference (Global Information Infrastructure Commission) to accelerate the development of E-Commerce in India. Among the Conferences participants were not only government representatives from India and the United States, but also the CEO of Global TeleSystems Group Inc., the vice chairman of Fujitsu and the executive president of Siemens A.G., as well as the World Bank and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

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PR Firms and their Mission Looking at how public relations practitioners advertise their services, they do not primarily seem to be followers of the "social engineering" approach. Burson-Marsteller, the worlds leading PR agency, for example sells itself as a specialist in "... public affairs, government relations, crisis communication, investor relations, environmental issues and marketing communications ... experienced at orchestrating effective campaigns, which motivate the right behaviors.". Porter Novelli, third largest international PR company, somewhat more aggressive promises, that their marketing-based public relations "... penetrate the consumer psyche - where - your target audiences work, learn, play or shop, through everything they read, hear and see.". While Porter Novelli seems to be specialized in psychological warfare, Fleishman-Hillard highlights its know-how and experience in government relations programs. "We have handled some of the nation's most challenging public policy issues, including issues affecting the environment, from clean air to agricultural chemicals; aviation safety; regressive taxes; international trade; and human rights.". To handle those difficult tasks, Fleishman-Hillard maintains "... an effective, professional lobbying team that includes registered lobbyists recruited from the Senate and the House."

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Examples of Mainly Corporate Funded Think Tanks: Cato Institute Founded in 1977 the Cato Institutes 1998 budget made up US$ 11 million. Its funding consists of corporate and private donations (especially from corporations and executives in the highly regulated industries of financial services, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals industries) and sales of publications. Catos corporate donors include tobacco firms: Philip Morris (Rupert Murdoch sits on Philip Morris board of directors) and R.J. Reynolds. Financial firms: American Express, Chase Manhattan Bank, Chemical Bank, Citicorp/Citibank, Commonwealth Fund, Prudential Securities and Salomon Brothers. Energy conglomerates: Chevron Companies, Exxon Company, Shell Oil Company and Tenneco Gas, as well as the American Petroleum Institute, Amoco Foundation and Atlantic Richfield Foundation. Furthermore the Cato Institute is funded by pharmaceutical firms: Eli Lilly & Company, Merck & Company and Pfizer, Inc., foundations, like Koch, Lambe and Sarah Scaife and companies from the telecommunications sector: Bell Atlantic Network Services, BellSouth Corporation, Microsoft, NYNEX Corporation, Sun Microsystems and Viacom.

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Roberto d'Aubuisson Roberto D'Aubuisson is another Salvadorian graduate of the SOA. In 1980 he organized the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, voice of the poor and marginalized. In 1981 he founded the extreme right wing party ARENA as a weapon against the guerrilla. Between 1978 and 1992 he was the (not so) secret head of the Salvadorian Death Squads. He died of cancer in 1992, but his ideas are still followed by a new group of death squads, which was founded in 1996 (Fuerza Nacionalista Mayor Roberto D'Aubuisson = FURODA).

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Fort Meade Headquarters of the US National Security Agency in Maryland.

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Ottawa Latitude: 45.42, Longitude: -75.7 The headquarters of the Communications Security Establishment CSE are located in Ottawa. Here all processed intercepted data from Canadian monitoring stations come together to be further analyzed by special signals intelligence analysts. For that purpose the dictionary system is used.

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CIM To perform manufacturing firm's functions related to design and production the CAD/CAM technology, for computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, was developed. Today it is widely recognized that the scope of computer applications must extend beyond design and production to include the business functions of the firm. The name given to this more comprehensive use of computers is computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM).

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Cheltenham Analysts at the Government Communications Headquarters in Cheltenham process the mass of intercepted satellite communications produced by their sophisticated interception system, especially from Morwenstow and Menwith Hill. At the headquarters personel use advanced computer hardware and the Dictionary system. http://www.gchq.gov.uk/ http://www.gchq.gov.uk/

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Yakima YAKIMA, USA Latitude: 46.592633, Longitude: -120.528908 The Yakima Research Station was established in the early 1970s inside the 100,000-hectare United States Army Yakima Firing Center, 200 kilometers south-east of Seattle. The facility, located between the Saddle Mountains and Rattlesnake Hills, initially consisted of a long operations building and a single large dish pointing west to enable collection against the Pacific Intelsat satellite. By 1995 the Yakima station had expanded to five dish antennae, three facing west to the Pacific and two, including the original large 1970s dish, facing east. In addition to the original operations building several newer buildings had been added, the largest a two-story windowless concrete structure. The Yakima station has been monitoring Pacific Intelsat communications since it opened, and also monitors the Pacific Ocean area Inmarsat-2 satellite. Source: http://www.fas.org/irp/facility/yakima.htm http://www.fas.org/irp/facility/yakima.htm

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Morwenstow Station Latitude: 50.9087, Longitude: -4.55264 The GCHQ station in Morwenstow is located near to the British Telecom site at Goonhilly, has 9 dishes pointed at the Atlantic, Europe and the Indian Ocean INTELSATs and is also monitoring regional satellites.

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Porter Novelli Porter Novelli is the third largest PR firm with 1998 net fees of US$ 183,050,000. The companies focus lies on building brands, enhancing reputation and crisis management. Porter Novelli is specialised in: Food and nutrition, health care, consumer goods, technology, public affairs and social marketing.

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