Posted by Carrie Fenn on Jul 08, 2020
Dan York is our speaker today. He works for a global nonprofit where a portion of its network focuses on providing internet access around the world.

uly 8, 2020

 

Lisa Merrill is a guest today.

Dan York, John Hammer, Nancy Danforth, Chris Davis, Margo Casco, Ric Flood, Linda Barker, Linda Gilbert, Erik Kolomaznik, Howard Seaver, Charlie Kofman, Jim Donovan, Richard Fox, Joan Lenes, Denis Barton, Jonathan Lowell, Rosalyn Graham, Susan Grimes, Bill Deming, Carol Obuchowski, John Dupee, John Pane, Terry Kennaugh, Richard Fox, Diana Vachon, Carrie Fenn

 

Chris Davis rang the bell at 7:32

 

Nancy Danforth offered a devotional:

The Days to Come by Medora Addison

Now shall I store my soul with silent beauty,

Beauty of drifting clouds and mountain heights,

Beauty of sun-splashed hills and shadowed forests,

Beauty of dawn and dusk and star-swept nights.

Now shall I fill my heart and quiet music,

Song of the wind across the pine-clad hill,

Song of the rain and, fairer than all music,

Call of the thrush when twilight woods are still.

So shall the days to come be filled with beauty,

Bright with the promise caught from eastern skies;

So shall I see the stars when night is darkest, 

Still hear the thrush’s song when music dies.

 

 

The school food program went well. We have a couple of slots open and Carrie will send the spreadsheet out to the group.

 

Linda Gilbert shared the Charlotte Community School service project for the school gardens to do watering, weeding and harvesting. We are all set with volunteers for the two weeks in August. 

 

Roz offered a reminder requesting that we take pictures so she can post to the local papers and on social media and don’t forget to wear your shirts!

 

The pond in Shelburne is not being cared for- Chris is going to reach out to see if we should do something about that.

 

We would like to do a service project in Hinesburg so keep your ears and eyes open for opportunities.

 

The car raffle will not be able to be held at Shelburne Farms so Ric is going to try to hold a Zoom event and we’ll reach out to people to entice them to buy tickets. We can lower the ticket price since we won’t be feeding people. Richard suggested Ric reach out to the Lincoln Rotary as they are in the same position. 

 

Denis reported he has three responses to his survey. As a reminder, everyone please respond to 2 questions:

What’s the best part of your Rotary experience?

What suggestions do you have to make your experience with our club better?

 

 

Everyone please go into Club Runner and update your profile- half of the members don’t have phone numbers. Please add photos as well so new members can get to know you. We’ll add this to the board agenda.

 

Linda Gilbert shared a quote from the latest issue of the Rotarian “I didn’t understand why at the time, but when I got older, I realized it was an absolutely unique chance to learn how to behave with people you don’t know. He grew me up”. The quote is by Juraj Dvorak, a young man from Slovakia, who was mentored by the new Rotary president Holger Knaack, and really speaks to the importance of promoting younger membership.  Now is a great time to recruit younger members because it’s easier now to log in to zoom- no traveling, no dropping kids off. We have a unique opportunity to engage young community members to join us. 

 

Dan York is our speaker today. He works for a global nonprofit where a portion of its network focuses on providing internet access around the world. 

If you saw a book in a bookstore slandering you, would you sue the bookstore or the publisher? You’d sue the publisher- but the internet makes things more difficult. 

Liability on the internet came to a head in the 90’s. Courts said if you didn’t moderate content you weren’t liable, but if you did moderate you were a publisher and could be sued. 

“Section 230 was originally enacted to protect developing technology by providing that online platforms were not liable for the third-party content on their services or for their removal of such content in certain circumstances. This immunity was meant to nurture emerging internet businesses and to overrule a judicial precedent that rendered online platforms liable for all third-party content on their services if they restricted some harmful content. However, the combination of 2 years of drastic technological changes and an expansive statutory interpretation left online platforms unaccountable for a variety of harms flowing from the content on their platforms and with virtually unfettered discretion to censor their-party content with little transparency or accountability. Following the completion of its review the Department of Justice determined that Section 230 is ripe for reform and identified and developed four categories of wide-ranging recommendations.”(Department of Justice Website 6/17/20- Justice Department Issues Recommendations for Section 230 Reform)

The four incentives include 

  • Incentivizing online platforms to address illicit content
  • Promoting open discourse and greater transparency
  • Clarifying federal government enforcement capabilities
  • Promoting competition

John Hammer offered a quote to get us through the week:

“There’s only one way to achieve happiness on this terrestrial ball, that is to have a clear conscience or none at all.” 

 

Stay safe, stay healthy, and be kind to one another.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Carrie Fenn