hi-res pdf - Center for Democracy and Technology

Letter from the President
In the small space between the accomplishments of the last year and challenges that lie ahead, there is
room to pause and reflect. CDT has much to be proud of about its work in 2007. Throughout the year,
CDT once again played a crucial role in protecting Internet openness, innovation and freedom. Policymakers,
journalists, companies and other public interest organizations continued to seek our insight,
reasoned analysis and thoughtful leadership, and we continued to develop solutions to emerging policy
challenges through dialogue, consultation and collaboration.
Among its many accomplishments in 2007, CDT:
• Stood as the foremost defender of free expression
online and particularly of social networking, which
faced at the state and federal level a host of unworkable
child safety proposals that would undermine the
rich potential of the medium;
• Was called on by Congress again and again to testify
on legislation to restore judicial oversight of intelligence
agency surveillance and protect privacy in
government programs for the collection, sharing and
mining of data;
• Worked with regulators, industry and consumer advocates
to develop innovative approaches to behavioral
targeting to give consumers more control over
the use of their personal information;
• Continued to make the case for Internet neutrality and
openness, focusing the discussion by convening leading
technologists to analyze network management
practices and presenting the findings to key regulators;
Leslie Harris
• Launched an important new project on online identity,
which convened stakeholders to develop and release
draft Privacy Principles for the Digital Age, to guide the development of identity systems;
• Led a broad-based coalition of advocacy groups and trade associations that filed an important
amicus brief opposing copyright liability for remote DVR storage;
• Led the Anti-Spyware Coalition’s continued assault on the scourge of spyware by releasing best
practices that will sharpen the effectiveness of anti-spyware tools;
• Partnered with Business for Social Responsibility to convene the Internet industry, human rights
groups, investors, academics and other key stakeholders to draft voluntary corporate responsibility
principles to respond to increasing challenges to free expression and privacy on the global
Internet;
• Promoted e-government and the public’s access to government information through digital technologies,
releasing an important report about the lack of searchability of key government websites
and expanding our groundbreaking OpenCRS site to over six million downloads.
Also last year, our Board completed the transition of CDT's leadership by electing me President and CEO
and Jerry Berman Chairman. With Ari Schwartz and Jim Dempsey joining me in day-to-day management,
and with Jerry retaining an important strategic role, we have a strong team.
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Accomplishments and Objectives 2007-2008