Staff changes at the Center for Democracy and Technology

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

--
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              Contact:  Graeme Browning
                                             voice: 202-637-9800, ext. 275
                                             email: gbrowning@cdt.org


  JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR GRAEME BROWNING JOINS THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND

                   TECHNOLOGY AS COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

           FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR JONAH SEIGER TO ESTABLISH
                         CAMPAIGN CONSULTING FIRM

Washington, DC, December 9, 1997 -- The Center for Democracy and Technology
(CDT), a leading online civil liberties group, today announced that Graeme
Browning, a former reporter for some of the country's most prominent
newspapers and magazines, as well as author of a recent book on using the
Internet to transform politics, has become the group's new Communications
Director. Browning replaces Jonah Seiger, who is leaving to form a
Washington-based Internet campaign consulting company with Shabbir J.
Safdar, former director of the Voters Telecommunications Watch, a public
interest group in New York City.

With Browning's help the Center for Democracy and Technology will broaden
its efforts to promote democratic values, free speech and privacy in the
Digital Age. "Graeme's  years of experience with both the print and the
electronic media will be a valuable resource for us as we build on Jonah's
excellent work and reach out to the rapidly expanding audience of citizens
who use the Internet," said Jerry Berman, CDT's executive director. "Graeme
shares our vision of the Net as the medium best able to nurture the many
voices of a democracy. Her ability to articulate that vision will be of
critical value to CDT."

Browning, who holds a law degree from Vanderbilt University, joins CDT
after six years covering Congress and high-tech issues for National
Journal, one of the most respected political magazines in Washington. She
has also been a reporter with the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times,
the (Baltimore) Sun, the (Nashville) Tennessean, and United Press
International, and was also legal affairs reporter for the ABC network
affiliate in Nashville. Last year Browning established herself as an
authority in the Internet policy area with the publication of Electronic
Democracy: Using the Internet to Influence American Politics (Pemberton
Press, 1996), a guide to computer-based grassroots organizing that the
Washington Times called "an essential book for anyone who wants to navigate
the political dimensions of the Internet."

Seiger, who has been a key staff member of the Center for Democracy and
Technology since its founding in late 1994, "played a crucial role in
developing CDT's pioneering use of the 'Net as a means of grassroots
organizing and public education," Berman said. "Jonah was instrumental in
positioning CDT as the leading voice on issues impacting civil liberties on
the Internet. He has been a tremendous asset for us from the start."


"I am confident that Jonah and Shabbir will be successful at bringing their
considerable online organizing skills to a wider audience," Berman added,
"and CDT looks forward to collaborating with them in their new venture."

In the past three years, Berman said, Seiger has made major contributions
to a number of CDT accomplishments, including:

* the defeat of an important anti-encryption proposal before the House
Commerce
  Committee,

* the "blacken your Web page" protest of the Communications Decency Act in
  December 1996,

* and the recruitment of more than 57,000 Internet users to a coalition
  supporting CDT's ultimately successful efforts to persuade the U.S. Supreme
  Court to overturn the Act.

* Seiger also organized CDT's production of the first live cybercast of a
  congressional hearing on the Internet,

* and launched democracy.net, a Web site devoted to cybercasting live "Town
  Hall" meetings with Members of Congress as well as hearings on such
issues as
  encryption and the right to privacy online.

Seiger and Safdar's new firm will provide strategic consulting and online
advocacy management  and  campaign design services to help non-profits,
associations and candidates use the Internet to advance public policy
goals. Safdar founded the Voters Telecommunications Watch in 1994 and has
collaborated with CDT on several major online campaigns.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, a non-profit public interest
organization based in Washington, D.C., works to advance civil liberties
and democratic values on the Internet and in other interactive media.


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