First Rule Of The New British Computer Society Is You Don't Question The BCS... Or It Threatens You With Libel
from the a-healthy-exchange-of-opinions dept
Well, this is nice. Apparently, the British Computer Society (BCS) is undergoing a £5 million effort to rebrand the group and make it appear more like a professional society (such as various doctors' groups) rather than "a club for enthusiasts." However, many members aren't happy with this whole process and how the money is being spent, so they asked for an Extraordinary General Meeting to cast a vote of "no confidence" in the board of trustees for spending so much money on something they don't believe in. Fair enough. Except... as Glyn Moody alerts us, one BCS trustee is so upset with the calls for an EGM he has threatened to sue those who called for it with libel charges.But now one of the trustees, Ken Olisa, has sought the immediate retraction of what he regards as libellous remarks made in calling for an EGM.Nice to see the folks in charge of the BCS are embracing open discussion, huh?
In an email to one of the critics, Olisa demanded "that you and the other 5 signatories withdraw the unwarranted slur on my good name, apologise forthwith (copying the recipients of your message) and undertake in the same correspondence not to repeat the libel".
The email added: "I take my reputation very seriously and will have no hesitation in pursuing you and your co-signatories in the Courts unless I receive an unequivocal apology."
As for the general discussion, the members of BCS who are worried about this have every reason to be. The move to make BCS more like a professional society are almost certainly not in the best interests of the profession. Historically, such professional groups tend to move strongly towards protectionist policies that hinder such groups and keep them out of step with the times and the market.
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Filed Under: british computer society, libel, uk
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i would like to ask u a question if ur so experience in that field if u dont mind !
i like to start in the it field am 30 years old !and am looking for a diploma to do but am afraid to take the wrong decision.
is there s any diploma that i can finish in 2 years and then i would be system ,network adminstartor ?
i searched a lot fo something in london but i couldnt find except this foundation degrees in it ,and i dont know what i would have after this degreee
can u help me out please with short explination ?
kind regards
sam
thx for ur reply
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Re: Re:
i would like to ask u a question if ur so experience in that field if u dont mind !
i like to start in the it field am 30 years old !and am looking for a diploma to do but am afraid to take the wrong decision.
is there s any diploma that i can finish in 2 years and then i would be system ,network adminstartor ?
i searched a lot fo something in london but i couldnt find except this foundation degrees in it ,and i dont know what i would have after this degreee
can u help me out please with short explination ?
kind regards
sam
thx for ur reply
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This is what I think of the BCS....
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By "such professional groups", it would seem fair to think that you're referring to our beloved ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). Outside of a self-consciously anachronistic name, seems to me that our professional society is fairly progressive... we've got a SIG for every emerging trend and technology, and mainstream IT is routinely outraged by some of the ACM's positions and conclusions.
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Doesn't it deserve a libel counter suit?
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BCS no longer necessary
No, anyways, both are stupid then.
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BCS
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Re: BCS
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Reputations
It is obvious from this discussion that there are two very different definitions of reputation. I prefer the dictionary definition - "the opinion that people in general have about someone or something, or how much respect or admiration someone or something receives, based on past behaviour or character"
My reputation is very valuable to me - in fact my livelihood depends on it - and, as with all of my other assets, I am prepared to fight to maintain it.
Libel is, by definition, an untrue statement made about another person. A libel, if left unchallenged is likely adversely to affect the subject's reputation.
As with reputation, your readers may well have two diffrent perspectives on the importance of truth - but in my value set, truth is sacrosanct and I believe in correcting untruths wherever they occur in my sphere of interest.
In the case of the great BCS EGM debate, my probity was called into question and I was further accused of having suppressed information.
As I pride myself on my honesty and I have never sought to suppress anything, I strongly objected to those claims which were presumably made to influence members to vote against me in the forthcoming democratic EGM vote.
To have left the claims unchallenged would have left the impression that my silence meant that I accepted that the serious accusations were true. It would also have potentially led BCS members to cast their votes based on false information.
Establishing the truth was therefore of paramount importance to me and to the future of the BCS.
I was most certainly NOT seeking to supress open debate and for those interested in open discussion I would refer you to the BCS website where my views on the EGM call and the importance of IT becoming a genuine profession are to be found at http://yourfuture.bcs.org/server.php?show=ConNewsItem.34881
I would close by asking your readers to think about what they would do if they were libelled, if they saw a fundamentally false claim being made,or if they learned that a democratic election was being subverted?
Best wishes
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