Reply Memo To Country Director

Memorandum

To: Earl M. Brown, Jr. CD/Guyana

From: Jason Pearce, Peace Corps Trainee

Subject: Extension of Training

Date: August 16, 2002

On August 15, 2002, you presented me a memo stating that you are unconvinced that I have the requisite emotional maturity and adaptability necessary for me to serve as an IT Volunteer, and will thus remain in Trainee status by not being sworn in the following day. In order for me to satisfy and convince you that I have absorbed the staff's concerns and that I have accepted the need to adapt my behavior, your memo listed five conditions that I must meet.

I understand that the staff believes that I am not aware of, or have been sensitive to, the impact that my personal comments - posted on my personal website and personal Yahoo Groups listserve/community - might have on myself, my co-workers, and the Peace Corps worldwide. I further understand that the potential damage to the Peace Corps and the U.S. must be weighed against my rights of free speech, political expression, and religious beliefs.

Although one of the Peace Corps' three goals is "to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the American people," and that the Volunteer Handbook encourages me "... to share my understanding of the culture and traditions with countless family members, friends, co-workers, and community groups in the United States;" you and the Peace Corps Guyana staff believe that the content on my semi-private and personal website constitutes publishing and is thus a violation of Peace Corps guidelines.

While I may be free to discuss my role in the Peace Corps with friends, family, or anyone else, I understand that there is a responsibility that goes with that freedom. An ill-considered statement could be used to embarrass me, the Peace Corps, the U.S., or the people of Guyana. Such an embarrassment is something that I wish to avoid, for I am here to help and support the Guyanese.

Prior to arriving to Guyana, I took several steps to narrow the reach of my website by restricting who has access to its content. For starters, I restricted the ability for anyone originating from a domain name with the country-specific ".gy" extension from accessing my site. I also restricted access of traffic traveling along the "64.110." subnet address. This subnet address is the only commercially-available high-speed connection that Guyana has with the rest of the world. By removing the only high-speed connection, I created a natural barrier; for it could easily take more than 30 minutes for someone to download a 4 to 5 megabyte MP3 file via a dialup connection.

Furthermore, I also restricted access from the ".gov" extension, among others. It appears that the DC office believes that I restricted access only for the "peacecorps.gov" domain, which is not the case. I restricted access from all domains that end with ".gov" for I don't have any friends or family that will be accessing my site from a domain with that extension.

All of these restrictions, among others, were made prior to my becoming a Peace Corps Trainee in an effort to narrow my site's reach (particularly my monolog) to my intended audience of my friends and family. While I believe that my efforts were effective in narrowing my site's audience and reducing the probability that an ill-considered statement could be used to embarrass me, the Peace Corps, the U.S. or the people of Guyana; I understand you and your staff's concerns regarding who else might view the content on my site despite my restrictions.

On Monday, August 12, you approached all of the Peace Corps Trainees and presented your concerns regarding the online content that many of us have posted. On Tuesday, August 13, you and Claudius addressed the specific concerns you have with me. On Wednesday, August 14, I had already made many changes to my online content in an effort to appease all of our concerns. Here are the steps that I have taken:

  • I fully shut down access to the monologue section of my website until I could develop a virtual private network that would ensure only friends and family have access to the content that choose to share with them.

  • I further restricted access to my site by explicitly excluding the following domains: .agrinetguyana.org.gy, .bankofguyana.org.gy, .banksdih.com, .britain-in-guyana.org, .caricom.org, .ciog.org.gy, .demerarabank.com, .ecovision.org.gy, .ehang-out.com, .futurenetgy.com, .geap.org.gy, .gina.gov.gy, .goinvest.gov.gy, .gtt.co.gy, .guyana.net.gy, .guyanachronicle.com, .guyanaclimate.org, .guyanaisfirst.org.gy, .guyanazoo.org.gy, .guysites.com, .gy.bahai.org, .iastguyana.org, .inetguyana.net, .ipedgy.com, .itpag.org.gy, .iwokrama.org, .janus.org.gy, .kaieteur.com, .mikepharmacy.com, .minfor.gov.gy, .namilcoflour.com, .natlib.gov.gy, .nds.org.gy, .netcomonline.net, .networksgy.com, .paho.org.gy, .petroleum.gov.gy, .povertyreduction.gov.gy, .sdnp.org.gy, .solutions2000.net, .stabroeknews.com, .telsnet.net, .un.org.gy, .undp.org.gy, banksdih.com, ehang-out.com, gtt.co.gy, guy.paho.org, guyana.net.gy, guyanaclimate.org, guyanaonline.org, guysites.com, inetguyana.net, itpag.org.gy, mikepharmacy.com, netcomonline.net, networksgy.com, sdnp.org.gy, solutions2000.net, stabroeknews.com, telsnet.net, undp.sdnp.org.gy

  • I also looked up the IP addresses of all dial-up ISPs in Guyana and restricted access from their subnet addresses, affecting: 208.130., 208.153., 209.10.242., 216.252.135., 65.199.

  • I secured all photos taken by me or other volunteers by ensuring the photos I have posted within my personal photo album at Ofoto.com can only be accessed via invitation, username, and password.

  • I deleted all photos of Peace Corps Guyana staff that were still posted in my personal photo albums.

  • I changed the features and options of my personal Yahoo Groups listserve/community so that only subscribed members had access to its content, including the audio files. Only users who are subscribed to my group (my friends and family) can access this content, and only after entering a Yahoo username and password.

All of these steps were taken to ensure that other web users beyond my friends and family could no longer access this content.

I believe that my actions show my willingness to adapt my behavior. In an effort to further satisfy your concerns about my ability to adapt my behavior, I wish to clearly state the changes that I am willing to make.

  1. When I wish to share my personal thoughts and opinions with family and friends, I will do so only via personal password-protected virtual private networks, email, telephone, mail, or in person.

  2. When I wish to post content online that can be accessed by people beyond my circle of friends and family, I will share that content in advance with you (the Country Director) so that you may review what I have created for problems that I may not have anticipated. This includes copy, code, programming, graphics, and formatting that I will be developing as a Peace Corps IT Volunteer.

  3. I will not publicly share photos taken by me or other volunteers without the permission from the subjects that are pictured.

  4. I will not share information about the Peace Corps, its volunteers, or the people of Guyana outside of my restricted audience.

  5. I will refrain from using my host agency's information technology equipment, including, but not limited to, computers, scanners, faxes, and copiers for my personal use.

  6. I will be happy to remove the ".gov" restriction so that the Peace Corps may access the public area of my website. Just realize that my removing this restriction, I will be dramatically increasing my site's exposure, for anyone with a ".gov" extension will then be able to access my site.

It is my hope that changes further show my willingness to adapt my behavior and will thus permit me to be sworn in today. I have talent and interest to help the World Wildlife Fund, the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana, and potentially many more Guyanese organizations in their IT and web development needs.

I believe that I fully understand the potential damage that my comments and opinions could have on the Peace Corps and or U.S. should those comments reach people beyond my friends and family. The steps that I have taken secure my content well beyond the average Peace Corps Volunteer.