This letter is sent to you on behalf of Mike Adler, President IEEE.
Fellow Members of the Board:
Recently, we have experienced an increase in the number of
letters received
from IEEE members and others concerned about IEEE's position regarding
the
United States Department of Treasury's trade regulations that
have
restricted our service to members in embargoed countries. The
purpose of
this email is to bring you up-to-date on how we are responding
to these
inquiries and to call your attention to concerns regarding an
article
published today in Science Magazine.
Having discussed the situation with Vice President of Publications,
Mike
Lightner, we decided that I would publish an "Open Letter
to IEEE Members"
that would appear in the October 2003 issue of IEEE Spectrum.
The letter
would serve both as a response to the inquiries we have received,
and as an
update for interested IEEE members. A pdf file of the letter
is attached.
While the letter was being completed, IEEE was contacted by
a reporter from
Science, the flagship publication of the American Association
for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS). We were informed of their intent
to run a
story about IEEE's actions and position with regard to OFAC regulations.
In an effort to ensure that they printed a balanced story, we
cooperated
with AAAS by furnishing an advance copy of the Open Letter. Their
story
ran today, and a copy of that is attached. The story includes
quotes from
me and Directors Lightner and Alphonse. Please take a moment
to read it.
I found the article disturbing and the presentation of information
unbalanced. Additionally, there are several inaccuracies in the
text and
the IEEE is cast in a negative light. The article has already
caught the
attention of IEEE members and the media. We are receiving further
inquiries from both of these groups, and we expect to get many
more in the
next few weeks.
Therefore, in response to this situation:
1) The Open Letter has been posted to the IEEE Web Site in
the Newsroom.
It can be found at
http://a957.g.akamai.net/f/957/3680/1h/www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs/newsinfo/Adlerletter.pdf
2) IEEE members will first be made aware of and linked to
the Open Letter
via the next The Institute Online Alert that will be distributed
on
Monday 22 September.
3) We will now respond to the approximately 40 inquiries we
have received
from members and others by referring them to the Open Letter on
the
IEEE Web Site.
4) The Open Letter will appear in print in the October 2003
issue of
IEEE Spectrum and will be posted on IEEE Spectrum Online beginning
1
October.
5) The Open Letter will be circulated to the Editors-in Chief
of all the
journals, magazines and newsletters. This will assure us that
this
important group of volunteers are aware of the current situation.
At their discretion, the EIC may choose to re-publish the Open
Letter to
further circulate the message to members and subscribers of
our Society
and Council publications who may miss the letter in Spectrum.
6) AAAS and Science will be contacted immediately to both
voice our
dissatisfaction with the article published today, and to suggest
that they
provide a link on their web site to my Open Letter from the Science
article.
7) Finally, I am asking for your help to ensure that all
further
communications regarding this matter originate from my office.
Because of
the sensitive nature of this issue, the anticipated influx of
email and
letters as a result of the Science article and my Open Letter,
and that we
are approaching the end of the IEEE elections, it is important
that
our responses be coordinated and consistent. If you are the
recipient of
any inquiries from IEEE members or the media, please immediately
refer them to me with copies to Matt Loeb and Anne Swanton-Newman.
Should you have any further questions or comments, please do
not hesitate
to contact me.
Best regards,
Mike Adler
2003 IEEE President
Note added after the above was released to the IEEE President: