Awards Recognize Leaders on the Electronic Frontier

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is calling for nominations for its 2006 Pioneer Awards -- the annual celebration of leaders on the electronic frontier who extend freedom and innovation in the realm of information technology. Past winners have included Tim Berners-Lee, Linus Torvalds, and Ed Felten.

Pioneer Awards nominations are open to individuals or organizations from any country. Nominations are reviewed by a panel of judges chosen for their knowledge of the technical, legal, and social issues associated with information technology.

This year's award ceremony will be held in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference (CFP), which takes place in early May. Persons or representatives of organizations receiving an EFF Pioneer Award will be invited to attend the ceremony at EFF's expense.

How to Nominate Someone for a 2006 Pioneer Award:

You may send as many nominations as you wish by email to pioneer@eff.org, but please use one email per nomination. We will accept nominations until March 1, 2006.

Simply tell us:
1. The name of the nominee
2. The phone number or email address or website by which the nominee can be reached, and, most importantly
3. Why you feel the nominee deserves the award.

Nominee Criteria:

There are no specific categories for the EFF Pioneer Awards, but the following guidelines apply:
1. The nominees must have contributed substantially to the health, growth, accessibility, or freedom of computer-based communications.
2. To be valid, all nominations must contain your reason, however brief, for nominating the individual or organization and a means of contacting the nominee. In addition, while anonymous nominations will be accepted, ideally we'd like to contact the nominating parties in case we need further information.
3. The contribution may be technical, social, economic, or cultural.
4. Nominations may be of individuals, systems, or organizations in the private or public sectors.
5. Nominations are open to all (other than current members of EFF's staff and executive board or this year's award judges), and you may nominate more than one recipient. You may also nominate yourself or your organization.

More on the EFF Pioneer Awards:
http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/

Contact:

Katina Bishop
Projects Coordinator
Electronic Frontier Foundation
katina@eff.org