Aotearoa Maori Internet Organisation - New Zealand

The AMIO portal is a central tool in shaping the internet culture to better accommodate Maori culture and discourses. This portal reflects the belief that the increased participation of Maori on the internet need not be limited to being mere participants in the current structure and facilities available. Discussion forums focus on issues such as domain names and tech support. In addition, information or downloads of resources that are available include bilingual website guidelines, a Maori dictionary of computer-related terms, and an introduction to obtaining a website or email address. In addition to news and articles, members can view up-to-date statistics on .iwi.nz and .maori.nz, two Maori internet spaces. They can also access several free self-help books, including how Iwi [traditional Maori tribal hierarchy and social order made up of Hapü (kin groups) and Whanau (family groups)] can protect themselves in cyberspace.

More directly, in order to make the internet a more supportive place for Maori culture and identity, AMIO will work directly with Maori internet developers who can become authors and creators of web functions and web structures. This means moving on from just web design and email list management to web programming, application development, and communications enhancements to better suit Maori styles and values of communications. In addition, AMIO will support any non-Maori organisation that wishes to advance Maori in IT. AMIO also envisions advanced online community building systems that promote Maori culture and discourses.

AMIO will also participate in and seek relationships with many national and international IT bodies. Activities may include:

• engaging in government submission processes on legislation
• representing Maori on government consultation processes
• participating in international discussions and forums that impact Maori
• presenting national submissions and surveys that concern the .nz internet space

Associated action has, to date, included:

• making a submission on behalf of Maori to protect .iwi.nz and .maori.nz
• sending a representative to a community conference to speak about Maori intellectual property (IP) rights and at least one delegate to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Global Forum of Indigenous People and the Information Society (Geneva, December 2003)
• sending a delegate to the Communities Online conference in Wellington, New Zealand to discuss lessons learned on the internet for Maori organisations and IP rights
• approaching a cybersquatter who has reserved many Iwi and other sensitive Maori domain names (with the intent to sell them back to Maori organisations at high prices).
• encouraging InternetNZ to implement international domain names (IDNs) to enable Maori to represent their language on the internet.

Technology, Cultural Development, Indigenous Knowledge, Intellectual Property Rights.

Organisers cite the prediction of early anthropologists that the Maori would disappear by the turn of the 19th century. Yet, they say, this culture is still alive and well, and is struggling to survive and maintain its identity. They explain, "With the push by western block countries for a singular consumer culture, the internet currently presents a new and more devastating tool of neo-colonisation and assimilation into the larger dominant western paradigms and super-culture." AMIO recognises that Maori have a long history of resisting the commodification of their culture and knowledge, but worries that current IP laws cannot protect Maori culture from commercial exploitation. Currently, they say, the only definably Maori aspects of the internet are a small assortment of websites, a few pieces of application software, and the two second-level domain names.

AMIO was formed by several former executives of the mostly defunct NZ Maori Internet Society. AMIO representatives say that they formed the group in response to growing frustration among Maori online developers at the apparent disappearance of the sole Maori Internet representative.