I apologize for the length of this forwarded post, and realize it's a
borderline issue, but I thought everyone on this list would be interested in
keeping the Net free from government interference (especially since one of
the driving forces behind S.314 is our pal Bobby Packwood). Hope you find
this useful.
--Katharine English
---------------------
Forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (National Writers Union)
Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: 95-03-21 09:03:42 EST
CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE US COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT (S. 314/H.R.
1004)
(Note this is not the electronic "defeat S314" petition)
Update: - Telecomm Reform bill scheduled for markup Thu 3/23/95
- Sen. Leahy (D-VT) expresses "serious concerns", seeks
alternatives that protect free speech
- Coalition Internet campaign has an impact
PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
DO NOT REDISTRIBUTE AFTER MAY 1, 1995
DO NOT REPRODUCE THIS ALERT IN NON-POLITICAL FORUMS
Mar. 17, 1995
Distributed by the Voters Telecommunications Watch ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[3/17/95:
Yet even more organizations have joined us. Welcome aboard!
Next week (Mar 23, 1995) the telecomm reform bill will be marked up in
the Commerce committee. If the Communications Decency Act is added to
the reform bill as an amendment, it will be *very difficult to stop*.
The result of this bill becoming a law will be to change the nature of
the Internet as we know it. The volume of information we take for
granted will slow to a trickle.
Win this battle, and we've won the fight for this year and stopped the
bill. Lose it and we'll be on the ropes in the Senate for the rest
of the session.
Only you can make the difference, and it will only take two minutes.
-Shabbir]
---------------------------------------------------------
In order to use the net more effectively, the following organizations
have joined forces on a single Congressional net campaign to stop the
Communications Decency Act, S. 314 (in alphabetical order):
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU),
the American Communication Association (ACA),
the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT),
the Center for Public Representation (CPR),
the Computer Communicators Association (CCA),
the Computing Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR),
the CyberQueer Lounge, an online resource for the gay community,
the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF),
(Note the above DC-based EFF has no local chapters)
the Electronic Frontier Foundation-Austin (EFF-Austin),
the Electronic Frontiers Australia, (EFA)
the Electronic Frontiers Houston, (EFH)
the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC),
the Florida Coalition Against Censorship (FCAC),
the Hands Off! the Net petition drive,
the National Coalition Against Censorship, (NCAC)
the National Libertarian Party, (NLP),
the National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN),
the National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981 AFL-CIO), (NWU)
the People for the American Way (PFAW),
the Society for Electronic Access (SEA), and
the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW)
These organizations are using the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW)
as a conduit for legislative feedback. When you contact Congress about the
Communications Decency Act and send your feedback to [EMAIL PROTECTED], that
information is being fed back to all participating organizations.
If your organization would like to sign on to this campaign and receive
legislative feedback, contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Note the Fidonet and FTN
mailing directions below)
-------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS
What you can do
Introduction
Background
Current status of S. 314/H.R. 1004
Where can I learn more about the bill?
Where will I learn about updates to this alert?
Current list of participating organizations
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT YOU CAN DO (IN ONLY TWO MINUTES)
1. Contact Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD, Commerce Committee Chairman),
Sen. J.J. Exon (D-NE, sponsor of the bill), and Sen. Bob Packwood (ROR,
Chairman, Communications Subcommittee).
Note: although contacting your own Senators is important, these
members hold the keys at this point in time. If you want to contact
your own Senators, that's great, but between now and Thursday Pressler,
Exon and Packwood are the ones to focus on.
Time is of the essence: *Phone calls* are best, faxes only partially
effective, email has the least impact.
P ST Name and Address Phone Fax
= == ======================== ============== ==============
R SD Pressler, Larry 1-202-224-5842 1-202-224-1259*
243 RSOB [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Washington, D.C. 20510
*Note this is the Senate Commercommittee's fax machine
D NE Exon, J. J. 1-202-224-4224 1-202-224-5213
528 HSOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
R OR Packwood, Robert 1-202-224-5244 1-202-228-3576
259 RSOB
Washington, D.C. 20510
Urge them to keep S.314 from being incorporated into
telecommunications reform legislation and to support Senator Leahy's
efforts to explore alternatives to the Exon bill. Follow the communique
at the bottom if you need to.
2. Feel free to use the following communique:
SAMPLE COMMUNIQUE
I'm a resident of _______. Please support Senator Leahy's
efforts to explore alternatives to S. 314. Please keep S. 314
out of the telecommunications reform bill, and remove S. 314
from the fast track.
Thanks.
See below for a brief description of Leahy's initiative. His letter
to CDT is in the VTW gopher.
Concern over S.314 is not limited to the U.S. Among many international
expressions of support, two have stood out in the first two weeks.
EF-Australia is a member of the growing coalition, and IndiaNet has
circulated our alert widely. If you are not a citizen of the United States
you can still express your concern. A sample message to Senator Pressler
follows:
Dear Senator Pressler:
The Exon bill will cripple the U.S. portion of the Internet
and thereby devastate the growing global information community.
Internation commerce and social and political cooperation will
suffer greatly. I urge you to refrain from incorporating S.314
into any telecommunications reform legislation and to support
Senator's Leahy initiatives to explore alternatives to S314.
Both US citizens and non-US citizens should remember to be polite
when speaking to legislators, even their own.
3. DON'T FORGET TO DROP A NOTE TO [EMAIL PROTECTED] to tell us who you contacted.
(See below for FTN -> Internet emailing instructions.)
We'll tally the results and feed them back to all participating
organizations. It's crucial we have this feedback, even if you just
got a form letter, or a "thank you" to your phone call.
Please, when you report back, tell us what state you are in! This
will help us track constituent calls, which are the most effective.
4. Feel good about yourself. You've just participated in democracy
without leaving your seat.
5. (Extra bonus activism) Pass this alert to your friends, especially if
they're in South Dakota, Nebraska, or Oregon. These states need to
have as much constituent contact with their Senators as possible.
Also, you might send a thank-you note to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) for
his continuing efforts on behalf of free speech and the free flow of
information in cyberspace. He can be reached at:
P ST Name and Address Phone Fax
= == ======================== ============== ==============
D VT Leahy, Patrick J. 1-202-224-4242 1-202-224-3595
433 RSOB [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Washington, D.C. 20510
Don't forget to Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on your mail to him, so we can tally
the response.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION
Dear Net Citizens:
Legislation has been introduced before the Senate which would severely
restrict your freedom of speech, halt the free flow of information on
the net, and require all telecommunications carriers to censor your
public and private communications.
The "Communications Decency Act of 1995" (S. 314), introduced in early
February by Senators Exon (D-NE) and Gorton (R-WA), would place
substantial criminal liability on telecommunications carriers (including
traditional telephone networks, Internet service providers, commercial
online services such as America Online and Compuserve, and independent
BBS's) whenever their networks are used to transmit any material
which is deemed indecent or harassing. In order to avoid these penalties,
carriers would be forced to restrict the activities of their subscribers
and censor all public and private communications.
We must act quickly to stop the progress of S. 314. The bill may soon
be incorporated into Senate telecommunications reform legislation, which
is currently being drafted by the Senate Commerce Committee. The
telecommunications reform bill may be introduced as early as mid March,
and is expected to be considered on a fast track. If S. 314 is included
in this bill, it will be extremely difficult to change or remove and
could pass quickly.
We are asking you to join us in urging key members of the Senate to
prevent S. 314 from being included in Senate telecommunications reform
measures and to hold open, public hearings on the issue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
CURRENT STATUS OF S. 314/H.R. 1004
The bill was introduced on February 1, 1995 by Senators Exon (D-NE) and
Gorton (R-WA). It is currently pending before the Senate Commerce
Committee (chaired by Senator Pressler (R-SD)).
No committee action has been scheduled as of March 9, 1995.
The telecommunications reform bill is scheduled for hearing starting
March 21, 1995. It is possible that S. 314 will be folded into the
bill during markup next week.
H.R. 1004 (worded the same as S. 314) was introduced on February 21,
1995 in the House by Representative Johnson (SD) and has been referred
to the House Commerce and Judiciary committees.
No committee actions in the House have been scheduled as of March 17, 1995.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND
S. 314 would expand current law restricting indecency and harassment on
telephone services to all telecommunications providers and expand
criminal liability to all content carried by all forms of
telecommunications networks. The bill would amend Section 223 of the
Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 223), which requires carriers to take
steps to prevent minors from gaining access to indecent audiotext and
criminalizes harassment accomplished over interstate telephone lines.
If enacted, S. 314 would compel service providers to severely restrict
your online activities. Your access to email, discussion lists, usenet,
the world wide web, gopher, and ftp archives would be substantially
reduced or cut off entirely. The bill would also force providers to
closely monitor and pre-screen your electronic mail, and refuse to
transmit any message or other content which may be considered to be
indecent.
This bill poses a significant threat to freedom of speech and the free
flow of information in cyberspace. The bill also raises fundamental
questions about the right of government to control content on
communications networks, as well as the locus of liability for content
carried in these new communications media.
Recently, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has requested the Center for
Democracy and Technology's Public Interest/Industry working group IWG
(Interactive Working Group) to explore other solutions to the problems
that S. 314 attempts to solve. The working group must be allowed to
examine current legislation and explore technical alternatives that are
consistent with the First Amendment and the free flow of information.
We've received over 400 messages in two weeks, with our log showing
over 700 letters, faxes, phone calls, and email messages (many people
contacted more than one Senator. At least two respondents wrote all 19
members of the committee!) Of course many more people have probably
contacted Congress without sending that note to VTW.
Almost 200 messages went to Pressler, who may be getting the point.
His staff told one caller, "Why are you calling us? It's Exon's bill!"
(This is why phone calls to Pressler are so important.)
One citizen wrote to Senator Gorton, a co-sponsor:
"I, frankly, am amazed at the audacity of your proposed
bill. We are not children sir, nor do we need your
misplaced guidance in raising our children!"
Along the same lines, another wrote to his own Senator:
"While I am pleased, being an enthusiastic supporter of
anti-harassment legislation, with many of the provisions of
this bill, I am frankly astounded and appalled with others."
Someone came up with metaphor that frankly we aren't clever enough to
have thought of:
"A few years ago, a tanker laden with a crude, noxious substance
ran aground in the virginal territories of the Alaskan coastline.
It poisoned the land and sea for many miles around.... We are now
faced with another 'Exon Valdez'... a vehicle filled with crude
legislation, currently at risk of running ashore on our pristine
rights."
Finally, someone writing to Pressler spoke for all of us to all of us:
"At a time when communications between ordinary citizens has
been all but drowned out by the barrage of mass media, online
communication has become the last bastion of real citizen
deliberation and has become the "public square" so to speak,
of the nation. This bill would destroy this great experiment
in the rejuvenation of grassroots democracy. Please do all
you can to prevent its passage."
We are encouraged by the success so far of the campaign, and hope that
you take the time to participate at this crucial time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BILL?
The Voters Telecommunications Watch has set up a gopher page where
you can get a copy of the bill (including analyses by the American
Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the
Electronic Messaging Association, and others). Here's the URL:
WWW URL: gopher://gopher.panix.com/11/vtw/exon
Gopher command : gopher -p 1/vtw/exon gopher.panix.com
[The bill is also available at the Electronic Frontier Foundation:]
ftp: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Legislation/Bills_new/s314.bill
gopher: gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Legislation/Bills_new, s314.bill
WWW URL: http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Legislation/Bills_new/s314.bill
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WHERE WILL I LEARN ABOUT UPDATES TO THIS ALERT?
We will post updates to this alert in three places:
-On the account [EMAIL PROTECTED] (finger [EMAIL PROTECTED])
-On Usenet (comp.org.eff.talk, comp.org.cpsr.talk, and alt.privacy)
-Through our announcements mailing list, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To subscribe, simply send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the
following in the message body:
subscribe vtw-announce Firstname Lastname
---------------------------------------------------------------------
CURRENT LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
At this time, the following organizations have signed onto this
campaign and are receiving the legislative feedback that VTW is compiling:
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
American Communication Association (ACA), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Center for Public Representation (CPR), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Computer Communicators Association (CCA), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Computing Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CyberQueer Lounge, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(Note that the DC-based EFF has no local chapters)
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Electronic Frontier Foundation-Austin (EFF-Austin), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Electronic Frontiers Houston (EFH), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Florida Coalition Against Censorship (FCAC), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hands Off! the Net petition drive, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Libertarian Party (NLP), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981 AFL-CIO), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
People for the American Way (PFAW), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Society for Electronic Access (SEA), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW), [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Note that the Voters Telecommunications Watch does not speak for these
organizations. Any opinions contained herein are those of the author,
and not necessarily endorsed by participating organizations.
