From ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu Wed Dec 13 12:50:18 1995 Return-Path: Received: by massis.lcs.mit.edu (8.7.1/NSCS-1.0S) id MAA23471; Wed, 13 Dec 1995 12:50:18 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 12:50:18 -0500 (EST) From: ptownson@massis.lcs.mit.edu (Patrick A. Townson) Message-Id: <199512131750.MAA23471@massis.lcs.mit.edu> To: ptownson Subject: Congress: Indecency and the Internet The actions in the United States Congress this past week regarding the Internet and 'indecency' has spurred a considerable protest by many on the net. A "Day of Protest" -- which actually is going on all this week -- has been called. The articles below discuss it in detail. PAT From: ROGOR@delphi.com Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 13:23:48 -0500 (EST) Subject: *** URGENT ACTION ALERT - Stop Net Censorship *** Do you oppose censorship? Do you want the "Religious Right" running our country? In the 1994 campaign, Republicans promised to "get government off the backs of the people." Now, under pressure from the Christian Coalition and other pro-censorship groups, the Congress is on the verge of passing legislation will impose extensive censorship on computer networks and online services. Last week, the House Conference Committee on Telecommunications Reform voted to approve a proposal to impose "decency" regulations on material transmitted on online services and computer networks, which represents a violation of the First Amendment freedom of speech rights of all Americans who use online services and networks. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), an organization active in online policy issues, reported: "The provisions adopted today would make the Internet and Interactive media the most heavily regulated communications medium in the United States, and severely threaten the future of free expression and democratic values in the information age. "The proposal, if agreed to by the full conference committee, would impose $100,000 fines and prison terms for anyone who posts any "indecent" material, including the "7 dirty words", the text of classic works of fiction such as The Catcher In The Rye, or Ulysses, artwork containing images of nudes, rap lyrics, in a public forum. "CDT strongly opposes the legislation agreed to by the House conferees today. We believe this proposal threatens the very existence of the Internet as a means for free expression, education, and political discourse. The proposal is an unwarranted, unconstitutional intrusion by the Federal government into the private lives of all Americans." The proposal approved by the committee totally reverses the Cox/Wyden Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment Act that passed overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives on August 4 by a vote of 420 to 4. The Cox/Wyden Amendment was designed to protect free speech online and encourage the development of technologies to enable users and parents to be given the choice of blocking indecent material or material they consider offensive if they wish to do so. Christian Coalition spokesman Mike Russell stated "We felt we came out of this with a decisive victory." CDT executive director Jerry Berman stated "This action is indecent. The chilling effect on adult communications is enormous." In case you are not aware of activities planned in opposition to this legislation, I am forwarding to you a copy of a CDT alert regarding a National Day of Protest planned for Tuesday, December 12, that is being organized by a coalition of organizations supporting freedom of speech for online users (see next message). If you are interested in preserving freedom of expression and opposing online censorship, please join in contacting the key members of the House and Senate listed in the CDT message that follows, by phone, fax, or e-mail, and express your opposition to this legislation. You may also contact your Senators and Representative, and President Clinton, let them know your views on this issue, and ask them to vote against, and the President to veto, the final Telecommunications Reform Bill and any other legislation that includes provisions to censor our communications media and to restrict the freedom of speech of the American people. To contact the President, you can write/call/fax/e-mail: President Bill Clinton The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20500 Phone: (202) 456-1111 Fax: (202) 456-2461 E-mail: president@whitehouse.gov To contact a Senator or Representative, you can write/call: Senator (Senator's full name) U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20510 Representative (Representative's full name) U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-3121 (Main Capitol Switchboard) You can also obtain the office addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail addresses of your Senators and Representative, as well as voting records, campaign finance information, ratings by various interest groups, and a "U.S. Government: Owner's Manual", by contacting: Project Vote Smart 129 NW Fourth St. #204, Corvallis, OR 97330 Phone: (503) 754-2746 Fax: (503) 754-2747 E-mail: pvs@neu.edu WWW: http://www.vote-smart.org Voter's Research Hotline: (800) 622-SMART (Project Vote Smart is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization that provides "Voter's Self-Defense" information services. They do not accept contributions from political, corporate or special interests, or endorse or oppose any legislation or candidates. Join or support them if you can!) If you would like to obtain further information on the activities of the Religious Right, or to join or support organizations that are involved in monitoring the Religious Right and working to preserve our religious freedoms, the following are some organizations you can contact: The Interfaith Alliance 1511 K Street NW, #738, Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 639-6370 E-mail: TIAlliance@intr.net WWW: http://www.intr.net/tialliance (The Interfaith Alliance's purpose is "to provide people of faith with an alternative to radical religious right groups who use religion as a weapon to promote an extreme political agenda." TIA state and local alliances "monitor radical right activity, shine the light on 'stealth' candidates, and speak out against groups and individuals who seek to manipulate religion for political gain.") Americans United for Separation of Church and State 1816 Jefferson Place NW, Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 466-3234 E-mail: amerunited@aol.com WWW: http://www.netplexgroup.com/americansunited (The purpose of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is to "bolster support for the religious freedom provisions of the U.S. Constitution", and to "promote and defend church-state separation".) C.C. Watch 3741 NE 163rd St, #311, Sunny Isles, FL 33160-4104 Phone: (305) 751-5001 Fax: (305) 759-7193 E-Mail: Watch97@aol.com Subscription orders: (800) WATCH97 ($29.95 for a 1 year subscription) (C.C. Watch is "an electronic news service monitoring the religious right", whose aim is to "keep an eye on the Christian Coalition" and other "groups and individuals that use the Bible, faith and prayer aggressively for exclusive political gain." C.C. Watch operates an e-mail news network to provide subscribers with updates and alerts on the activities of the Religious Right.) People for the American Way 2000 M St. NW, #400, Washington, DC 20036 Phone: (202) 467-4999 Center for Democratic Renewal P.O. Box 50469, Atlanta, GA 30302-0469 Phone: (404) 221-0025 Fax: (404) 221-0045 E-mail: CDR@igc.apc.org (The Center for Democratic Renewal's mission is "to advance the vision of a democratic, diverse and just society free of racism and bigotry.") Institute for First Amendment Studies P.O. Box 589, Great Barrington, MA 01230 Phone: (413) 528-3800 Fax: (413) 528-4466 E-mail: ifas@berkshire.net WWW: http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/ (The Institute for First Amendment Studies is dedicated to "preserving First Amendment freedoms, with particular emphasis on the separation between church and state.") National Center for Science Education P.O. Box 9477, Berkeley, CA 94709-0477 Phone: (510) 526-1674 or (800) 290-6006 Fax: (510) 526-1675 E-mail: ncse@crl.com (The National Center for Science Education's goals are "improving and supporting evolution education, and assuring inclusion of evolution (and not sectarian "creation science") in public school curricula.") This Urgent Action Alert is provided by the Coalition of America, a public information project of Rowe Communication Services, dedicated to promoting freedom, equality and respect, social and economic justice, and a nation of opportunity and compassion. Please note that the organization listings in the message above are for your reference only, and do not imply endorsement by these organizations of the campaign to stop net censorship. Please distribute this message and the CDT message that follows to anyone you think may be interested. If you have already received this information from other sources, my apologies for the inconvenience! Thank you for your attention, Ron Rowe National Project Director Coalition of America Rowe Communication Services 2828 Cochran St. #283, Simi Valley, CA 93065 Phone/Fax: (805) 579-3825 (voice calls: press "5" when machine answers) Voicemail: (805) 378-5530 E-mail: rogor@delphi.com >>> Please support the Human Rights and Freedom of Speech organizations of your choice! <<< >>> Be intolerant of intolerance! <<< >>> Stand up for freedom, equality and respect! Help make America a "kinder, gentler nation", not a "meaner, tougher nation"! <<< >>> "We are calling on all organizations concerned about retaining a pluralistic and just society to build a movement for social justice for the 21st century that advances true democracy and human rights." (Center for Democratic Renewal - The Monitor - Spring 1995) <<< >>> Be sure to exercise your right to vote - if the idea of voting for "the lesser of two evils" turns you off, remember that a lot of people will be voting for "the greater of two evils"! <<< From: ROGOR@delphi.com Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 13:24:19 -0500 (EST) Subject: CDT alert From: IN%"editor@cdt.org" 9-DEC-1995 21:05:01.38 Subj: ALERT - Protest Internet Censorship Bills, Tues 12/12/95 Date: Sat, 09 Dec 1995 21:05:13 -0500 (EST) From: editor@cdt.org Subject: ALERT - Protest Internet Censorship Bills, Tues 12/12/95 To subscribers of CDT's policy-posts: CDT has joined forces with the ACLU, EFF, EPIC, and the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW), and other free speech groups to organize a National Day of Protest on Tuesday December 12, 1995 against Congressional attempts to censor the Internet. We hope you will join us and hundreds of thousands of your fellow net.citizens in this effort. Congress is expected to cast a final vote on this issue next week. The fate of the Internet as a viable medium for free expression, education, and commerce hangs in the balance. Please take a moment to read the attached alert and get ready to flood Capitol Hill with phone calls, faxes, and email messages on Tuesday. Please also forward this alert to all of your wired friends. Together we *can* make a difference. Jonah Seiger (editor@cdt.org) CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE NET CENSORSHIP LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS On Tuesday December 12, 1995, Join With Hundreds of Thousands Of Your Fellow Internet Users In A NATIONAL INTERNET DAY OF PROTEST PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL December 20, 1995 ________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Internet Day of Protest: Tuesday December 12, 1995 What You Must Do On Tuesday December 12, 1995 List of Participating Organizations Where Can I Learn More? INTERNET DAY OF PROTEST: TUESDAY DECEMBER 12, 1995 Outrageous proposals to censor the Internet demand that the Internet Community take swift and immediate action. We must stand up and let Congress know that we will not tolerate their attempts to destroy this medium! Please join hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens in a National Day of Protest on Tuesday December 12, 1995. As you know, on Wednesday December 6, 1995, the House Conference Committee on Telecommunications Reform voted to impose far reaching and unconstitutional "indecency" restrictions on the Internet and other interactive media, including large commercial online services (such as America Online, Compuserve, and Prodigy) and smaller Internet Service Providers such as Panix, the Well, Echo, and Mindvox. These restrictions threaten the very existence of the Internet and interactive media as a viable medium for free expression, education, commerce. If enacted, the Internet as we know it will never be the same. Libraries will not be able to put any books online that might offend a child somewhere. No "Catcher in the Rye" or "Ulysses" on the net. Internet Service Providers could face criminal penalties for allowing children to subscribe to their Internet Services, forcing many small companies to simply refuse to sell their services to anyone under 18. Worst of all, everything you say and publish on the net will have to be "dumbed down" to that which is acceptable to a child. As Internet users, we simply must not allow this assault against the Internet and our most basic freedoms to go unchallenged. On Tuesday December 12, the organizations below are urging you to join us in a NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST. The goal is to flood key members of the House and Senate with phone calls, faxes and email with the message that the Internet community WILL NOT TOLERATE Congressional attempts to destroy the Internet, limit our freedoms and trample on our rights. Below are the phone, fax, and email address of several key members of Congress on this issue and instructions on what you can do to join the National Day of Protest to save the Net. WHAT YOU MUST DO ON TUESDAY DECEMBER 12, 1995 1. Throughout the day Tuesday December 12, please contact as many members of Congress on the list below as you can. If you are only able to make one call, contact House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Finally, if the Senator or Representative from your state is on the list below, be sure to contact him or her also. 2. Urge each Member of Congress to "stop the madness". Tell them that they are about to pass legislation that will destroy the Internet as an educational and commercial medium. If you are at a loss for words, try the following sample communique: Sample phone call: Both the House and Senate bills designed to protect children from objectionable material on the Internet will actually destroy the Internet as an medium for education, commerce, and political discourse. There are other, less restrictive ways to address this issue. I urge you to oppose both measures being proposed in the conference committee. This is an important election issue to me. Sample letter (fax or email): The Senate conferees are considering ways to protect children from inappropriate material on the Internet. A vote for either the House or Senate proposals will result in the destruction of the Internet as a viable medium for free expression, education, commerce. Libraries will not be able to put their entire book collections online. Everyday people like me will risk massive fines and prison sentences for public discussions someone s somewhere might consider "indecent". There are other, less restrictive ways to protect children from objectionable material online. This is an important election issue to me. 3. If you're in San Francisco, or near enough to get there, go to the Rally Against Censorship from Ground Zero of the Digital Revolution: WHEN: Monday, December 11, 1995 12:00 - 1:00 PM WHERE: South Park (between 2nd and 3rd, Bryant and Brannon) San Francisco. SPEAKERS: To be announced BRING: Attention-grabbing posters, signs, and banners that demonstrate your committment to free speech and expression, and your feelings about Congress. FOR UPDATED INFORMATION (including rain info): http://www.hotwired.com/staff/digaman/ ### THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT ### 4. Mail a note to protest@vtw.org to let us know you did your part. Although you will not receive a reply due to the number of anticipated responses, we'll be counting up the number of people that participated in the day of protest. P ST Name and Address Phone Fax = == ======================== ============== ============== R AK Stevens, Ted 1-202-224-3004 1-202-224-1044 R AZ McCain, John 1-202-224-2235 1-602-952-8702 senator_mccain@mccain.senate.gov D HI Inouye, Daniel K. 1-202-224-3934 1-202-224-6747 R KS Dole, Robert 1-202-224-6521 1-202-228-1245 D KY Ford, Wendell H. 1-202-224-4343 1-202-224-0046 wendell_ford@ford.senate.gov R MS Lott, Trent 1-202-224-6253 1-202-224-2262 R MT Burns, Conrad R. 1-202-224-2644 1-202-224-8594 conrad_burns@burns.senate.gov D NE Exon, J. J. 1-202-224-4224 1-202-224-5213 D SC Hollings, Ernest F. 1-202-224-6121 1-202-224-4293 senator@hollings.senate.gov R SD Pressler, Larry 1-202-224-5842 1-202-224-1259 larry_pressler@pressler.senate.gov R WA Gorton, Slade 1-202-224-3441 1-202-224-9393 senator_gorton@gorton.senate.gov D WV Rockefeller, John D. 1-202-224-6472 n.a. senator@rockefeller.senate.gov Dist ST Name, Address, and Party Phone Fax ==== == ======================== ============== ============== 6 GA Gingrich, Newt (R) 1-202-225-4501 1-202-225-4656 2428 RHOB georgia6@hr.house.gov 14 MI Conyers Jr., John (D) 1-202-225-5126 1-202-225-0072 2426 RHOB jconyers@hr.house.gov 1 CO Schroeder, Patricia (D) 1-202-225-4431 1-202-225-5842 2307 RHOB 18 TX Jackson-Lee, Sheila (D) 1-202-225-3816 1-202-225-3317 1520 LHOB 6 TN Gordon, Bart (D) 1-202-225-4231 1-202-225-6887 2201 RHOB 4. Forward this alert to all of your wired friends. WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE? At this moment, there are several organizations with WWW sites that now have, or will have, information about the net censorship legislation and the National Day Of Protest: American Civil Liberties Union (ftp://ftp.aclu.org/aclu/) Center for Democracy and Technology (http://www.cdt.org/) Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org/) Electronic Privacy Information Center (http://www.epic.org/) Wired Magazine (http://www.hotwired.com/special/indecent/) Voters Telecommunications Watch (http://www.vtw.org/) LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS In order to use the net more effectively, several organizations have joined forces on a single Congressional net campaign to stop the Communications Decency Act. American Civil Liberties Union * American Communication Association * American Council for the Arts * Arts & Technology Society * Association of Alternative Newsweeklies * biancaTroll productions * Boston Coalition for Freedom of Expression * Californians Against Censorship Together * Center For Democracy And Technology * Centre for Democratic Communications * Center for Public Representation * Citizen's Voice - New Zealand * Cloud 9 Internet *Computer Communicators Association * Computel Network Services * Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility * Cross Connection * Cyber-Rights Campaign * CyberQueer Lounge * Dorsai Embassy * Dutch Digital Citizens' Movement * ECHO Communications Group, Inc. * Electronic Frontier Canada * Electronic Frontier Foundation * Electronic Frontier Foundation - Austin * Electronic Frontiers Australia * Electronic Frontiers Houston * Electronic Frontiers New Hampshire * Electronic Privacy Information Center * Feminists For Free Expression * First Amendment Teach-In * Florida Coalition Against Censorship * FranceCom, Inc. Web Advertising Services * Friendly Anti-Censorship Taskforce for Students * Hands Off! The Net * Inland Book Company * Inner Circle Technologies, Inc. * Inst. for Global Communications * Internet On-Ramp, Inc. * Internet Users Consortium * Joint Artists' and Music Promotions Political Action Committee * The Libertarian Party * Marijuana Policy Project * Metropolitan Data Networks Ltd. * MindVox * MN Grassroots Party * National Bicycle Greenway * National Campaign for Freedom of Expression * National Coalition Against Censorship * National Gay and Lesbian Task Force * National Public Telecomputing Network * National Writers Union * Oregon Coast RISC * Panix Public Access Internet * People for the American Way * Republican Liberty Caucus * Rock Out Censorship * Society for Electronic Access * The Thing International BBS Network * The WELL * Voters Telecommunications Watch (Note: All 'Electronic Frontier' organizations are independent entities, not EFF chapters or divisions.) End Alert TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Although technical difficulties here prevented this message from going out earlier this week, it still is not too late to send your messages as described above should you wish to do so. PAT]