Telecom/1996-04-telecom-walnutcreek.iso/legal-fcc/internet.day.of.protest

Internet Message Format | 1995-12-12 | 22KB

From [e-mail]  Wed Dec 13 12:50:18 1995
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Date: Wed, 13 Dec 1995 12:50:18 -0500 (EST)
From: [e-mail] (Patrick A. Townson)
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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: [e-mail]
  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: [phone]         Fax: [phone]
  E-mail: [e-mail]

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: [phone] (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: [phone]         Fax: [phone]
  E-mail: [e-mail]           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: [phone]
  E-mail: [e-mail]   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: [phone]
  E-mail: [e-mail]
  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: [phone]         Fax: [phone]
  E-Mail: [e-mail]
  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: [phone]

  Center for Democratic Renewal
  P.O. Box 50469, Atlanta, GA 30302-0469
  Phone: [phone]         Fax: [phone]
  E-mail: [e-mail]
  (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: [phone]         Fax: [phone]
  E-mail: [e-mail]    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: [phone] or [phone]    Fax: [phone]
  E-mail: [e-mail]
  (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: [phone] (voice calls: press "5" when machine answers)
Voicemail: [phone]       E-mail: [e-mail]

 >>> 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: [e-mail]
  Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 13:24:19 -0500 (EST)
  Subject: CDT alert

  From:    IN%"[e-mail]"  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: [e-mail]
  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
([e-mail])

     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 [e-mail] 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
        [e-mail]
      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
        [e-mail]
      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
        [e-mail]
      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
        [e-mail]
      R SD Pressler, Larry            1-202-224-5842  1-202-224-1259
        [e-mail]
      R WA Gorton, Slade              1-202-224-3441  1-202-224-9393
        [e-mail]
      D WV Rockefeller, John D.       1-202-224-6472  n.a.
        [e-mail]

   Dist ST Name, Address, and Party     Phone            Fax
   ==== == ========================     ==============  ==============
      6 GA Gingrich, Newt (R)           1-202-225-4501   1-202-225-4656
             2428 RHOB                      [e-mail]
     14 MI Conyers Jr., John (D)        1-202-225-5126   1-202-225-0072
             2426 RHOB                      [e-mail]
      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]