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EFF112.TXT
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1994-07-17
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########## | Volume I October 18 ,1991 Number 12 |
########## | |
### | EFFECTOR ONLINE |
####### | eff.org |
####### | "Serving Cyberspace since 1990" |
### | |
########## | The Electronic Newsletter of |
########## | The Electronic Frontier Foundation |
| 155 Second Street, Cambridge MA 02141 |
########## | Phone:(617)864-0665 FAX:(617)864-0866 |
########## | |
### | Staff: |
####### | Gerard Van der Leun (van@eff.org) |
####### | Mike Godwin (mnemonic@eff.org) |
### | Mitchell Kapor (mkapor@eff.org) |
### | David Gans (tnf@well.sf.ca.us) |
### |Chris Davis (ckd@eff.org) Helen Rose (hrose@eff.org)|
| Rita Rouvalis (rita@eff.org) |
########## | John Perry Barlow (barlow@eff.org) |
########## | Reproduction in electronic media is encouraged.. |
### | To reproduce signed articles individually |
####### | please contact the authors for their express |
####### | permission. |
### | |
### | |
### | |
effector:n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a desired change.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
In This Issue:
THE EFF IN WASHINGTON
EDITORIAL: AMENDMENTS WOULD UNDO DAMAGE OF MORRIS DECISION
MEANWHILE, BACK AT EFF.ORG
THE FIRST TWO AMENDMENTS OF THE CYBERSPACE BILL OF RIGHTS
ON THE ROAD WITH DAVID FARBER
MITCHELL KAPOR JOINS BOARD OF THE COMMERCIAL INTERNET EXCHANGE
TOP TEN QUOTES FROM LISA V
TELECOMMUTING
NEW GROUP MEMBERSHIP RATE FOR EFF
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
THE EFF IN WASHINGTON
Our Washington liaison, Jerry Berman, reports that we are very close to
an agreement with key congressional committees on a final draft of the
NREN bill. This draft will then be sent to the floor of congress for what
we believe will be a swift passage. Passage of this bill establishes a
high-speed research and education network that will be superimposed upon
the current Internet. The NREN will continue all the current functions of
the Internet as well as being a testbed for various high speed
experiments. In addition, it will allow for commercial transactions as
well an enabling wider and more open access for millions of present and
future users. If all goes as planned, we will have a bill that will
create a viable network that will be a true precursor on the National
Public Network.
Berman also noted that, with things returning to normal in Washington,
Congress will begin a series of hearings on the future of the
telecommunications infrastructure. In part, this is in response to the
advent of the Baby Bells as information providers. In order to help
ensure that the EFFs goals of open, fair, and easy access to networks are
always part of the discussions, we will be giving formal testimony before
the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance on October 24..
In a related development, the EFF, People for the American Way, and the
ACLU have been in communication with key congressmen and staff on recent
incidents involving telephone companies and 900 numbers. It has come to
our attention that there has been an unhealthy trend on the part of
various telephone companies to restrict the ability of various groups to
use 900 numbers based on the political content of their proposed 900
line. This is antithetical to the charter of telephone companies as
common carriers, as well as an affront to First Amendment rights. As
such, we have decided to oppose this "policy" wherever it arises.
-==--==--==-<>-==--==--==-
EDITORIAL:
AMENDMENTS WOULD UNDO DAMAGE OF MORRIS DECISION
by Mike Godwin
The Supreme Court's decision this month not to review Robert Morris's
conviction under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was a disappointment to
those who believe, as we do, that the Act should distinguish between
defendants who intentionally cause damage and defendants who do so
accidentally. Still, there is a good chance that the damage done by the
decisions of the lower courts in the Morris case will be undone by
Congress.
The Senate has recently passed amendments to the Computer Fraud and Abuse
Act (18 USC 1030), both as part of the omnibus crime bill and as a
stand-alone statute. We at EFF urge the House to approve the amendments,
since they correct the damage done by the Morris decision, and since they
add a requirement that the government report to Congress its prosecutions
under 18 USC 1030(a)(5) (the section under which Morris was prosecuted).
The Morris Decision
Readers may recall that the effect of the courts' interpretation of 18
USC 1030(a)(5) in the Morris case was to make the intent *to access* the
only intent required to be criminally liable. As currently construed, the
law makes no distinction between cases in which the damage is
intentionally caused (the hypothetical computer saboteur) and cases in
which the damage is unintentionally caused (such as the Robert Morris
case).
It was precisely this issue that we hoped the Supreme Court would address
in the Morris case.
The Senate Amendments to the Act
These amendments, which have already passed the Senate both as a
stand-alone bill and as part of the omnibus crime bill, modify 18 USC
(a)(5) in the following ways:
1) For a *felony* conviction under (a)(5), the defendant must have
knowingly "cause[d] the transmission of a program, information, code,or
command to a computer or computer system," *and* the defendant must
*intend* that the program cause damage or the denial of services." (Note
that the mushy concept of "access" has been changed to a more precise
notion of "transmission.")
2) For a *misdemeanor* conviction under (a)(5), the defendant may have
knowingly "cause[d] the transmission of a program, information, code, or
command to a computer or computer system," *and* the defendant must have
caused this transmission *with reckless disregard* as to whether the
transmission had a risk of causing damage or the denial of services.
In short, where the current law has only one intent requirement
(intentional access), the amended law would have two intent requirements
each for the felony and the misdemeanor offenses.
Under the facts of the Internet Worm case, Robert Morris, who was
convicted under the old (a)(5) and could have received up to 27 months in
prison, would have been convicted of a misdemeanor under the new (a)(5),
and could have received no more than one year. (As it happens, the
uniqueness of Morris's offense led the sentencing judge to depart from
the Sentencing Guidelines and sentence Morris to public service and
probation.)
EFF's position is that the underlying conduct in the Morris case ought to
be punishable, but not as a felony. Moreover, criminal laws addressing
computer offenses should, like the majority of criminal laws, require
proof of intent of the key elements of a crime, and not just the single
element of access. The Senate amendments, if pa