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CD-ROM Aktief 1995 #3
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R17
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1994-02-22
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Foes wage computer network war against candidate LOS ANGELES (Feb. 20) UPI -
Backers of a recall effort against a state senator have enlisted Internet - a
worldwide collection of interconnected computer users - in a pioneering way
to solicit support.
Analysts say the move against Sen. David Roberti, D-Van Nuys, is the first
time Internet has been used against a political candidate, the Los Angeles
Daily News reported Sunday.
But with an estimated 16 million participants worldwide growing at
double-digit rates monthly, the "ultimate communications tool" increasingly
will become part of the campaign arsenal because of its convenience, speed
and low cost, they said.
"I don't think a lot of people are aware of it, but what you're beginning to
see is what the information highway can provide to the average person," said
Los Angeles political consultant Richard Lichtenstein.
Internet was created in the 1960s as the federal government sought to link
military computer networks with those of universities and other groups
conducting defense-related research.
It has since shed its defense origins and grown into a cooperatively run
collection of networks that links people around the world in a free- form
community.
People with Internet access can send and receive messages by electronic mail,
participate in specialized discussion forums and access on-line archives of
documents, programs, pictures and much other information.
One of those special-interest forums, a mailing list devoted to California
firearms issues, is being used by the Signal Hill-based Californians Against
Corruption to find volunteers and donors for its effort to unseat Roberti in
an April 12 recall election.
"It's helped us, no question about that," said Russ Howard, who is a leader
of Californians Against Corruption. "(The mailing list) evidently does get
read. We're getting some dramatic increase in our volunteer base."
Gun enthusiasts are angry with Roberti because of his support for gun control
and coauthorship of a 1989 bill banning some military-style semi-automatic
assault weapons.
Roberti, however, said the tactic was merely an effort by "assault weapons
extremists" as "retribution for my authorship of the ban on military-style,
semiautomatic weapons."
"How much more proof do you need?" Roberti asked in a prepared statement.
"The use of nationwide computer nets shows these groups are politically very
sophisticated and we can't be complacent."
However, Howard said the firearms enthusiasts are only part of an
anti-Roberti coaltion that also includes tax-limitation groups and victims
rights organizations.
Transmitted: 94-02-20 13:49:00 EST