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-
- Computer underground Digest Sun May 28, 1995 Volume 7 : Issue 43
- ISSN 1004-042X
-
- Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU
- Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
- Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
- Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
- Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
- Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
- Ian Dickinson
- Trivia Editor: Writer of the song "Daydream Believer Is: ??????
-
- CONTENTS, #7.43 (Sun, May 28, 1995)
-
-
- CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
- THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: 26 May 1995 23:12:00 -0400
- From: "Dave Banisar" <banisar@EPIC.ORG>
- Subject: Prodigy Held Liable
-
- A New York state trial court ruled on May 24 that Prodigy is responsible
- for the libelous statements of its users because it exercises editorial
- control over their posts. In the case, an anonymous Prodigy user made
- statements against New York Investment firm Stratton Oakmont accusing it
- of criminal and fraudulent acts. Stratton Oakmont sued Prodigy and the
- volunteer moderator of the forum where the statements were published.
-
- The Court found that Prodigy was acting as a publisher and therefore
- was responsible for the content of the posts. The Court distinguished
- the case from the earlier Cubby v. Compuserve decision, which
- found that Compuserve was subject to the standards of a bookstore or
- library. It that case, the US District court ruled that Compuserve
- had no editorial control over the text. According to the New York
- state court:
-
- In contrast, here Prodigy has virtually created an
- editorial staff of Board Leaders who have the ability to
- continually monitor incoming transmissions and in fact do
- spend time censoring notes. Indeed, it could be said that
- Prodigy's current system of automatic scanning,
- guidelines, and Board Leaders may have a chilling effect
- on freedom of communications in Cyberspace, and it appears
- that this chilling effect is exactly what Prodigy wants,
- but for the legal liability that attaches to such
- censorship.
-
- Let it be clear that this court is in full agreement with
- Cubby and Auvil. Computer bulletin boards should generally
- be regarded in the same context as bookstores, libraries
- and network affiliates...It is Prodigy's own policies,
- technology and staffing decisions which have altered the
- scenario and mandated the finding that it is a publisher.
-
- The court also attempted to downplay the significance of its
- decision on the greater area of electronic networks:
-
- Prodigy's conscious choice, to gain the benefits of editorial
- control, has opened it up to greater liability that Compuserve
- and other computer networks that make no such choice. For the
- record, the fear that this Court's finding of publisher status
- for Prodigy will compel all computer networks to abdicate
- control of their bulletin boards, incorrectly presumes that
- the market will refuse to compensate a network for its
- increased control and the resulting increased exposure.
-
- The Court also found that the volunteer "Board Leader" of the Prodigy
- Bulletin Board was acting as an agent of the company. The Court found
- Prodigy exercised control over the Board Leaders though the the
- Bulletin Board Leader Agreement and the actions of Prodigy's
- employees.
-
- Prodigy has said that it will consider appealing the decision. EPIC has
- materials on free speech available at http://epic.org/free_speech/ We will be
- making a copy of the decision available in the next few days.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: 22 May 95 18:30:25
- From: liberty@bilbo.pic.net (Lance & Vicki Flores)
- Subject: LPTexas Internet Symposium
-
- SYMPOSIUM
-
- VIRTUAL FREEDOM --
- Government Regulation of the Internet?
-
- A symposium addressing the question of whether government should have the
- authority to control the developing international communications network
- known as the Internet.
-
- Saturday, June 10, 1995
-
- Presented by:
-
- Southern Methodist University
-
- -----------
-
- Call for papers. The symposium is open for the submission of papers on
- topics related to the Internet:
-
- * History of Fee Speech on the Internet
- * Censorship
- * Regulation and Licensing
- * Pornography
- * Political Correctness and Offensiveness
- * Encryption
- * Other relevant topics
-
- Papers should be presented in APA form with one copy on 8.5 x 11 white
- unpolished paper and a copy on disk* which will be used to incorporate the
- document into a journal of the symposium. The proceedings will be made
- available on the Internet.
-
- Contact: Lance Flores
- ----------
-
- Schedule:
-
- 8:30-8:45 Coffee & Welcoming remarks - Prof. Barry Vacker, SMU
-
- Morning Session
- 8:45-9:00 Introduction - Prof. Allan Saxe, U.T. at Arlington
- 9:00-9:45 Cultural Implications of the Internet -
- Prof. August Grant, U.T. at Austin
- 9:45-10:30 Government Regulation of the Internet -
- (to be determined)
- 10:30-10:45 Break
- 10:45-11:45 Constitutional Issues in Cyberspace -
- Prof. Jef Richards, U.T. at Austin
- 11:45-1:00 Lunch Break
-
- Afternoon Session
- 1:00-1:05 Introduction - Prof. Allan Saxe
- 1:05-2:00 Obscenity on the Internet - Carrie Sperling ACLU
- 2:00-2:45 Universal Access - Michael C. Burton
- Media Monitor - Austin
- 2:45-3:00 Break
- 3:00-4:00 Problems of Regulation State -
- Jonathan Emord, Cato Institute
- 4:00-5:00 Virtual Anarchy--The "Beauty" of the Internet
- Prof. Barry Vacker
-
- 5:15:6:00 Panel discussion --
- * Democratic Party Speaker
- * R. Lance Flores Libertarian Party Speaker
- * Republican Party Speaker
- * Michael C. Burton Media Monitor
- * Jonathan Emord Cato Institute
- * Barry Vacker Southern Metodist University
-
- 6:30-7:00 Speakers available for media interviews
- 6:30-8:00 Evening Social -- Hosted by industry co-sponsors.
-
- Date: Saturday, June 10, 1995
-
- Location: The Karcher Auditorium.
- 100 Story Hall, Dallas, Texas.
- Story Hall is located near the northwest corner
- of the SMU campus, next to the Law School,
- Hillcrest at Daniel.
-
-
- *BinHex or MIME attachments may be sent instead.
-
-
- Please cross-post or distribute where appropriate.
-
- Contacts:
-
- Lance Flores
- 5911 Vickery Blvd.
- Dallas, Texas 75206
- (214) 826-7851
- liberty@pic.net
-
- Barry Vacker
- bvacker@sun.cis.smu.edu
-
- "Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest
- political end." -- Lord Acton
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 21:43:31 -0400
- From: eye@INTERLOG.COM(eye WEEKLY)
- Subject: The Little Deathnet Story that Grew
-
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- eye WEEKLY May 11 1995
- Toronto's arts newspaper .....free every Thursday
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- EYE.NET EYE.NET
-
- THE LITTLE DEATHNET STORY THAT GREW
- Why many people now believe that teens can login and learn how to
- off themselves
-
- by
- K.K. CAMPBELL
-
-
- Last December, eyeNET presented readers that most irreplaceable of
- Internet resources, the "How To Kill Yourself" file. It gives detailed
- instructions on creative ways to end one's life. It has circulated the
- net for years, uploaded to newsgroups and found languishing in FTP
- sites such as Canadian universities, where it is particularly useful
- come exam time.
-
- Of it, I wrote: "Some of the ways are serious, drawn from references
- like Derek Humphry, publisher of Hemlock -- and some aren't. It's not
- hard to guess which is which ... One wonders how long before the Hard
- Copy-esque legions who staff mainstream media news outlets discover it:
- Suicide Tips On The Information Superhighway! Film at 11!"
-
- Let's fast-forward: Sunday, March 12. Out at Bathurst and College St,
- enjoying the spring-like day, I spied a somewhat startling Toronto Sun
- front page headline -- startling not only because it was actually more
- than one word, but because it read: SUICIDE GURU USING INTERNET TO TELL
- TEENS HOW TO DIE.
-
- Looking around and not seeing eye staff snickering and spluttering in
- doorways, I deduced it was not one of those phony mock-up papers and
- dug out some coin to read it. (The article now proudly adorns wall
- space in eyeNET's luxurious HQ.)
-
- This Toronto Sun "exclusive" was bylined Steve Chase of
- the Calgary Sun. It opens: "An American suicide advocate has teamed up
- with his Canadian counterpart to flog a how-to manual across the
- Internet, the Sunday Sun has learned."
-
- Personally, I'm of the opinion that The Toronto Sun might better serve
- readers if, in its next net story, the phrase "the Sunday Sun has
- learned" is immediately followed by the phrase "how to login."
-
- I immediately realized they were writing not about the How To Kill
- Yourself Guide but DeathNET. DeathNET is one of the many
- informational/research tools on the World Wide Web. It deals with the
- controversial "right to die" issue.
-
- One might have just chalked this up to another sensationalistic
- pro-censorship Sun story, except this one would eventually be picked up
- around the world. Millions of people were told DeathNET is helping
- teens use the Internet to learn how to kill themselves.
-
- THE UNBLINKING NEWS SYSTEM
-
- DeathNET -- http://www.islandnet.com/~deathnet -- is maintained by
- Victoria, B.C., resident John Hofsess (jh@islandnet.com), executive
- director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. It's an info-rich site,
- even including the massive transcripts from the Senate Special
- Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. (The American content is
- maintained by Oregon's Derek Humphry, founder of the National Hemlock
- Society and author of Final Exit.) It opened Jan 10.
-
- On March 5, Calgary Sun managing editor Chris Nelson -- who admits he's
- net- illiterate -- saw Hofsess on a TV show. Hofsess was discussing
- DeathNET. Somehow Nelson thought this meant DeathNET was openly
- distributing technical information on performing efficient suicide.
- Suicide kits.
-
- Nelson immediately assigned someone to cover his exclusive and the
- Calgary Sun went into a full-court press on The Big Story: "Suicide
- tips on the information superhighway."
-
- One Sun editor phoned Anne Mullens -- the former Vancouver Sun science
- and medical reporter who won the 1993-94 Atkinson Foundation Award for
- Public Policy and wrote an eight-part series on euthanasia. The Calgary
- Sun correctly realized it would be hard to find a more expert source --
- especially as Mullens is also quite net.savvy.
-
- "The Sun employee (I can't remember her name) asked if I knew anything
- about an Internet site in Victoria freely distributing tips to help
- teenagers die," Mullens told eyeNET. "I told her, `If you mean
- DeathNET, you're way off base. DeathNET does nothing of the kind and
- is, in fact, a wonderful resource for writers and researchers.' "
-
- Among the several "expert opinion" quotes in the final story, the
- Calgary Sun would somehow forget to include Mullens.
-
- Nelson assigned Sun reporter Steve Chase to actually find the site.
- Chase did so and started exploring it on March 7.
-
- (Turns out I'd had contact with Chase before. On Feb. 14, he wrote eye
- email applauding our web site and asking for advice on books to learn
- about bringing newspapers onto the Internet. I never responded.)
-
- Chase sent Hofsess no less than three pieces of email, pretending to be
- a teenager requesting information on how to kill himself, asking that
- his family not be told about his request. They were all signed Steve
- Chase. Hofsess replied that one cannot get such information on the
- Internet.
-
- Chase had directly attempted to get "a suicide kit" while pretending to
- be a teenager. The Calgary Sun would somehow forget to include this.
-
- Upon that failure, Chase dropped the charade and called Hofsess
- directly, leaving a message on Hofsess' machine. Hofsess, hearing the
- name Steve Chase again, suddenly realized what was happening. He wrote
- another piece of email to Chase, demanding the "troubled teen" never
- call him again.
-
- As Chase would later admit to me in a phone conversation, he was (and
- remains) extremely ticked off Hofsess refused to grant him that
- interview. A few days later, the Sun story was released.
-
- STICK IT WHERE THE SUN DON'T SHINE
-
- In the story, the Calgary Sun had no choice but to admit one can't
- actually get "suicide kits" on the Internet after all -- much to
- Nelson's dismay. So they cobbled together a paragraph as a sort of
- legal disclaimer, mentioning this fact.
-
- However, the entire tone of the story is exactly as if DeathNET is
- giving away "suicide kits" to teens on the evil Internet. And it's
- clear all the aghast "experts" quoted are reacting to Chase's
- panic-mongering assertion that DeathNET is openly posting on the net
- suicide tips.
-
- The "exclusive" came out simultaneously in the Ottawa and Toronto Suns.
- With a stunning flourish of editorial wizardry, The Toronto Sun
- actually cut the critical ass-covering paragraph from their story.
- Chase would later complain about this. The Toronto Sun editors either
- deliberately removed it because it took away from the impact of the
- story, or were too dense to understand its importance.
-
- All this was pretty bad, but it got worse. The next day, CP rewrote the
- Calgary Sun copy and launched it across the wires. Newspapers across
- the country carried the CP story -- the Edmonton Journal, Hamilton
- Spectator and Vancouver Sun, among others. Then the electronic news
- gang soon scooped. A couple of talk shows even called Hofsess, hoping
- to book the evil man who was giving suicide tips to troubled teens on
- the evil Internet.
-
- The myth then hit the op-ed pages. For instance, on March 17, The Globe
- and Mail ran a piece coauthored by Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish
- Congress. Farber presented the myth as fact to further his own agenda
- of invoking government legislation to censor the net.
-
- Then the Associated Press picked up the story and who knows where it
- went from there. Last sighting: England's London Sunday Times.
-
- `GOD WILL PUNISH YOU!'
-
- Hofsess was soon receiving harassing phone calls from "right to life"
- right-wing extremists. On the receiving end of this news media
- juggernaut, he found the only way to fight back at all was through the
- most powerful grassroots "broadcast" medium he could find: netnews. The
- newsgroups.
-
- Hofsess wrote a two-part criticism ("Inventing Internet Hysteria") of
- the Calgary Sun story in can.infohighway . In it, he made public copies
- of Chase's "troubled teen" emails. (He also transcribed Chase's
- answering machine message. In that message, Chase left his work and
- home phone numbers -- which Hofsess included for all the world to read,
- a nasty trick, to be sure. Chase got a taste of harassment himself,
- discovering censorship is a dirty word on the net.)
-
- Chase directly responded to Hofsess' posts. The post remains an
- embarrassment to read. Besides being formatted la raging newbie, it
- flames Hofsess in the lamest of manners. Chase ignored Hofsess'
- complaints about the story itself and attacked Hofsess personally. Not
- surprisingly, Chase was flamed in return by a few readers across
- Canada.
-
- Chase's intense personal dislike of Hofsess, as evidenced in his reply,
- might help explain why the Calgary Sun disregarded Anne Mullens; why it
- did not report Chase's complete failure to get "suicide tips on the
- Internet"; why it ignored the enormous wealth of research data on
- DeathNET while obsessing over the existence of a book called Departing
- Drugs in the mail-order section.
-
- But most disheartening is the way the story swept the entire country
- without anybody ever calling Hofsess to confirm. Considering the nature
- of the Internet, it is the easiest thing in the world to see DeathNET
- firsthand.
-
- My conversation with Calgary Sun editor Nelson got very heated when I
- suggested his story was bull. We started yelling at each other, I
- insistent the story was a gross misrepresentation designed to invoke
- censorship, he retorting angrily, "Oh ho! What's your interest in
- this?! What's your interest in this?!" --as if only some hidden motive
- could explain why anyone would think his story was a piece of shit.
-
- I realize now why Nelson was so defensive: he and Chase had experienced
- a strong backlash to their story, not from the newspaper-reading
- community but from the net.community. Netters implicitly understood
- what the Sun story was really about: hysteria intended to provoke
- censorship.
-
- "It's interesting that all positive feedback I got came through email
- or postings to newsgroups," Hofsess told eyeNET. "While anything
- negative -- including crank calls telling me that `God will punish
- you!' -- came from people unfamiliar with the net -- the gullible
- readers of The Sun and other newspapers."
-
-
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Retransmit freely in cyberspace Author holds standard copyright
- http://www.interlog.com/eye Mailing list available
- eye@interlog.com "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..." 416-971-8421
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 19:33:36 -0500 (CDT)
- From: Crypt Newsletter <crypt@sun.soci.niu.edu>
- Subject: British man pleads guilty on malicious virus writing
-
- BRITISH MAN PLEADS GUILTY AS VIRUS WRITER
-
- Finally, after months of delay and postponement, a 26 year old
- unemployed computer programmer, Chris Pile, pleaded guilty Friday
- to eleven charges related to computer virus writing. The case at
- Plymouth Crown Court was the first of its kind in British legal
- history since passage of the Computer Misuse Act in 1990.
-
- Pile, known as the Black Baron, pleaded guilty to hacking into
- business computers and planting the computer viruses known as
- SMEG/Pathogen and SMEG/Queeg. The case followed an investigation by
- fraud squad officers and experts from Scotland Yard. The eleven
- charges stemmed from a period between October 1993 and April 1994
- when the Black Baron obtained unauthorized access to computer programs
- and seeded them with viruses he'd written. He also pleaded guilty to
- one charge of inciting others to plant his viruses. Authorities state
- that tracing the viruses and repairing damage caused by them cost "well
- in excess of half a million pounds." Pile was released on bail and the
- trial adjourned for two months to allow the defence to prepare a
- pre-sentencing report.
-
- Pile, a Devon man, wrote the SMEG viruses which quickly gained the
- attention of anti-virus developers worldwide in mid-1994. Due to
- publicity on the nets and in the computer underground, they were rapidly
- distributed around the Internet at approximated the same time Pile was
- arrested in connection with the charges on which he was tried.
-
- In 1993, another English virus writer, Stephen Kapps, was arrested
- in connection with telephone fraud charges. Kapps was known as the
- "President of ARCV," or ARCV virus writing group which stood for
- Association of Really Cruel Viruses.
-
- It is worth noting that in 1992 at the height of the Michelangelo
- virus scare, few virus writers were easily identified. This is no
- longer the case. Due to the growth in computer networks and an
- increasing desire for underground network
- celebrity, many of the most prominent virus writers in the world live
- in plain sight.
-
- Australia's Clinton Haines, a student at the University
- of Queensland, is responsible for writing and putting the Dudley and
- NoFrills computer viruses into the wild in his country. At various times
- since 1992, these viruses have infected SunCorp, a large Australian
- insurance firm; Australian Telecom and the Australian Taxation Office,
- which is similar to the IRS. Haines has been interviewed at length by
- the Australian newsmedia.
-
- In America, James Gentile, a teenager living in San Diego, has written
- a number of viruses, all of which have emerged in the wild. His Satan
- Bug crashed US Secret Service networks in 1993. Since then another of
- his creations, known as Natas - Satan spelled backwards - has become
- one of the most common computer viruses in North America. It has been
- reported as far south in the hemisphere as Argentina.
-
- George Smith
- "The Virus Creation Labs"
- crypt@sun.soci.niu.edu
-
- On the World Wide Web:
-
- URL: http://www.soci.niu.edu:80/~crypt
- (don't forget the squiggly before the "crypt")
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 19:01:30 +0800
- From: jwarren@WELL.COM(Jim Warren)
- Subject: GovAccess.121: WA favors freedom; low-cost ISDN; Fed Pol-State Act
-
- Washington-State Senate Upheld Governor's Veto of State Online Censorship Bill
-
- Date--Fri, 19 May 1995 18:45:15 -0700 (PDT)
- From--Jeff Michka <wcis@eskimo.com>
- Subject--CITIZEN ONLINE *VICTORY* ALERT 5/19 (1900PDT)
-
- ***FLASH: WASHINGTON STATE SENATE UPHOLD GOVERNOR'S VETO OF ESSB5466****
-
- A short time ago, the Washington State Senate upheld Governor Lowry's
- veto of ESSB5466 after a tense day behind the scenes.
-
- According to Senator Darlene Fairley's (D-32nd) office, the Senate voted
- 25 against override, 23 for override. [CO Ed. Note: Number unconfirmed]
-
- This represents a victory for civil liberties and the online community.
-
- CITIZEN ONLINE thanks each and every person out there for their efforts.
-
-
- &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
-
-
- New, Unmoderated Listserv re Amendments to HR 1555 for Low-Cost ISDN
-
- From: Michael Ward <mike@Essential.ORG>
-
- ISDN on listproc@tap.org
- ISDN is a temporary discussion list set up for an Ad Hoc Coalition on
- Low Cost ISDN tariffs. The list is open and unmoderated. The
- purpose of the list is to discuss proposed amendments to HR 1555
- (Communications Act of 1995) which would require local exchange
- telephone carriers, which do not face substantial competition, to
- offer ISDN services at prices which are reasonable, given the cost of
- providing the service.
-
- ISDN technology allows high speed data transmissions over ordinary
- telephone wires. Prices for ISDN service now vary greatly from
- market to market.
-
- To Subscribe to isdn --
-
- 1. Send email to:
- listproc@tap.org
-
- 2. In the body write:
- subscribe isdn firstname lastname
-
- Owner: Michael Ward love@tap.org
- Taxpayer Assets Project
- PO Box 19367
- Washington, DC 20036
- v: 202.387.8030
- f. 202.234-5176
-
-
- &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
-
-
- The Omnibus Police-State Bill - Now Fast-Tracked for Quick Enactment
-
- (Please note that this was dated almost two months before Okla. City.)
-
- *] From: "Thomas L. Mason" <biosci!upa.pdx.edu!MASON>
- *] Organization: Urban and Public Affairs
- *] Date: Fri, 3 Mar 1995 15:48:44 PST
- *] Subject: Forwarded: New FBI Charter to Investigate Political Groups
- *]
- *] I got this off another list.
- *]
- *] Omnibus Counterterrorism Bill
- *] S. 390 and H.R. 896
- *]
- *] New FBI Charter to Investigate Political Groups
- *]
- *] February 10, 1995 the Omnibus Counterterrorism Bill was introduced
- *] as S. 390 into the Senate and as H.R. 896 in the House. It was
- *] initiated by the FBI, and passed on by the Justice Department and
- *] the White House. Senators Biden (D-DE) and Specter (R- PA)
- *] initiated it in the Senate, Rep. Schumer (D-NY) and Dicks (D-WA)
- *] in the House. It has bipartisan support and could get expedited
- *] action.
- *]
- *] SUMMARY
- *] * THIS IS A GENERAL CHARTER FOR THE FBI AND OTHER AGENCIES,
- *] INCLUDING THE MILITARY, TO INVESTIGATE POLITICAL GROUPS AND
- *] CAUSES AT WILL. The bill is a wide-ranging federalization of
- *] different kinds of actions applying to both citizens and
- *] non-citizens. The range includes acts of violence (attempts,
- *] threats and conspiracies) as well as giving funds for
- *] humanitarian, legal activity.
- *]
- *] * It would allow up to 10 year sentences for citizens and
- *] deportation for permanent resident non-citizens for the "crime" of
- *] supporting the lawful activities of an organization the President
- *] declares to be "terrorist", as the African National Congress, FMLN
- *] in El Salvador, IRA in Northern Ireland, and PLO have been
- *] labelled. It broadens the definition of terrorism. The
- *] President's determination of who is a terrorist is unappealable,
- *] and specifically can include groups regardless of any legitimate
- *] activity they might pursue.
- *]
- *] * It authorizes secret trials for immigrants who are not charged
- *] with a crime but rather who are accused of supporting lawful
- *] activity by organizations which have also been accused of
- *] committing illegal acts. Immigrants could be deported: 1) using
- *] evidence they or their lawyers would never see, 2) in secret
- *] proceedings 3) with one sided appeals 4) using illegally obtained
- *] evidence.
- *]
- *] * It suspends posse comitatus - allowing the use of the military
- *] to aid the police regardless of other laws.
- *]
- *] * It reverses the presumption of innocence - the accused is
- *] presumed ineligible for bail and can be detained until trial.
- *]
- *] * It loosens the rules for wiretaps. It would prohibit probation
- *] as a punishment under the act - even for minor nonviolent
- *] offenses.
- *]
- *] IMPLICATIONS
- *] * Those who remember the McCarran Walter Act will recognize this
- *] bill, only in some ways this is broader and potentially more
- *] dangerous
- *]
- *] * This bill is highly political: the President can determine who
- *] is a terrorist and change his/her mind at will and even for
- *] economic reasons. The breadth of its coverage would make it
- *] impossible for the government to prosecute all assistance to
- *] groups around the world that have made or threatened to commit
- *] violent acts of any sort. Necessarily its choices would be
- *] targeted at organizations the government found currently
- *] offensive. People to be deported would be chosen specifically
- *] because of their political associations and beliefs.
- *]
- *] * The new federal crime: international terrorism doesn't cover
- *] anything that is not already a crime. As the Center for National
- *] Security Studies notes: "Since the new offense does not cover
- *] anything that is not already a crime, the main purpose of the
- *] proposal seems to be to avoid certain constitutional and statutory
- *] protections that would otherwise apply."
- *]
- *] * While many provisions of this bill could well be found
- *] unconstitutional after years of litigation, in the mean time the
- *] damage could be enormous to the First Amendment and other
- *] constitutional rights including presumption of innocence and right
- *] to bail.
- *]
- *] THE BILL HAS BEEN REFERRED TO JUDICIARY COMMITTEES OF EACH HOUSE.
- *] ONLY THE NEW YORK TIMES HAS AS YET NOTICED THE BILL - A 2/24/95
- *] ANTHONY LEWIS COLUMN. OTHER PAPERS SHOULD BE ALERTED.
- *]
- *] FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- *] Kit Gage, Washington Liaison, National Lawyers Guild
- *] 3321-12th St., NE, Washington DC 20017 202-529-4225, fax
- *] 202-526-4611, e-mail: kgage@igc.apc.org
-
-
- &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
-
-
- "Security is like liberty in that many are the crimes committed in its name."
- --Justice Robert H. Jackson, 1950
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1995 22:51:01 CDT
- From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
- Subject: Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
-
- Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
- available at no cost electronically.
-
- CuD is available as a Usenet newsgroup: comp.society.cu-digest
-
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- End of Computer Underground Digest #7.43
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