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- Computer underground Digest Wed Jan 24, 1996 Volume 8 : Issue 07
- 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
- Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
-
- CONTENTS, #8.07 (Wed, Jan 24, 1996)
-
- File 1-- From TIME: Quittner on hate groups (fwd)
- File 2--ALERT - Bernie S. Sentencing Friday
- File 3--Response to the Simon Wiesenthal Center
- File 4--CompuServe and "pornography"
- File 5--CompuServe and "pornography"
- File 6--MCI to ban Spammers
- FIle 6--Re: Letter from Simon Wiesenthal Center to ISPs
- File 7--ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update 1/10/96
- File 8--Re: Cu Digest, #8.01 - CI$ case
- File 9--Re: Notifcation Letter AOL.COM (fwd)
- File 10--EFF 96 Pioneer Awards - nominations due Feb. 15
- File 11--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 16 Dec, 1995)
-
- CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
- THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
-
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 18:16:40 -0600 (CST)
- From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
- Subject: File 1-- From TIME: Quittner on hate groups (fwd)
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
- From--ped@well.com (Philip Elmer-DeWitt)
- Date--Mon, 15 Jan 1996 12:17:14 -0500
-
- The following is copyright material from the 1/22/96 issue of TIME, posted
- by permission.
-
- HOME PAGES FOR HATE
-
- A campaign to limit the voices of white supremacists on the Internet has
- defenders of the First Amendment worried
-
- By Joshua Quittner
-
- On the Internet, when people want to chat about the bleaker side of
- life, they often find their way to alt.support.loneliness. The forum,
- a Usenet newsgroup, is open 24 hours a day for anyone who wants to
- post messages lamenting a breakup with a spouse, or how tough it is to
- meet people or find true love or even a true date. It s a moderately
- popular group. Or it was, before the Carolinian Lords of the
- Caucasus showed up.
-
- The CLOC, an unabashedly white-supremacist organization based in
- Columbia, South Carolina, takes pride in running locals off of certain
- innocuous parts of Usenet with its race baiting. Members claim to have
- emptied out half a dozen forums already, including, improbably,
- alt.fan.barry-manilow and alt.food.dennys. If you want an organization
- which makes things happen, visit our victims and learn first-hand what
- kind of a group we are, they boast at their World Wide Web site, which
- features an image of a burning cross. CLOC is clearly on the forefront
- of the great war for Aryan domination of the Internet.
-
- This virtual hooliganism may sound absurd. For people who rely on the
- Internet to communicate, though, it s a real and growing problem. Like
- more conventional groups, racists have discovered that the Net is a
- marvelous way to get their message out to a huge audience at low cost.
- Last week, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the world s largest Jewish
- human rights organization, decided that enough is enough. Citing the
- rapidly expanding presence of organized hate groups on the Internet,
- Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the center s associate dean, sent letters to
- hundreds of Internet access providers, asking them to help draft a
- code of ethics that would squelch Websites that promote bigotry and
- violence.
-
- Predictably, civil libertarians are uneasy about the proposal, seeing
- it as yet another assault on free speech in cyberspace. Congress has
- already signaled its intent to enact legislation that would
- criminalize indecent=
-
- speech online, rather than adopting the less onerous restriction
- against obscene speech that is the print standard.
-
- Yet Cooper claims that his letter is very much in keeping with the
- Constitution and with traditional media practice. He argues that the
- First Amendment also protects publishers who choose not to disseminate
- materials they find offensive. Most mainstream newspapers and
- magazines, for example, won t run ads from racist or hate groups. The
- people who sell access to the Internet, he believes, should start
- behaving the same way. In effect, says Cooper, this is a recognition
- that the Internet has come of age. We re not looking for prior
- restraint or to keep these guys off the Internet. We re saying adopt
- the same approach to the First Amendment that your brothers have done
- in traditional media.
-
- Among purists, though, the whole point of the Internet is that it isn
- t like traditional media. A wide spectrum of viewpoints is tolerated
- and even encouraged online, especially on the freewheeling,
- anarchistic Usenet.. The notion is that, for the first time in
- history, anyone can express his or her views to a mass audience. As a
- result, Cooper s proposal is stirring up opposition from cyberspace
- denizens on both the left and the right.
-
- It s gotten a cold reception from Internet access providers too. The
- answer to hateful speech is more speech, says Sameer Parekh, president
- of Community ConneXion, a popular provider in Berkeley, California.
- By banning hate groups from the Net, he says, you are promoting the
- idea that they might actually have something valuable to say. The
- campaign has given even the hate-mongers a chance to sound
- civic-minded. Says Milton John Kleim Jr., a self-described white
- nationalist Usenet Viking whose writings also appear on many racist
- Web pages: What Mr. Cooper doesn t understand is the fact that there
- are a lot of people in our society who are very angry--the angry white
- male theme. A lot of these angry white males, if they re prohibited
- from venting their views, might actually come forward and do
- something.
-
- But what if freedom of speech destroys an environment, as victims of
- the Carolinian Lords of the Caucasus know it can? They re real idiots,
- says Jay D. Dyson, who used to post messages to the
- alt.support.loneliness group until the invasion by CLOC. Dysonexplains
- that at first CLOC members used the forum to troll for new members. It
- s frightening because these [lonely] people at are the lowest point
- in their lives and a drowning man will grasp at anything to keep from
- going under. Later, though, the postings turned nasty and even
- threatening. A CLOC leader, who uses the screen name Racial Theorist,
- says his organization doesn t mean anyreal harm: What this thing is
- about is having fun. And shock value.
-
- Perhaps. But it s finished as far as Dyson and his friends are
- concerned. Last week the lonely folks decided to deal with the
- racists in their own way. They voted to create a special kind of
- newsgroup where unruly intruders can be evicted. No one should be
- forced to tolerate intolerance, even in cyberspace. With reporting by
- Chris Stamper/New York
-
- Copyright 1996 Time Inc.
-
- --Philip Elmer-DeWitt
- ped@well.com TIME Magazine
- www.pathfinder.com=
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 06:48:44 -0500 (EST)
- From: Emmanuel Goldstein <emmanuel@2600.COM>
- Subject: File 2--ALERT - Bernie S. Sentencing Friday
-
- I just found out that Bernie S. will be sentenced this Friday morning
- at 9 am in Easton, PA for the crime of removing batteries from a tone
- dialer several years ago. This is defined as a victimless misdemeanor
- for which the judge in this small town (under considerable influence
- from the Secret Service) set bail at $250,000. He could get two years
- in prison at sentencing. Press attention could be very helpful in
- avoiding a sentence as irrational as the bail setting - right now the
- only influence these people are getting is from the Secret Service and
- they want to put Bernie S away for as long as they can. If you're not
- entirely up to date on this story, finger bernies@2600.com for all of
- the details.
-
- If you know of anyone who will cover this story, please get ahold of
- them right away so they can plan on being there. If anyone is interested
- in going, let me know so we can hopefully fill some cars from NYC.
-
- Sentencing is scheduled for Friday, January 26 at 9 am
- Courtroom 5
- Northampton County Government Center
- 7th and Washington Street
- Easton, PA 18042-7492
-
- (610) 559-3020 (district attorney)
-
- case # 2173-1993
- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Edward E. Cummings
- Misdemeanor 2 - tampering with physical evidence
-
- Please help spread the word.
-
- emmanuel@2600.com
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 18:46:24 -0600 (CST)
- From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
- Subject: File 3--Response to the Simon Wiesenthal Center
-
- In response to recent efforts by the Simon Wiesenthal Center to request
- that ISPs voluntarily create acceptable use policies that prohibit hate
- speech, one of my recommendations to CuD readers is to fill out the
- online survey at their web site, http://www.wiesenthal.com. Particularly
- if you believe, like I do, that the remedy of choice for bad speech is
- more speech, not enforced silence.
-
- The survey asks questions about your thoughts on hate speech, freedom of
- speech, the First Amendment, what are the best measures to restrict
- racism online, whether you think the SWC is being productive or not, etc.
-
- FWIW, I agree with the SWC's assertion that internet service providers
- have the legal right to dictate terms of service to include acceptable
- use guidelines prohibiting hate speech.
-
- Where I disagree is the assertion that ISPs have a moral obligation to
- excercise those rights. The free speech model is preferable.
-
- I also disagree with the metaphor comparing an ISP to a media outlet like
- CNN. The telephone company is a more apt comparison. If I commit a
- crime using my phone, no one threatens to drag Southwestern Bell into
- court, yet somehow Real/Time Systems, my ISP, would be.
-
- David Smith * dp : 304-6308 * Ask me about
- bladex@bga.com * * fighting censorship
- President, EFF-Austin * http://www.io.com/~efaustin * of the Internet
- Board of Directors, CTCLU * http://gopher.aclu.org *
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 06:39:50 -0800 (PST)
- From: steve@AWWWSOME.COM(M. Steven McClanahan)
- Subject: File 4--CompuServe and "pornography"
-
- >Thomas Wulfing, a spokesman at the German Embassy, London, told
- > d.Comm, "There have been no comments on the situation from the German
- > national or the Bavarian governments. My latest information is that it
- > was the Munich prosecutor who authorised this action. It's good that
- > we clarify this thing. As far as I know the prosecutor has taken up
- > that issue. He wants a way of banning the free access to pornography
- > on the Internet and within that plan has informed CIS. And CIS as far
- > as I know has agreed because it has no interest whatsoever in
- > promoting pornography."
-
- This is, as is much of the material surrounding this controversy,
- self-aggrandinzing rhetoric. Although, the seeming alliance between CIS
- management and the Bavarian prosecutor is rather interesting.
-
- CompuServe is not interested in promoting pornography _from which it does
- not profit directly_. Look in many of the graphics forums and you will see
- things that would make Senator Exon's blood boil, (although I imagine that
- wouldn't be too hard). When it comes to selling things in the "Electronic
- Mall," and their classifieds, CompuServe seems to have lost sight of their
- desire not to promote pornography. The German's may being trying to save
- the world, but, as always, CIS is trying to keep you buying from their
- advertisers, instead of from the Internet.
-
- Prior to becoming and ISP, I shopped three times a week in CompuServe's
- Electronic Mall. Now, with the web and T1 accesss, why should I both to put
- up with CompuServe's "Electronic Mall," which pales in comparison to the
- WWW.
-
- The real issue, as I see it, is how much money CompuServe can make. Not
- that they have a particular concern for, or against, pornography and/or
- being prosecuted for distributing it. The traditional online services are
- dinosaurs sinking the proverbial ooze of the swamp and will do anything to
- survive, even through their time is long since past.
-
- >
- > For the service provider, the whole process of providing access is
- > becoming far too complex. The service provider is simply the
- > messenger, not the provider of content, and as such there is no reason
- > why the messenger should be shot.
-
- As an ISP, I say "here, here" to that.
-
- If it is true that those you don't remember history are doomed to repeat
- it, then it is important to remember that in 1913, at a beer hall in
- Munich, Bavaria, a German fascist totalitarian regime was born. It is also
- interesting to note that Adolf Hitler spent less than 2 years locked up in
- a castle, (which was supposedly a "prison"), for attempting to overthrow
- the duly constituted, government, because he, (an Austrian, no less),
- didn't like the terms of the Treaty of Versailles the government was
- enforcing. One wonders how long the Germans will put so-called
- "cyber-criminals" in jail for distributing a photograph of a naked person,
- (even if that person isn't extremely seditious).
-
-
- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
- M. STEVEN McCLANAHAN, MICP
- aWWWsome NET SERVICES
- (http://awwwsome.com/)
-
- "YOUR BUSINESS ON-RAMP TO THE INTERNET"
- Internet Presence, Technical Support & Training,
-
- Computer Consulting via:
- MEDLaw Consulting & Silicon Alchemy Computer Systems UNLTD
- (http://awwwsome.com/medlaw/) (pending)
- (916) 226-WEBB (voice) / (916) 226-9300 (fax)
-
- /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
- Entire contents of message, copyright 1995, M. Steven McClanahan, MICP
-
- customers who use its Internet service to persistently send
- unsolicited electronic mail for mass distribution - a practice
- called spamming in Internet slang. The prohibitions include
- sending e-mail to more than 25 users if complaints are received,
- posting articles to Usenet or newsgroups that fall outside their
- subject charter, and posting an identical article or
- advertisement to multiple Usenet or newsgroups.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Mon, 22 Jan 1996 22:49:20 -0600 (CST)
- From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
- Subject: FIle 6--Re: Letter from Simon Wiesenthal Center to ISPs
-
- Here is the letter that one ISP wrote in response to Rabbi Cooper's
- request to deny service to people who engage in hate speech.
-
- David Smith * dp : 304-6308 * Ask me about
- bladex@bga.com * * fighting censorship
- President, EFF-Austin * http://www.io.com/~efaustin * of the Internet
- Board of Directors, CTCLU * http://gopher.aclu.org *
-
- ---------- Forwarded message ----------
- Date--Thu, 18 Jan 1996 09:48:33 -0900
- From--Sky Dayton <sky@earthlink.net>
-
- David,
-
- Follows is our letter to the SWC.
-
- I didn't have a chance to post it to the newsgroup. The noise/bandwidth
- ratio there looks really bad, and it'll probably just get drowned out.
-
- Sky
-
- --
-
- Rabbi Abraham Cooper
- Simon Wiesenthal Center
- 9760 West Pico Boulevard
- Los Angeles, CA 90035-4792
-
- Dear Rabbi Cooper:
-
- Thank you for your letter of January 9th. I though I would take the
- opportunity to respond to your concerns directly.
-
- EarthLink Network views the Internet as an incredible new communications
- medium, with the potential of creating a global community in a way never
- before seen. Through a heightened interaction among peoples, we hope the
- Internet will help to help break down geographic, economic, political,
- religious and other barriers. On the Internet, there is no "people over
- there". On the Internet, everyone is right here.
-
- The Internet today reflects our society in every way. All ends of the
- spectrum utilize it to communicate their message. Thus, it's no surprise to
- find hate groups on the Internet. The Internet is a perfect reflection of
- information available in the analog world.
-
- While we personally abhor discrimination and bigotry based on sex, race,
- creed or any other reason, we will not censor communications sent through
- our network. Our subscriber agreement requires legal use, but our policing
- stops there.
-
- As a principle, Internet access companies are not concerned with the
- qualities of content that travel over their networks. We are "common
- carriers" of information. Content providers such as America Online and
- Compuserve are a different story. They manufacture and control information.
- We merely route information, in the form of bits, to people who use our
- service.
-
- Online services are analogous to newspapers and magazines. Internet access
- companies are analogous to postal services and phone companies.
-
- For as long as we provide access, EarthLink Network will work to ensure the
- legal and free use of the Internet. I urge you to take part in this
- activism. But I caution you that the Internet will reject any form of
- censorship. Rather than try to enforce a code as you propose, I suggest you
- let the Internet community make its own judgment about content. You may be
- surprised at what you find.
-
- Sincerely,
-
-
- Sky Dayton
- CEO & Chairman
-
- --
- Sky Dayton, CEO | Voice: 213-644-9500
- EarthLink Network, Inc. | Fax: 213-644-9510
- sky@earthlink.net | 3171 Los Feliz Blvd.
- http://www.earthlink.net | Los Angeles, CA 90039
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 16:54:49 -0500
- From: ACLUNATL@aol.com
- Subject: File 7--ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update 1/10/96
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- January 10, 1996
- ACLU CYBER-LIBERTIES UPDATE
- A bi-weekly e-zine on cyber-liberties cases and controversies
- at the state and federal level.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- IN THIS ISSUE:
-
- * The Fourth Horseman of the Internet -- Hate Mongers -- Rears Its Ugly
- Head Again
-
- * German News Magazine "Der Spiegel" Tells the Real Story About
- CompuServe's Ban of Sex-Related Newsgroups
-
- * Virginia Legislature Considers Strict Labeling Requirements for Online
- Content
-
- * ACLU of Washington Settles Internet Parody Case; Student Gets Second
- Chance at National Merit Scholarship
-
- * Where Oh Where is the Telco Bill?
-
- * ACLU Speaks on Cyber-Liberties
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- STATE PAGE (Legislation/Agency/Court Cases)
- ----------------------------------------------------------------
- * The Fourth Horseman of the Internet -- Hate Mongers -- Rears Its Ugly
- Head Again
-
- Just in case the Pornographers, Hackers, and Pedophiles didn't scare you away
- from the Internet, the Simon Wiesenthal Center raised another spectre for you
- to fear -- the Neo-Nazis and other Hateful Undesirables on the Net. The
- Simon Wiesenthal Center has been trying for almost two years to rid the
- Internet of hate speech, and one of their techniques is commendable and
- appropriate -- the use of more speech to expose and humiliate these
- intolerant groups. The Center has an excellent web page that tracks the
- online activities of hate groups and urges online users to post other
- accounts of online hate. See http://www.wiesenthal.com.
-
- Unfortunately, rather than simply exercising their own First Amendment right
- to protest such groups, the Center has waged an all-out war to deny such
- groups of their equivalent free speech rights. The war has fueled an already
- hysterical rush by both private business and government to censor the Net
- unnecessarily. It is particularly troublesome that an organization like the
- Wiesenthal Center that is dedicated to promoting tolerance would seek to
- erode the liberty most necessary for a free and tolerant society -- free
- speech.
-
- In August 1994, the Wiesenthal Center waged its first campaign by presenting
- a dossier to the Federal Communications Commission that documented hate
- speech on online networks. (While the Center has never attempted to define
- just what it means by "hate speech," it appears to be referring primarily to
- anti-black, anti-gay and anti-Semitic speech.) The FCC turned the dossier
- over to the U.S. Justice Department, who knows better than to pursue any hate
- groups on the basis of their speech alone. (See US News and World Report,
- 9/8/94.) In fact, when the Senate subcommittee on terrorism held hearings in
- May 1995 on the use of online services by terrorist and anti-government
- groups, DOJ's Deputy Assistant Attorney General Robert Litt testified that
- the government must be careful not to "trade off the guarantees of the Bill
- of Rights in order to uphold our duty to ensure domestic tranquillity." See
- "Hate Speech on Internet Called Protected by Constitution," New York Times,
- 5/12/95.
-
- Shortly after the Oklahoma City bombing, the Wiesenthal Center was again
- successful in fueling the mainstream press hysteria about hate groups
- organizing through online media. See, e.g., "The Internet: Far-Right Groups
- Get Mainstream Access," San Francisco Chronicle, 4/22/95. Yet while no
- evidence ever conclusively linked the Internet with the plotting of the
- Oklahoma bombing, the press ignored the incredible array of online resources
- that were devoted to assisting citizens in the aftermath of the tragedy.
- Within hours after the bombing, Internet users could find up-to-date
- information about the rescue effort, learn how to send money or provide other
- assistance to victims and their families, and provide tips in the search for
- suspects.
-
- This week, the Wiesenthal Center launched the latest weapon in its battle to
- rid online networks of hate groups -- it issued a plea to Internet Service
- Providers to pledge "to refuse or terminate service to any individual or
- group that exploits our services to promote an agenda of hate or violence."
- See "Group Urges an Internet Ban on Hate Groups' Messages," New York Times,
- 1/10/96. The Center's letter shows both a lack of understanding of online
- technology and a lack of respect for a truly democratic communications
- medium.
-
- In both the New York Times story and in a radio talk show debate with the
- ACLU's Ann Beeson, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Center,
- suggested that it wasn't targeting online discussion forums like Usenet, but
- rather was targeting the Internet's World Wide Web. That would imply that a
- service provider who adopted the code of ethics would have to censor a
- message posted to a hate group's web page but could let slide the same
- message if posted to a Usenet newsgroup -- a nonsensical result.
-
- The Rabbi's rationale for applying different standards to Usenet and the Web
- was that individuals "don't have a chance to respond to hate speech on the
- Web." That is simply incorrect -- almost all web pages include e-mail
- addresses that allow anyone who comes across the site to communicate with the
- site's creators. The distinction also ignores the fact that most online
- users initially encounter particular web sites by using search engines like
- Yahoo. Any search for "White Supremacy" or "Aryan Nation" brings up not only
- those sites that support such ideas, but also many sites (including the Simon
- Wiesenthal web page!) that denounce hate speech and provide information on
- how to oppose hate groups.
-
- The Wiesenthal Center's answer to hate speech gives no credit to the growing
- number of Internet sites created specifically to track and expose hate
- groups. For example, "The Hate Page of the Week" provides a link to a
- different hate group each week and encourages users to flame the site. See
- http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~efx/hpotw.html. "The Net Hate Page" also
- provides links to hateful web sites, tracks the activities of hate groups,
- and discusses ways to fight them. See http://www.vir.com/Shalom/hatred.html.
-
- The Wiesenthal Center has also suggested that it is merely asking online
- providers to act like other "publishers" of information, like newspapers and
- radio broadcasters, who traditionally refuse to provide a platform for hate
- speech. But that's a bad idea for several reasons. First, as Prodigy and
- other large commercial providers know, choosing to edit online information is
- a two-edged sword that can make online providers liable for the libelous acts
- of its users. See _Stratton-Oakmont Inc. v. Prodigy Services Co._, No.
- 31063/94 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., 5/24/95). Second, many small Internet Service
- Providers just don't have the resources to monitor all the web sites housed
- on their systems.
-
- Finally, and most importantly, service providers have already proved woefully
- inept at determining just what speech is "offensive" -- whether it is
- sexually explicit or hateful. A few examples include America Online's
- hilarious censorship of gay video titles (see Cyber-Liberties Update
- 12/6/95), CompuServe's ban of newsgroups on disability and gay issues in an
- effort to satisfy a German prosecutor (see article later in this issue), and
- AOL's short-lived screening of the word "breast" from online educational
- materials on breast cancer.
-
- Because online providers are not government entities, there is currently no
- constitutional remedy against online providers who decide to censor. But it
- is in the providers' own best interest _not_ to censor but rather to follow
- Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis' advice regarding speech that offends:
- "[T]he remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence." _Whitney
- v. California_, 274 U.S. 357, 377 (1927).
-
- The ACLU calls on all service providers to reject the Wiesenthal Center's
- code of ethics for online hate speech. We urge all online users to write to
- their service providers and urge them to respect their free speech right to
- respond openly and publicly to online speech that is offensive or
- disagreeable.
-
- A copy of the letter that the Wiesenthal Center sent to hundreds of Internet
- service providers is available on their web site at
- http://www.wiesenthal.com.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 00:58:37 +0100 (GMT+0100)
- From: Steffan Henke <henker@INFORMATIK.UNI-BREMEN.DE>
- Subject: File 8--Re: Cu Digest, #8.01 - CI$ case
-
- Hello, just a quick reply to the CI$ case:
-
- > One way to prevent such things from happening again is to make sure that
- > this censorship is not in the economic best interest of Compuserve, and
- > Germany. If they want to interfere with First Amendment rights, then we
- > should exercise our First Amendment rights to not communicate with them.
-
- Who is "them" in that case ? Germans ? All the CI$ users ?
-
-
- > then do not accept their standards. If you are a Compuserve subscriber
- > then cancel your account.
-
- That decision would make sense, indeed. But other providers (AOL, eg. do
- also censor)
-
- > Germany and Compuserve have chosen to selectively cut themselves off
- > from the rest of the internet community, let's make it a complete
-
- These are very bad prejudices. I'm German, but I have not chosen to cut
- myself off from the rest of the internet community. Not at all.
- On the contrary, we have many progressive powers who are strongly against
- censorship. I count myself as one of these.
-
- > separation. Do not send any E-mail to Compuserve or Germany. Do not
- > reply to any newsgroup posts, and do not access any of their web pages.
-
- What about the case when Italian Fido BBS were raided by the Italian
- police ? What do you suggest ? Ignore all the Italian sysops and BBS ?
- BTW, my homepage is http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/~henker
- Too sad you won't have a look at it. But I'll never know because you'll
- never answer this email. YOU stop communication, not German users who are
- strongly against censorship.
-
- > If you receive E-mail, then simply ignore it, send a copy of this
- > letter, or your own explanation that you will no longer use a system
-
- Are you really honestly suggesting this ?
-
- > that censorship of the 'net is not acceptable and will only succeed in
- > destroying the 'net.
-
- That is true indeed.
-
- > The World Wide Web should allow the exchange of any ideas around the
- > world. It should not be limited to the minimum acceptable ideas that
-
- You're drifting away from the CI$ case. What does the WWW have to do with
- the censorship of newsgroups ?
-
-
-
- Anyway, happy new year to CUD... 1996 does not start that good.
-
- Steffan
-
-
-
- ... Our continuing mission: To seek out knowledge of C, to explore
- strange UNIX commands, and to boldly code where no one has man page 4.
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Thu, 4 Jan 1996 14:01:15 -0600 (CST)
- From: Carlton Hogan <carlton@gopher.ccbr.umn.edu
- Subject: File 9--Re: Notifcation Letter AOL.COM (fwd)
-
- Dear America Online:
-
- I received this E-mail today, informing me that copyrighted work
- created by me was to be made available on America On-line. Although
- I have allowed dissemination of the work (a glossary of AIDS, medical,
- and clinical trials terminology) by non-profit groups, I regret that
- I cannot allow America Online (henceforth referred to as AOL) to profit
- from distribution of this document.
-
- Specifically, I am troubled by AOL's denial of service and "TOS"
- penalties imposed on subscribers for usage of sexually explicit
- language, discussion of gay sexuality, and one infamous case, the use
- of the word "breat" by breast cancer survivors. In addition, I am
- dissapointed that AOL, rather than helping to fight censorship of the
- Internet, is instead implicitly supporting such efforts.
-
- Severe restrictions in allowable language are troubling in a number of
- regards. Indecent speech, short of obscenity, has been found worthy
- of protection by the US Supreme Court. William Jennings Bryan said that
- it was speech that some might find objectionable that most needed
- protection. What AOL and other internet censors are perpetrating will
- make material easily found in any library forbidden on the Internet.
-
- Most importantly, I work in the field of HIV/AIDS. Sexually explicit,
- anatomically precise information is one of our most effective tools in
- fighting the transmission of HIV. Likewise, any description of clinical
- manifestations may refer to genital or peri-anal areas, common sites
- of opportunistic infection. Restricting speech on the Internet may,
- thereby, directly cost lives.
-
- For these reasons, I cannot in good conscience allow AOL, if it continues
- it's current policies, to distribute my work, especially when you
- are profiting from such propagation. I ask you to immediately
- cease and desist. Failure to comply will result in further action.
-
- Sincerely,
-
- Carlton Hogan
-
-
- Hi there,
-
- America Online's client software offers full integration of the Net into
- the AOL Service. We also offer access through our Service to various World
- Wide Web sites on the Net. We think your site will be very attractive to
- our members and accordingly, we will be providing a link on the AOL Service
- from time to time to your site and will be generally using the tools and
- procedures available on the Internet.
-
- We believe the link to your site will prove to be beneficial to AOL, our
- members, and to you.
-
- Please feel free to reply to this note or contact us at Weblink@aol.com if
- you need any additional information.
-
- Currently we are pointing to: http://www.teleport.com/~celinec/glossary.htm
-
- Thanks,
- America Online/Web Division
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Wed, 17 Jan 1996 16:30:47 -0800
- From: Stanton McCandlish <mech@EFF.ORG>
- Subject: File 10--EFF 96 Pioneer Awards - nominations due Feb. 15
-
- THE FIFTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL EFF PIONEER AWARDS:
- CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
- Deadline: February 15, 1996
-
-
- In every field of human endeavor,there are those dedicated to expanding
- knowledge,freedom,efficiency and utility. Along the electronic frontier,
- this is especially true. To recognize this, the Electronic Frontier
- Foundation established the Pioneer Awards for deserving individuals and
- organizations.
-
- The Pioneer Awards are international and nominations are open to all.
-
- In March of 1992, the first EFF Pioneer Awards were given in Washington
- D.C. The winners were: Douglas C. Engelbart, Robert Kahn, Jim Warren, Tom
- Jennings, and Andrzej Smereczynski. The 1993 Pioneer Award recipients were
- Paul Baran, Vinton Cerf, Ward Christensen, Dave Hughes and the USENET
- software developers, represented by the software's originators Tom
- Truscott and Jim Ellis. The 1994 Pioneer Award winners were Ivan
- Sutherland, Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman, Murray Turoff and Starr
- Roxanne Hiltz, Lee Felsenstein, Bill Atkinson, and the WELL. The 1995
- Pioneer Award winners were Philip Zimmermann, Anita Borg, and Willis Ware.
-
- The Fifth Annual Pioneer Awards will be given in Boston, Massachusetts, at
- the 6th Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy in March of 1996.
-
- All valid nominations will be reviewed by a panel of judges chosen
- for their knowledge of computer-based communications and the technical,
- legal, and social issues involved in computer technology and computer
- communications.
-
- There are no specific categories for the Pioneer Awards, but the following
- guidelines apply:
-
- 1) The nominees must have made a substantial contribution to the
- health, growth, accessibility, or freedom of computer-based
- communications.
-
- 2) The contribution may be technical, social, economic or cultural.
-
- 3) Nominations may be of individuals, systems, or organizations in the
- private or public sectors.
-
- 4) Nominations are open to all, and you may nominate more than one
- recipient. You may nominate yourself or your organization.
-
- 5) All nominations, to be valid, must contain your reasons, however
- brief, for nominating the individual or organization, along with a means of
- contacting the nominee, and your own contact number. Anonymous nominations
- will be allowed, but we prefer to be able to contact the nominating
- parties in the event that we need more information..
-
- 6) Every person or organization, with the single exception of EFF staff
- members, are eligible for Pioneer Awards.
-
- 7) Persons or representatives of organizations receiving a Pioneer
- Award will be invited to attend the ceremony at the Foundation's expense.
-
- You may nominate as many as you wish, but please use one form per
- nomination. You may return the forms to us via email to
-
- pioneer@eff.org
-
- You may mail them to us at:
-
- Pioneer Awards
- c/o Mike Godwin
- 2163-A North Valley St.
- Berkeley, CA 94702
-
- Just tell us the name of the nominee, the phone number or email address at
- which the nominee can be reached, and, most important, why you feel the
- nominee deserves the award. You may attach supporting documentation.
- Please include your own name, address, and phone number.
-
- We're looking for the Pioneers of the Electronic Frontier that have made
- and
- are making a difference. Thanks for helping us find them,
-
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation
-
- -------EFF Pioneer Awards Nomination Form------
-
- Please return to the Electronic Frontier Foundation the following
- information about your nominee for the Pioneer Awards:
-
- Nominee's name:
-
- Title:
-
- Company/Organization:
-
- Contact number or email address:
-
- Reason for nomination:
-
- Your name and contact information:
-
- Extra documentation attached:
-
- DEADLINE: ALL NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER
- FOUNDATION BY MIDNIGHT, EASTERN STANDARD TIME U.S., February 15, 1996.
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- ------------------------------
-
- Date: Sun, 16 Dec 1995 22:51:01 CDT
- From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
- Subject: File 11--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 16 Dec, 1995)
-
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-
- ------------------------------
-
- End of Computer Underground Digest #8.07
- ************************************
-
-
-