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- EFFector Online Volume 08 No. 20 Dec 9, 1995 editors@eff.org
- A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
-
- IN THIS ISSUE:
-
- ALERT: Mon. - Internet Censorship Protest Rally in San Francisco
- ALERT: Tue. - Global Internet Day of Protest Against Censorship Bills
- 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?
- Update on Internet Censorship Bills
- 'Let Freedom Ring' - EFF Op-Ed on Internet Censorship
- [Newsbytes - skipped for this issue again, due to urgency of lead articles]
- Upcoming Events
- Quote of the Day
- What YOU Can Do
- Administrivia
-
- * See http://www.eff.org/Alerts/ or ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/ for more
- information on current EFF activities and online activism alerts! *
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- Subject: Mon. - Internet Censorship Protest Rally in San Francisco
- ------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Spread the word!
-
- *** NETIZENS!! RALLY AGAINST CENSORSHIP ***
-
- Amendment I: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of
- speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble."
-
-
- **PROTEST ** PROTEST ** PROTEST ** PROTEST ** PROTEST ** PROTEST **
-
- It's like illiterates telling you what to read. On December 6 members of
- the House Conference Committee on Telecommunications Reform approved a
- proposal to censor free speech in cyberspace. If the measures are adopted,
- the Net and online media will become the most heavily regulated media in
- the United States. They *will not* enjoy the First Amendment freedoms now
- afforded to print media. Instead, online publishers and users will be held
- to a vague and patently un-Constitutional "indecency" standard. "Violators"
- will be subject to fines of up to $100,000 and prison terms of up to five
- years.
-
- In response, ALL members of the Bay Area media, online, Internet, new
- media, and telecommunications communities are invited to participate in a
- protest rally to express our outrage that the politicians in Congress
- (which is not even connected to the Internet!) are attempting to destroy
- our First Amendment rights in cyberspace, and directly attack our
- livelihoods.
-
- Help stop the demagogs in Washington! There is nothing "decent" about
- denying free speech to us, our children, and our children's children.
- Preserve our Constitutional rights! Join us!
-
- WHEN: Monday, December 11, 1995 12:00 - 1:00 PM (PST)
-
- WHERE: South Park (between 2nd and 3rd, Bryant and Brannon) San Francisco.
-
- SPEAKERS: To be announced [including John Gilmore, Jim Warren, Dave
- Winer, Mike Godwin, Howard Rheingold]
-
- BRING: Attention-grabbing posters, signs, and banners that demonstrate your
- committment to free speech and expression, and your feelings about
- Congress.
-
- FOR UPDATED INFORMATION: http://www.hotwired.com/staff/digaman
-
- (Although this event is being organized in the offices of Wired magazine
- and HotWired, we are *actively* seeking participation and support from all
- members of the local community. Please forward this message to anyone you
- think should attend, and to all relevant news groups.)
-
- CONTACT: Todd Lappin -- 415-222-6241 -- protest@wired.com
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- Subject: ALERT Tue. - Global Internet Day of Protest Against Censorship Bills
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- EFF has joined forces with the ACLU, CDT, EPIC, 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. And we cannot afford to
- fail at this.
-
-
- 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 protest@vtw.org 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
- senator_mccain@mccain.senate.gov
- 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
- wendell_ford@ford.senate.gov
- 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
- conrad_burns@burns.senate.gov
- 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
- senator@hollings.senate.gov
- R SD Pressler, Larry 1-202-224-5842 1-202-224-1259
- larry_pressler@pressler.senate.gov
- R WA Gorton, Slade 1-202-224-3441 1-202-224-9393
- senator_gorton@gorton.senate.gov
- D WV Rockefeller, John D. 1-202-224-6472 n.a.
- senator@rockefeller.senate.gov
-
- Dist ST Name, Address, and Party Phone Fax
- ==== == ======================== ============== ==============
- 6 GA Gingrich, Newt (R) 1-202-225-4501 1-202-225-4656
- 2428 RHOB georgia6@hr.house.gov
- 14 MI Conyers Jr., John (D) 1-202-225-5126 1-202-225-0072
- 2426 RHOB jconyers@hr.house.gov
- 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
- [Intro text adapted from CDT & VTW copies of the alert.]
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- Subject: Update on Internet Censorship Bills
- --------------------------------------------
-
- The US House of Representatives members of the join conference committee
- working on the telecom bill passed, Dec. 5, a gutted version of the White
- amendment, that would criminalize "indecent" material online. The fight
- now moves to the Senate side of that committee, which is dominated by
- sponsors of unconstitutional censorship legislation. Needless to say,
- they are not expected to uphold the First Amendement.
-
- The larger Congress, however, may be another story. As public rallies
- and online protests gear up, civil liberties organizations including EFF
- are urging YOU to call your Senators and Representatives, as well as Dole
- and Gingrich as Congressional leaders, to express your opinions on this
- vital issue.
-
- According to an e-press release from _American_Reporter_, this
- online-only daily newspaper "threatened on Thursday to deliberately defy the
- language of [the] U.S. House cyberporn proposal if it becomes law,
- calling the measure a clear violation of the First Amendment." Other
- individuals and organizations - including a judge - have similarly promised
- civil disobedience, with people almost literally lining up to challenge
- the bill in court should it pass. ACLU, EFF, and the National Writers
- Union, among others, have indicated interest in mounting legal challenges
- to any such censorship law.
-
- The _Boston_Globe_ reports that at least one legislator, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA)
- is skeptical about the proposed new law. "Markey said there's a good
- chance Congress won't finish work on the overall telecommunications bill
- this year. Even if the bill is completed, a constitional challenge to
- the law is very likely. Besides, the law won't stop people outside the
- United States from posting pornography on the Internet." (from "Markey
- Says Parents Key to Cyberporn Fight", Hiawatha Bray, _Boston_Globe_, Dec. 9).
-
- Elizabeth Corcoran & Mike Mills report in the _Washington_Post_ that
- Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) intends to "narrow the scope"
- of the legislation, working with Rep. Rick White (R-WA), who's own
- proposal was gutted in the conference committee. The _Post_ suggests
- that they will try to push the legislation back towards a "harmful to
- minors" (obscenity) standard, rather than the vague indecency standard
- expected to be reported out of the conf. committee early next week.
- Gingrich's plan would essentially force to be subject to at
- least some of the same tests as obscenity - material with cultural,
- literary or scientific value would be exempted.
-
- The next (and possibly last, for this issue) meeting of the conferees on
- the telecom bill has been set for 2pm EST, Tue., Dec. 12. The telecom
- bill conference report (that is, the final version of the bill) is
- sheduled for a vote the week of Dec. 11.
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- Subject: 'Let Freedom Ring' - EFF Op-Ed on Internet Censorship
- --------------------------------------------------------------
-
- [This is the longer original version of an opinion-editorial piece published
- Dec. 9, in the _New_York_Times_.]
-
-
- Let Freedom Ring
-
- Freedom of speech on the Internet, the worldwide network of
- computers, is under attack from a variety of sources, both
- public and private. Three preliminary decisions handed down
- over the past couple of weeks against the Church of
- Scientology and its related Religious Technology Center and
- Bridge Publications, Inc., offer a glimpse into how complicated
- these issues can become online.
-
- The first decision, filed just before Thanksgiving by Judge
- Ronald Whyte of the northern California federal district court,
- probably had the most far-reaching implications for the future
- of electronic communications. Judge Whyte held that Internet
- service providers, those important gateways to the information
- superhighway, cannot be held liable for copyright infringement
- when they have no knowledge of the content of their users'
- messages. "Where a BBS operator cannot reasonably verify a
- claim of infringement, either because of a possible fair use
- defense, the lack of copyrighted notices on the copies, or the
- copyright holder's failure to provide the necessary
- documentation to show that there is a likely infringement, the
- operator's lack of knowledge will be found reasonable and there
- will be no liability for contributory infringement for allowing
- the continued distribution of the works on its system."
-
- This is important, because system providers are similar to the
- telephone company when it comes to electronic communications--
- they provide the conduit. If they can be held liable for the content of
- messages, they are more likely to monitor those messages and censor any
- that contain anything that might get them in trouble. Just as we don't
- want Ma Bell censoring our voice communications, we should be very troubled
- by any copyright law interpretation that would assign liability to those who
- provide Internet service.
-
- The second and third decisions were filed last week by Judge
- Leonie M. Brinkema of the federal district court for northern
- Virginia. In those cases, Judge Brinkema admonished the Church
- of Scientology for using lawsuits to silence its online
- critics. In dismissing the Washington Post and two of its
- reporters from the suit and holding the Church of Scientology
- responsible for the Post's attorneys' fees, Judge Brinkema
- found, "Although the RTC brought the complaint under
- traditional secular concepts of copyright and trade secret law,
- it has become clear that a much broader motivation
- prevailed--the stifling of criticism and dissent of the
- religious practices of Scientology and the destruction of its
- opponents." The judge called this motivation "reprehensible."
-
- While the results of these preliminary decisions are
- encouraging, they are but small battles in a war that is being
- waged not only in our courtrooms but in Congress and state
- legislatures, as well. And the war is hardly over. From the
- unconstitutional "online decency" legislation included in the
- telecommunications reform bill to the FBI's digital telephony
- wiretapping law, censoring the Internet seems to be the battle cry of
- the uninformed.
-
- But there are serious ramifications to barreling ahead without
- fully considering the First Amendment--ramifications that will
- be with us for a long time to come. As we chip away at our own
- free speech rights, we diminish ourselves. The most
- frightening aspect is that these decisions regarding provider
- liability and protection of the free speech rights of those who
- dare to disagree are being made before most of us realize that
- these precedents are being codified into law.
-
- These early battles are important, and the online world
- breathed a collective sigh of relief over Judge Whyte's and
- Judge Brinkema's decisions. But there are more battles to be
- fought before we know that the First Amendment will make the
- transition to online communications.
-
- Shari Steele,
- Staff Counsel
-
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation
- 1550 Bryant St., Suite 725
- San Francisco CA 94103 USA
- +1 415 436 9333 (voice)
- +1 415 436 9993 (fax)
- Internet: ask@eff.org
-
- For the text of these court decisions and other related documents,
- see the relevant section of the Internet World Wide Web site of
- the Electronic Frontier Foundation at:
- http://www.eff.org/pub/Censorship/Scientology_cases/
-
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a nonprofit public-interest civil
- liberties organization devoted to protecting privacy and free speech, and
- promoting responsibility, online.
-
- [The text of the rather different version that was published offline is
- available at:
- http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/ssteele_eff_nyt_120995_cos.article
- on our WWW site.]
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- Subject: Upcoming events
- ------------------------
-
- This schedule lists events that are directly EFF-related. A much more
- detailed calendar of events likely to be of interest to our members and
- supporters is maintained at:
-
- ftp: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/calendar.eff
- gopher: gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF, calendar.eff
- http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/calendar.eff
-
-
- Jan. 17-
- 18 * Innovation Now; Oregon Convention Center, Portland Oregon.
- Sponsored by American Electronics Association's Oregon Council,
- et al. Speakers include EFF chair of the board Esther Dyson.
- URL: http://www.innovationnow.org/
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- Subject: Quote of the Day
- -------------------------
-
- "It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling
- into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from
- falling into error."
- - Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954), U.S. Judge
-
- Find yourself wondering if your privacy and freedom of speech are safe
- when bills to censor the Internet are swimming about in a sea of of
- surveillance legislation and anti-terrorism hysteria? Worried that in
- the rush to make us secure from ourselves that our government
- representatives may deprive us of our essential civil liberties?
- Concerned that legislative efforts nominally to "protect children" will
- actually censor all communications down to only content suitable for
- the playground? Alarmed by commercial and religious organizations abusing
- intellectual property law to stifle satire, dissent and criticism?
-
- Join EFF!
-
- Even if you don't live in the U.S., the anti-Internet hysteria will soon
- be visiting a legislative body near you. If it hasn't already.
-
- ------------------------------
-
-
- Subject: What YOU Can Do
- ------------------------
-
- * The Communications Decency Act & Other Censorship Legislation
-
- The Communications Decency Act and similar legislation pose serious
- threats to freedom of expression online, and to the livelihoods of system
- operators. The legislation also undermines several crucial privacy
- protections.
-
- Business/industry persons concerned should alert their corporate govt.
- affairs office and/or legal counsel. Everyone should write to their own
- Representatives and Senators, and especially the conference committee
- members, asking them to oppose Internet censorship legislation, and
- write to the conference committee members to support the reasonable
- approaches of Leahy, Klink, Cox and Wyden, and to oppose the
- unconstitutional proposals of Exon, Gorton and others. Urge them to
- ensure that system operators and others are not held liable for crimes they
- did not commit, that the FCC is barred from regulating the Internet, and
- that *if* your Congressperson is hell-bent on passing some restriction,
- any restriction, on the Net, that he or she vote to pass only a
- "harmful to minors" or "obscenity" statute that is clear and constitutional,
- and condemn any unconstitutional national "indecency" standard.
- You may also wish to tell such legislators that if they vote for any
- Internet censorship leglslation, you'll vote against them in the next
- election. See the first three articles in this newsletter for more detailed
- info.
-
- For more information on what you can do to help stop this and other
- dangerous legislation, see:
-
- ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/
- gopher.eff.org, 1/Alerts
- http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
-
- If you do not have full internet access, send your request
- for information to ask@eff.org.
-
-
- * Digital Telephony/Comms. Assistance to Law Enforcement Act
-
- The FBI is now seeking both funding for the DT/CALEA wiretapping provisions,
- and preparing to require that staggering numbers of citizens be
- simultaneously wiretappable.
-
- To oppose the funding, write to your own Senators and Representatives
- urging them to vote against any appropriations for wiretapping.
- To oppose the FBI's wiretapping capacity demands, see the FBI Federal
- Register notice at the end of the second article in this newsletter, which
- contains instructions on how to submit formal comments on the ludicrous
- and dangerous proposal.
-
-
- * Anti-Terrorism Bills
-
- Numerous bills threatening your privacy and free speech have been introduced
- this year. None of them are close to passage at this very moment, but
- this status may change. Urge your Congresspersons to oppose these
- unconstitutional and Big-Brotherish bills.
-
-
- * The Anti-Electronic Racketeering Act
-
- This bill is unlikely to pass in any form, being very poorly drafted, and
- without much support. However, the CDA is just as bad and passed with
- flying colors [the jolly roger?] in the Senate. It's better to be safe
- than sorry. If you have a few moments to spare, writing to, faxing, or
- calling your Congresspersons to urge opposition to this bill is a good
- idea. If you only have time to do limited activism, please concentrate
- on the Internet censorship legislation instead. That legislation is far more
- imminent that the AERA.
-
-
- * Medical Privacy legislation
-
- Several bills relating to medical privacy issues are floating in Congress
- right now. Urge your legislators to support only proposals that *truly*
- enhance the medical privacy of citizens.
-
- More information on this legislation will be available at
- http://www.eff.org/pub/Privacy/Medical/ soon. Bug mech@eff.org to make
- it appear there faster. :)
-
-
- * Find Out Who Your Congresspersons Are
-
- Writing letters to, faxing, and phoning your representatives in Congress
- is one very important strategy of activism, and an essential way of
- making sure YOUR voice is heard on vital issues.
-
- EFF has lists of the Senate and House with contact information, as well
- as lists of Congressional committees. (A House list is included in this
- issue of EFFector). These lists are available at:
- ftp.eff.org, /pub/Activism/Congress_cmtes/
- gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Issues/Activism/Congress_cmtes
- http://www.eff.org/pub/Activism/Congress_cmtes/
-
- The full Senate and House lists are senate.list and hr.list, respectively.
- Those not in the U.S. should seek out similar information about their
- own legislative bodies. EFF will be happy to archive any such
- information provided.
-
- If you are having difficulty determining who your Representatives are,
- try contacting your local League of Women Voters, who maintain a great
- deal of legislative information, or consult the free ZIPPER service
- that matches Zip Codes to Congressional districts with about 85%
- accuracy at:
- http://www.stardot.com/~lukeseem/zip.html
-
-
- * Join EFF!
-
- You *know* privacy, freedom of speech and ability to make your voice heard
- in government are important. You have probably participated in our online
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- End of EFFector Online v08 #20 Digest
- *************************************
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- $$
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