This is the December 21st, 1995 alert from Voters Telecommunications
Watch:
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CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE EXON/COATS COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
(SEE THE LIST OF CAMPAIGN COALITION MEMBERS AT THE END)
Update: -Latest News:Congress is about to pass the Telecommunications
bill. It includes the censorship provisions we have
fighting so hard to keep out.
-What You Can Do Now: Call Congress and ask them to put off
the vote on the Telecomm bill until after the break.
CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
Dec 21, 1995
PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL Jan 1, 1996
REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS
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CONTENTS
What You Can Do Now
The Latest News
Chronology of the CDA
For More Information
List Of Participating Organizations
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WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
Congress is about to vote on the Telecommunications Deregulation
bill, which will regulate cyberspace to the point where it begins
to resemble a sanitized, Saturday-morning cartoons environment.
We can still stop this if the vote on the Telecomm bill can be
put off until after the holidays.
1. Call the Conferees and ask them to not sign off on the conference
report. Once the committee signs off on the language, the bill goes
to the floor. If we can hold the bill up until after the recess, we
have a shot at removing the net censorship provisions.
Please do not sign the conference report for S652/HR1555 until
after the holidays. It will squash the Internet's potential
as a medium for commerce, democracy, and education and needs more
thought. It also allows the FCC power to over-regulate the net.
Happy holidays.
Senate members of the Conference Committee
P ST Name and Address Phone Fax
= == ======================== ============== ==============
R MT Burns, Conrad R. 1-202-224-2644 1-202-224-8594
D HI Inouye, Daniel K. 1-202-224-3934 1-202-224-6747
D SC Hollings, Ernest F. 1-202-224-6121 1-202-224-4293
D WV Rockefeller, John D. 1-202-224-6472 n.a.
D NE Exon, J. J. 1-202-224-4224 1-202-224-5213
R AZ McCain, John 1-202-224-2235 1-602-952-8702
R SD Pressler, Larry 1-202-224-5842 1-202-224-1259
R WA Gorton, Slade 1-202-224-3441 1-202-224-9393
R AK Stevens, Ted 1-202-224-3004 1-202-224-1044
R MS Lott, Trent 1-202-224-6253 1-202-224-2262
D KY Ford, Wendell H. 1-202-224-4343 1-202-224-0046
R KS Dole, Robert 1-202-224-6521 1-202-228-1245
House members of the Conference Committee
Dist ST Name, Address, and Party Phone Fax
==== == ======================== ============== ==============
6 GA Gingrich, Newt (R) 1-202-225-4501 1-202-225-4656
14 CA Eshoo, Anna G. (D) 1-202-225-8104 1-202-225-8890
6 TN Gordon, Bart (D) 1-202-225-4231 1-202-225-6887
27 NY Paxon, Bill 1-202-225-5265 1-202-225-5910
7 GA Barr, Bob (R) 1-202-225-2931 n.a.
1 IL Rush, Bobby L. (D) 1-202-225-4372 1-202-226-0333
27 CA Moorhead, Carlos J. (R) 1-202-225-4176 1-202-226-1279
6 FL Stearns, Clifford B. (R) 1-202-225-5744 1-202-225-3973
4 NY Frisa, Daniel (R) 1-202-225-5516 1-202-225-4672
6 CO Schaefer, Daniel (R) 1-202-225-7882 1-202-225-7885
14 IL Hastert, J. D. (R) 1-202-225-2976 1-202-225-0697
7 MA Markey, Edward J. (D) 1-202-225-2836 1-202-225-8689
23 CA Gallegly, Elton (R) 1-202-225-5811 1-202-225-1100
6 IL Hyde, Henry J. (R) 1-202-225-4561 1-202-226-1240
26 CA Berman, Howard L. (D) 1-202-225-4695 1-202-225-5279
8 TX Fields, Jack (R) 1-202-225-4901 1-202-225-2772
6 TX Barton, Joseph (R) 1-202-225-2002 1-202-225-3052
5 TX Bryant, John (D) 1-202-225-2231 1-202-225-9721
14 MI Conyers Jr., John (D) 1-202-225-5126 1-202-225-0072
16 MI Dingell, John D. (D) 1-202-225-4071 1-202-225-7426
1 AR Lambert-Lincoln, Blanche (D) 1-202-225-4076 1-202-225-4654
10 OH Hoke, Martin R. (R) 1-202-225-5871 1-202-226-0994
5 IL Flanagan, Michael (R) 1-202-225-4061 n.a.
4 OH Oxley, Michael G. (R) 1-202-225-2676 1-202-226-1160
1 CO Schroeder, Patricia (D) 1-202-225-4431 1-202-225-5842
9 VA Boucher, Rick (D) 1-202-225-3861 1-202-225-0442
1 WA White, Rick (R) 1-202-225-6311 1-202-225-2286
6 VA Goodlatte, Robert W. (R) 1-202-225-5431 1-202-225-9681
3 VA Scott, Robert C. (D) 1-202-225-8351 1-202-225-8354
2 WI Klug, Scott (R) 1-202-225-2906 1-202-225-6942
18 TX Jackson-Lee, Sheila (D) 1-202-225-3816 n.a.
13 OH Brown, Sherrod (D) 1-202-225-3401 1-202-225-2266
5 IN Buyer, Steve (D) 1-202-225-5037 n.a.
7 VA Bliley Jr., Thomas J. (R) 1-202-225-2815 1-202-225-0011
2. Call your own legislator and ask them to vote against the Telecomm bill
when it comes to the floor.
A list of phone numbers for Congress is available at either:
URL:http://www.vtw.org/congress/
or you can call the capitol switchboard at:
202 224-3121
If you are at a loss for words, try saying this:
The Telecomm Deregulation (S652/HR1555) bill contains language
that would "dumb down" the Internet to the level of Saturday
morning cartoons. This will squash its potential as a medium
for commerce, democracy, and education and allows the FCC the power
to over-regulate it. Please vote against it.
Happy holidays.
3. If the Congress passes the bill, the President is expected to sign
it. You need to call the President and tell him that this bill is
bad for the future of electronic commerce.
You can reach the White House comment line at:
202-456-1111
If you're at a loss for words, try the following:
Please do not sign the Telecommunications Deregulation bill (S652/
HR1555). Its restrictions on free speech will squash the Internet's
potential as a medium for commerce, democracy, and education and
leave open the chance for the FCC to over-regulate it.
Happy holidays.
4. Although we don't recommend the use of email, there is a service at
http://www.government.org/ that allows you to send email to Congress.
Know that most staffers will not read this email in time to help stop
this madness.
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THE LATEST NEWS
The conference committee debating the Telecomm bill may be near to
a deal which would allow it to vote on the bill (which includes the
net censorship provisions) before the break. If Congress were to
break for recess without passing the bill, we have a chance to get
the net censorship provisions.
Just to refresh your memory, the House and Senate passed different pieces
of legislation which addressed regulation of the Internet. Some of the
legislation promoted a "parental control" approach, where parents, not
the government, were the most appropriate to control children's access
to speech on the Internet. (This approach was called Cox/Wyden and was
approved 421-4 by the House)
Other proposals advocated dumbing down the content of the Internet to
that which is acceptable to children, and holding providers responsible
for the speech of their users. These approaches were the Communications
Decency Act (S314 approved 84-16 by the Senate), and the Manager's Amendment
(slipped into the House Telecomm bill at the last second).
Although we are trying very hard to get an electronic copy of the conference
report, it's not fast in coming. As soon as we can get a copy into electronic
form we'll put it up on several WWW pages.
In the meantime, here's a summary of what the bill looks like.
CRIMINALIZATION OF "INDECENT" MATERIAL
The proposed legislation relies on the unconstitutional "indecency standard".
Like the Exon Communications Decency Act, it seeks to regulate all indecent
speech online.
Indecency is a broad category that includes everything from George Carlin's
"seven dirty words" to such classic novels and "The Catcher in the Rye" and
"Lady Chatterly's Lover".
The Supreme Court has ruled that restrictions on indecent speech are
Constitutional only if they rely on the "least restrictive means". Broad
indecency restrictions on interactive media do not satisfy the "least
restrictive means" test, because interactive media allows users and
parents tremendous control over the information they receive.
The net effect of an indecency restriction would be to dumb down every
conversation, web page, newsgroup, and mailing list on the Internet
to the level of what is not offensive to children.
Even the Department of Justice, who will have to enforce this law once
it becomes public, says that the indecency standard is "constitutionally
problematic". (Letter from Andrew Fois of US DOJ to Rep. Howard Berman,
12/20/95)
CONTENT PROVIDERS, ONLINE SERVICES, AND LIBRARIES CRIMINALLY LIABLE FOR
EXPRESSION ONLINE
Although the proposed legislation tries to hold harmless those who simply
function as "pipelines" for Internet access, there are many Internet
businesses who act as more than just access providers. Hosting discussion
groups, chat rooms, and other additional services, many Internet providers
function as content providers as well as simple access providers.
On top of this, the rest of us who provide content on the net (which includes
everyone who sends mail, posts to Usenet, puts up a WWW page, maintains an
ftp directory, or a gopher page) will fall under the indecency law, and
be forced to screen our material and "dumb it down" to the level of what is
not offensive to a child.
This will include anything having to do with sexual abuse, abortion, or any
strong language.
"GOOD SAMARITAN" PROVISION REMAINS IN BILL
The original Cox/Wyden/White legislation included a "Good Samaritan"
provision which said that a provider who takes some actions to police
their content cannot be penalized for not taking action in other places.
UNPRECEDENTED CONTROL OVER ONLINE SPEECH FOR THE FCC
The original Cox/Wyden/White bill prohibited FCC jurisdiction over the
Internet. This provision has been removed from the proposed legislation,
which now leaves the FCC open to make a case for regulating this new
medium.
The Internet has developed from a government project to a market-driven
economic boom for thousands of businesses. Giving the FCC authority over
this medium would significantly hinder the growth of this new industry.
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CHRONOLOGY OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
Dec 7, '95 The House half of the Telecomm conference committee
votes the "indecency" standard for online speech into
the Telecomm Deregulation bill.
Sep 26, '95 Sen. Russ Feingold urges committee members to drop
Managers Amendment and the CDA from the Telecommunications
Deregulation bill
Aug 4, '95 House passes HR1555 which goes into conference with S652.
Aug 4, '95 House votes to attach Managers Amendment (which contains
new criminal penalties for speech online) to
Telecommunications Reform bill (HR1555).
Aug 4, '95 House votes 421-4 to attach HR1978 to Telecommunications
Reform bill (HR1555).
Jun 30, '95 Cox and Wyden introduce the "Internet Freedom and Family
Empowerment Act" (HR 1978) as an alternative to the CDA.
Jun 21, '95 Several prominent House members publicly announce their
opposition to the CDA, including Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA),
Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA), and Rep. Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Jun 14, '95 The Senate passes the CDA as attached to the Telecomm
reform bill (S 652) by a vote of 84-16. The Leahy bill
(S 714) is not passed.
May 24, '95 The House Telecomm Reform bill (HR 1555) leaves committee
in the House with the Leahy alternative attached to it,
thanks to Rep. Ron Klink of (D-PA). The Communications
Decency Act is not attached to it.
Apr 7, '95 Sen. Leahy (D-VT) introduces S.714, an alternative to
the Exon/Gorton bill, which commissions the Dept. of
Justice to study the problem to see if additional legislation
(such as the CDA) is necessary.
Mar 23, '95 S314 amended and attached to the telecommunications reform
bill by Sen. Gorton (R-WA). Language provides some provider
protection, but continues to infringe upon email privacy
and free speech.
Feb 21, '95 HR1004 referred to the House Commerce and Judiciary committees
Feb 21, '95 HR1004 introduced by Rep. Johnson (D-SD)
Feb 1, '95 S314 referred to the Senate Commerce committee
Feb 1, '95 S314 introduced by Sen. Exon (D-NE) and Gorton (R-WA).
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Web Sites
URL:http://www.vtw.org/
URL:http://epic.org/
URL:http://www.cpsr.org/
URL:http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
URL:http://www.cdt.org/cda.html
URL:http://outpost.callnet.com/outpost.html
FTP Archives
URL:ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/policy/freespeech/00-INDEX.FREESPEECH
URL:ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
Gopher Archives:
URL:gopher://gopher.panix.com/11/vtw/exon
URL:gopher://gopher.eff.org/11/Alerts
Email:
vtw@vtw.org (put "send alert" in the subject line for the latest
alert, or "send cdafaq" for the CDA FAQ)
cda-info@cdt.org (General CDA information)
cda-stat@cdt.org (Current status of the CDA)
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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 * 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 * 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 * HotWired Magazine * 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. * Michigan
Electronic Communities of Concerned Adults * 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 * Web Review Magazine * Wired Magazine * Voters
Telecommunications Watch
(Note: All 'Electronic Frontier' organizations are independent entities,
not EFF chapters or divisions.)
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End Alert
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