========================================================================= ________________ _______________ _______________ /_______________/\ /_______________\ /\______________\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/ ||||||||||||||||| / //////////////// \\\\\________/\ |||||________\ / /////______\ \\\\\\\\\\\\\/____ |||||||||||||| / ///////////// \\\\\___________/\ ||||| / //// \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/ ||||| \//// ========================================================================= EFFector Online Volume 08 No. 21 Dec 11, 1995 editors@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 IN THIS ISSUE: ALERT: SF Anti-Censorship Rally Rescheduled [Newsbytes skipped again, due to urgency of lead article] 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: ALERT: SF Anti-Censorship Rally Rescheduled ---------------------------------------------------- [Apologies to members who are not in the area of the rally. Hopefully you'll find this of interest anyway - and consider organizing concurrent protests in YOUR area. - Editor] ** RALLY POSTPONED ** ** RALLY POSTPONED ** ** RALLY POSTPONED ** Due to severe inclement weather here in San Francisco, today's Rally Against Censorship has been POSTPONED until THURSDAY, December 14. Please join us (hopefully under sunny skies) on Thursday. An updated rally announcement follows. Once again, please spread the word, and many thanks for all your support. *** 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 demagogues 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: Thursday, December 14, 1995 12:00 - 1:00 PM WHERE: South Park (between 2nd and 3rd, Bryant and Brannan) San Francisco. (In the event of rain, an indoor location will be announced) SPEAKERS:Mike Godwin, EFF; Jane Metcalfe, WIRED Magazine; John Gilmore, co-founder, EFF; Denise Caruso, New York Times columnist; Jim Warren, online activist; Howard Rheingold, author; Dave Winer, essayist and software developer; Audrie Krause, Executive Director, CPSR; Jonathan Steuer, CEO, Cyborganic Corp. 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: 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 1995 Dec. 12 * National Day of Internet Protest against net censorship legislation URL: http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/s652_hr1555.alert Dec. 14 * Rally Against Internet Censorship, 12noon-1pm, South Park, San Francisco Calif. Help stop the demagogues 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! Speakers to include EFF staff counsel Mike Godwin, EFF co-founder John Gilmore, Jim Warren (GovAccess), Howard Rheingold (_Virtual_Community_ author), Dave Winer (essayist), CPSR exec. dir. Audrie Krause, Jonathan Steuer (Cyborganic Corp. CEO), and EFF boardmembers emeritus Denise Caruso (_New_York_Times_) and Jane Metcalfe (_Wired_). Contact: Todd Lappin, +1 415 222 6241 (voice - please see URL first) Email: protest@wired.com URL: http://www.hotwired.com/staff/digaman 1996 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 ------------------------- "Government is not reason. Government is not eloquence. It is force. And, like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master" - George Washington, first US President 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 accept Whyte's demands that system operators not be held liable for crimes they did not commit, that the FCC be 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 "obscenity" or "harmful to minors" statute, and condemn any unconstitutional national indecency standard. See the lead article in this newsletter for info on what else you can do. 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 campaigns and forums. Have you become a member of EFF yet? The best way to protect your online rights is to be fully informed and to make your opinions heard. EFF members are informed and are making a difference. Join EFF today! For EFF membership info, send queries to membership@eff.org, or send any message to info@eff.org for basic EFF info, and a membership form. ------------------------------ Administrivia ============= EFFector Online is published by: The Electronic Frontier Foundation 1550 Bryant St., Suite 725 San Francisco CA 94103 USA +1 415 436 9333 (voice) +1 415 436 9993 (fax) Membership & donations: membership@eff.org Legal services: ssteele@eff.org General EFF, legal, policy or online resources queries: ask@eff.org Editor: Stanton McCandlish, Online Services Mgr./Activist/Archivist (mech@eff.org) This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons. Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles individually, please contact the authors for their express permission. Press releases and EFF announcements may be reproduced individ- ually at will. To subscribe to EFFector via email, send message body of "subscribe effector-online" (without the "quotes") to listserv@eff.org, which will add you to a subscription list for EFFector. Back issues are available at: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/ gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/ To get the latest issue, send any message to effector-reflector@eff.org (or er@eff.org), and it will be mailed to you automagically. You can also get the file "current" from the EFFector directory at the above sites at any time for a copy of the current issue. HTML editions available at: http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/HTML/ at EFFweb. HTML editions of the current issue sometimes take a day or longer to prepare after issue of the ASCII text version. ------------------------------ End of EFFector Online v08 #21 Digest ************************************* $$