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Report
Electronic Frontiers Australia Vol 1 No 4
EFA Newsletter
(Yes it's still got no name... please send suggestions to editor@efa.org.au! :)
Vol 1 No 4 -- September 4, 1995
________________________________________________________________________
////// ////// //\\ ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA
// // // \\ editor@efa.org.au
// // // \\ http://www.efa.org.au/EFA
///// ///// /////\\\\\ ftp://ftp.efa.org.au/pub/efa
// // // \\ Phone: 08 384 7316 (+618)
//////// * // * // \\ * PO Box 392 Nth Adelaide SA 5006
Fidonet: EFA Editor at 3:632/552
________________________________________________________________________
Your volunteer voice on the electronic frontier.
--------
CONTENTS
--------
* News
* Stay in Touch with EFA!
* Tip of the Month
* What is EFA?
* Membership Form
-----
NEWS
-----
Update on Australian Government regulation of online services
--------------------------------------------------------------
Australia's Federal Government wants to introduce laws that will regulate
everyday use of the Internet and other online services.
Thanks to member contributions, EFA and a number of other groups have
submitted detailed responses opposing a government document entitled
"Consultation Paper on the Regulation of On-line Information Services", made
available on the World Wide Web at <http://www.dca.gov.au/paper_2.html>.
EFA's message to the government has been posted in relevant online
discussion forums.
Further details can be found in the EFA Action Alert distributed in late
August, and also on EFA's Web site at <http://www.efa.org.au/EFA>.
Government action has been foreshadowed in the media by Attorney-General,
Michael Lavarch, and Minister for Communications and the Arts, Michael Lee.
The consultation paper was issued by Lee's department and contains a section
outlining "POSSIBLE OFFENCES RELATING TO USE OF AN ON-LINE INFORMATION SERVICE"
.
It is a follow-on from the government's BBS Task Force which released its
report late last year. After pressure from EFA and the Australian Computer
Society, the BBS report has finally been made available online at
<http://www.dca.gov.au/bulletin_board/report.htm>.
The deadline for comments on the Consultation Paper has passed, but in a
public message on September 1, 1995, a representative of the Department
called for further submissions "as soon as possible". The Internet e-mail
address for comments is consult@dca.gov.au.
Please bear in mind that the consultation paper is only one step in a
long line of government maneouvres -- EFA will need the ongoing support of
the online community in its continued campaigns.
ABA to investigate online services
-----------------------------------
In a related move, Minister Lee has Australian Broadcasting Authority
will conduct an investigation of on-line services and report back to his
department by 30th June, 1996.
A spokesperson for the Department of Communications and the Arts says the
ABA will look at "the appropriateness of the development of codes of
practice for those services that are, as far as practicable, in accordance
with community standards... The ABA will also investigate the extent to
which on-line information and entertainment broadcasting services are
accommodated by the operation of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992."
Members of the online community have questioned the appropriateness of
the ABA's involvement, but Minister Lee sees the ABA investigation as
complementary to the Consultation Paper on the Regulation of On-line
Information Services.
PGP ban proposed in Australia
------------------------------
A new battle for online freedoms has begun in Australia now that
regulation of encryption technology has been proposed by Steve Orlowski,
Assistant Director of the Australian Attorney General's department.
In a speech to a Queensland conference on the subject, Orlowski suggested
public access to strong encryption technologies should be restricted.
Such legislation exists in the USA, where it is illegal to export strong
encryption technology and the government has attempted to introduce the
controversial Clipper Chip and key escrow encryption.
This has resulted in a long legal battle for Phil Zimmerman, author of
PGP, the Internet's most widely used encryption package -- see the Web site
<http://www.netresponse.com/zldf/> for more information. It also means that
products such as Netscape Communications Corp's Web software have shipped
with weak encryption which crackers have been able to surmount.
The supporting argument is generally that criminals must be prevented
from using strong encryption technology, even if this means taking privacy
away from everyone else.
"I feel that the needs of the majority of users of the infrastructure for
privacy and smaller financial transactions, can be met by lower level
encryption which could withstand a general but not sophisticated attack
against it. Law enforcement agencies could develop the capability to mount
such sophisticated attacks," said Orlowski.
He said a re-examination of the issues was scheduled to co-incide with
deregulation of Australia's telecommunications system in 1997. Orlowski's
speech has attracted international attention and contributed to rumours that
the US government is pressing its allies into enacting copycat encryption
policy.
Call for assistance
--------------------
Unlike the Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFA doesn't have a six-digit
budget, corporate sponsors and paid staffers. EFA is run by volunteers and
relies on member contributions for its income.
Please help by contributing your time or other resources. We're
particularly interested in people willing to assist in legal research, help
prepare submissions for government inquiries, and act as local contacts for
media, government and public.
At the moment EFA is investigating the possibility of moving our Web
pages to a site equipped with Netscape Commerce Server, so that membership
fees can be paid online. We are wondering if anyone out there has a site
that could host this?
One recent example of a contribution to EFA is our new FTP site at
ftp://ftp.efa.org.au/pub/efa.
Contact membership@efa.org.au if you have anything to volunteer.
EFA Annual General Meeting
---------------------------
This is a preliminary announcment of the Electronic Frontiers Australia
Inc. Annual General Meeting.
The AGM will be held on Sunday 8th October, above Caffe Bongiorno, 187
Rundle St, Adelaide, starting at 10am CST. Members unable to attend in
person will be able to participate via IRC -- please note time differences
in your region. All of the items to be dealt with at the AGM will be
discussed on the EFA newsgroup/mailing list/echo over the month preceeding
the meeting.
The business of the meeting will be to consider the accounts, reports of
the board and auditors, appoint auditors, appoint board members and any
other business requiring consideration by EFA at a general meeting. An
official announcment of the meeting, with the agenda and details of persons
standing for election, will be sent to all members prior to the AGM.
Nominations for positions on the board must be received by the Secretary
in writing signed by the proposer and the nominee to signify a willingness
to stand for election. Both proposer and nominee must both be EFA members.
Nominations close 28 days prior to the AGM, ie on Sunday 10th September. If
proposer and nominee are unable to sign the same paper, separate notices to
the Secretary will be accepted.
Nominations should be posted to:
Secretary
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
PO Box 382
North Adelaide SA 5006
All board positions will be up for appointment at the AGM. The positions
along with their incumbents and those who have been nominated already are:
position incumbent nomination
Chairman Michael Baker Kimberley Heitman
Vice-Chairman Kimberley Heitman Michael Malone
Secretary Philip Thornton Brenda Aynsley
Treasurer John Leishman John Leishman
6 ordinary Brenda Aynsley Michael Baker
board members Garth Kidd David Vincent
Michael Malone Simon Vandore
David Vincent Kerrin Pine
Simon Vandore
[vacancy]
Electronic Rights and Responsibilites (ERR)
-------------------------------------------
Peter Merel's evolving list of "Electronic Rights and Responsibilities",
endorsed as a working project by EFA in April, has undergone several more
drafts since the last time you read this newsletter.
Merel regularly posts updated versions of the ERR to the newsgroup
aus.org.efa (gatewayed to the efa@efa.org.au mailing list),
comp.org.eff.talk, the EFA echo on Fidonet, and to his Web site at
http://www.usyd.edu.au/~pete/err.html. He invites suggestions and
contributions from all interested parties.
The ERR is designed "to provide an ethical standard with which to measure
the policies of states and corporations with regard to the Internet and
related multicast communications networks", and was put together using
suggestions from around the world.
EFA is actively looking for BBS Sysops willing to make files such as the
ERR document available for downloading and FREQ. If you are interested
please send netmail to EFA at 3:632/552.
Western Australian Internet Association
----------------------------------------
In Western Australia, access providers and the Internet user community
have formed the WAIA (Western Australian Internet Association) to deal with
local and national issues. Details can be found at <http://www.it.com.au/waia>.
Announcements regarding WAIA will be posted to a mailing list -- you can
subscribe to the WAIA list by sending a message to majordomo@iinet.net.au,
with only the words "subscribe waia" in the body of the message.
The spokesperson for WAIA is Kimberley Heitman, whose e-mail address is
kheitman@it.com.au.
------------------------
STAY IN TOUCH WITH EFA!
------------------------
How to join
------------
Membership of EFA costs just $20 per year and for that you get to belong
to the premier electronic communications organisation in Australia; you get
issues of the Newsletter on line or in the mail if you have no electronic
address, you have the opportunity to contribute to the growth of Electronic
Frontiers Australia and volunteer your time and talents in this endeavour.
Please consider joining us -- it only costs $20 and the form to complete is
attached to the end of this newsletter, as well as being online at
http://www.efa.org.au/EFA and ftp://ftp.efa.org.au/pub/efa. The membership
form is also mailed automatically to anyone who sends email to
efa-info@efa.org.au or netmail to efa-info at 3:800/846.
How to follow EFA activities
-----------------------------
* On Usenet, read aus.org.efa (and comp.org.eff.talk if you want the
global picture).
* If you only have email access to the Net, subscribe to our mailing list,
efa@efa.org.au (gatewayed to aus.org.efa and the EFA Fidonet echo). To
subscribe, send email to efa-request@efa.org.au with the word "subscribe" in
the body of the message.
* If you use Fidonet Echos, follow discussion in the "EFA" echo.
* Follow the links on our Web home page at http://www.efa.org.au/EFA.
* If you don't have Web access, you may wish to use FTP at the address
ftp://ftp.efa.org.au/pub/efa
* Volunteer to help us. There's no better way to stay in touch than
getting involved yourself!
Members of the Board
---------------------
Position Name Fidonet Internet address
Chairman Michael Baker 3:800/838 mbaker@apanix.apana.org.au
Vice Chair Kimberley Heitman 3:690/254.14 kheitman@it.com.au
Secretary Philip Thornton 3:800/846 pthornton@sawasdi.apana.org.au
Treasurer John Leishman 3:632/552 jleishma@ozemail.com.au
Membership Brenda Aynsley 3:620/243 Brenda.Aynsley@iss.net.au
Publicity Garth Kidd 3:800/828.1 garth@pisces.systems.sa.gov.au
(home) (08) 276 2994 (work) (08) 207 7740
List admin Michael Malone 3:632/552 pariah@iinet.com.au
Net Surfing David A Vincent 3:632/552 dvincent@zeta.org.au
& FTP Admin
Newsletter Simon Vandore 3:632/552 simon@magna.com.au
---------------
GOALS FOR 1995
---------------
Throughout 1995, EFA is working towards the following goals:
* Reputation building, promotion and membership drive
* Establishment of a legal fighting fund
* Development of a model code of conduct for BBS and Internet sysops/admins
and service providers as a self regulation exercise
* Lobbying for/against various pieces of local, state and federal legislation
* Responses to all relevant government inquiries with well-researched answers
* A concerted PR campaign, including advertising, media releases and
appearances, and possible stands at various computer shows
* Creation of an EFA library (both physical and electronic)
* Organising and attending relevant seminars
* Preparation for an international conference to be run in 1996
* Assisting in the establishment of regional EF groups, e.g. EF-Indonesia,
EF-Singapore, EF-Japan.
-----------------
TIP OF THE MONTH
-----------------
If you'd like to see something in particular covered by "Tip of the
Month", please send your suggestion to editor@efa.org.au or EFA Editor at
3:632/552. Meantime, here's a guide to getting the most out of the
Australian end of the Internet.
Every Australian Internet user eventually becomes aware of slowdowns in
file transfer speeds from overseas servers, whether via FTP or the Web. At
peak usage periods, this can become unbearable -- however, it's often
possible to get around the problem by using an Australian mirror site. The
term "mirror" is used on the Internet to refer to duplicates of a site made
in order to ease the load on the original location, making it easier for
more users to enjoy the benefits of that site.
Please note that this advice is for Australians only, and if you're
reading this newsletter in another country, you should not use the following
sites.
For example, if you're a Windows user in Australia waiting for a file to
come in from the famous CICA Windows archive at ftp.cica.indiana.edu, you're
crazy! There are several partial mirrors around, and a full mirror is at
ftp.cc.monash.edu.au, in the directory /pub/win3.
And if you're an art buff trying to download an image from the WebMuseum
(WebLouvre) in France, you'll be pleased to know it's possible to do this
much faster by using the Australian mirror at
<http://cutl.city.unisa.edu.au/louvre/louvre.html>.
If you act like a good Net citizen and adopt as many mirror sites as you
can, you'll be making life better for yourself and others. Your file
transfer speeds will be much faster, and you'll be freeing up bandwidth for
everyone else on Australia's international links. Your modem or other
connection device will start to really impress you!
On the Web, there are several indexes to help you find mirror sites. If
you're about to transfer something from overseas via FTP, check yourself and
take a look at <http://www.unimelb.edu.au/public/aumirrors.html>, which is a
guide to FTP mirror sites in Australia. A searchable guide to all Australian
web servers is at <http://www.csu.edu.au/links/ozweb.html>, though you may
prefer the Aussie Index at <http://www.aussie.com.au/>.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA Inc. is an association of Net.residents and
people with a common interest in the digital community, computer based
communication systems, online information services, and "cyberspace",
whatever that means. Modelled on the USA's Electronic Frontiers Foundation,
its objectives are:
* To ensure that people have the same basic freedoms 'within' computer
based communication systems as without.
* To educate the community at large about computer based communication
systems and their use.
* To support, encourage and advise on the development and use of computer
based communication systems, and related innovations.
* To research and advise on the law as applied to computer based
communication systems and related technologies.
Policymakers and media representatives are encouraged to contact EFA for
input and comment where relevant.
On the Internet, you can find more information about EFA at our World Wide
Web site, http://www.efa.org.au/EFA, or by sending email to efa-info@efa.org.au
.
Ways to get EFA information via Fidonet:
* File request efa-info.efa, efa-info.lzh, EFA, ERR from node 3:800/846.
* Send netmail to efa-info at 3:800/846 and a copy of the EFA information
file will be bounced back.
* Log in to sawasdi BBS as "EFA" password "EFA" and download the files
from file area "EFA". The phone number for sawasdi is (08) 261 7802.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Submissions to this newsletter are strongly encouraged. Ideas and brief
articles for future issues should be sent to editor@efa.org.au or EFA Editor
at 632/522. A new issue will appear every 3-4 weeks, so keep the ideas coming!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
(c) 1995 Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
Permission is hereby given for redistribution on networks, but distribution
via other media is subject to the written permission of the EFA Board.
Views expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors only, and not
necessarily those of Electronic Frontiers Australia.
_______________________ cut here ____________________________________
==========================================================================
MEMBERSHIP OF ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED
(Newsletter V1#4)
==========================================================================
Print out and mail to:
Membership Coordinator
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc
PO Box 382
NORTH ADELAIDE SA 5006
_____________________________________
I want to become a member of Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
I enclose:
$_____ Individual membership - $20
PAYMENT METHOD
___Enclosed a cheque/money order made payable to Electronic Frontiers
Australia Inc.
NOTE: While Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. does not recommend using the
Internet or Fidonet for passing credit card details, we do offer this
facility for members who want it. If you wish to pay by credit card, e-mail
this application form (DO _NOT_ include credit details) to
jleishma@ozemail.com.au and clearly indicate that you wish to use encryption
to transmit credit details. An encryption key will be provided. We repeat,
do NOT send us your credit card details via ordinary e-mail.
In the near future, we hope to offer a secure membership form on the World
Wide Web to make credit card payments more practical.
YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Title : ____ (Dr Miss Mr Mrs Ms Prof)
First Name : ___________________ Family Name : _________________
Work Voice phone: ____ ________________
Home Voice phone: ____ ________________
Facsimile phone: ____ ________________
Gender : Male Female (please circle one)
Date of Birth : ____/____/____
Postal Address: __________________________________
__________________________________
_________________ Post code ______
Email Address1 __________________________________
Email Address2 __________________________________
Email Address3 __________________________________
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
Please supply the following information for statistical purposes.
Highest Education level attained: (please circle one)
primary secondary post secondary (including TAFE)
tertiary: diploma degree higher degree/diploma
Occupation : (including student)_______________________
Industry type : (circle one only)
Manufacturing Finance Services Education
Other : please specify___________________________
VOLUNTEER SKILLS AND INTERESTS
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. is run by volunteers.
Are you willing to assist? ___Yes ___No
If yes please tick the items below that you are interested in:
I would like to - join the inquiry response team ___Yes ___No
join the net surfing team ___Yes ___No
join the research team ___Yes ___No
become a coordinator ___Yes ___No
enrol others in Electronic Frontiers
Australia Inc. ___Yes ___No
I am a BBS sysop and would like to make Electronic
Frontiers Australia Inc. files available on my BBS ___Yes ___No
I have legal training and would like to join the legal
research team ___Yes ___No
I am a law student and would like to join the legal
research team ___Yes ___No
I would like further details about Electronic Frontiers
Australia Inc. before I offer to help ___Yes ___No
I would like to be contacted to discuss how I can help ___Yes ___No
I have the following skills which I am willing to use to
help:(please list - eg editing, mail outs, graphic design)
-
-
-
-
_________________________________________________________
PRIVACY POLICY
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. is willing to share our membership
list with other organisations promoting similar goals. However we
respect an individual's right to privacy and will not distribute your
name without explicit permission.
I grant permission for the Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. to
distribute my name and address information to organisations sharing
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. similar goals. ___Yes ___No
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. is incorporated under the South
Australian Incorporated Associations Act.
--
Simon Vandore - nomis~\ua.moc.angam.www\\:ptth
simon@magna.com.au - TheBeck@IRC - My ideas only.
Writer, journalist, HTMLer, and probably for hire.
Electronic Frontiers Australia - editor@efa.org.au
