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EFFector Online Volume 8 Number 21
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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)
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End of EFFector Online v08 #21 Digest
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