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Exon Communications Decency Act
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To Subscribers of the CDT Policy Post List:
As you know, Congress last week approved sweeping restrictions on online
speech by passing the Exon Communications Decency Act. President Clinton
is expected to sign the bill into law as early as Thursday, Feb. 8.
CDT has joined forces with the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW) and
other advocacy organizations including EFF, EPIC, the ACLU and People
for the American Way to organize an Internet protest against the enactment
of the CDA and to illustrate the far reaching effects of this legislation.
Please join us and hundreds of thousands of Internet users by turning your
world wide web pages black for 48 hours after the President signs the bill.
Instructions on how to participate, along with information on how to find
out exactly when the President will sign the bill, are included below. You
can also visit CDT's 48 hours protest page at
(http://www.cdt.org/speech.html).
For more information on the Internet-censorship issue, including the
text of the
bill, analysis, and other relevant materials, please visit CDT's net-censorship
web page (http://www.cdt.org/cda.html), or send email to <[email protected]>.
Thank you for your support!
Jonah Seiger
CDT Editor, <[email protected]>
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JOIN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHER INTERNET USERS IN
* 48 HOURS OF PROTEST *
AFTER PRESIDENT CLINTON SIGNS THE BILL THAT WILL CENSOR THE INTERNET
Update: -Latest News: Congress passed the net censorship language
on 2/1/96.
-What You Can Do Now: Help demonstrate the extent of the
impact of the Internet Censorship legislation. Join
Hundreds of thousands of Internet Users in an
International protest for 48 hours after Clinton
Signs the bill.
CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
Feb 3, 1996 (expires Feb 29, 1996)
PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
This alert and coalition coordinated by the
Voters Telecommunications Watch ([email protected])
________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
The Latest News
What You Can Do Now
Chronology of the CDA
For More Information
List Of Participating Organizations
________________________________________________________________________
THE LATEST NEWS
Last week Congress approved sweeping restrictions on online speech and
conduct, imposing fines of $250,000 and jail sentences of 2 years for
anyone who makes "indecent" material available in a public forum online.
This legislation threatens the very existence of the Internet as a viable
means of free expression, education, and political discourse.
Despite loud objections from civil liberties groups and the public,
the measure is part of a massive telecommunications bill that President
Clinton has already pledged to sign. Although you should feel free to
continue to express your objections directly to the President, there are
other ways to express our outrage for this legislation. The President
is expected to sign this bill into law during the week of Feb 5-9, 1996.
For 48 hours after Clinton signs the Telecommunications Reform bill into law,
join hundreds of thousands of Internet users everywhere to show the far
reaching impact this bill will have on all Internet users. TURN YOUR
WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES BLACK with white lettering to demonstrate that the
Internet will not accept this kind of second class treatment from the
United States Government.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
1. For 48 hours after Clinton signs the net censorship language in the
Telecomm bill into law, TURN YOUR WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES BLACK with
white lettering. To know when the bill is signed, check these
sources:
Newsgroups: alt.society.civil-disob
Email:[email protected] (watch for mail on this list)
WWW:http://www.vtw.org/
Finger:[email protected]
You can also just watch CNN; they'll announce the signing of the bill.
To turn your pages black with white lettering, simply add the following
tag to your World Wide Web pages:
<body>
<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#FFFFFF">
Put this right after your <head></head> tags, and before any </body> tags.
To explain to people who may be confused by the color change, temporarily
add the following link to your page:
<a href="http://www.vtw.org/speech/">My World Wide Web Pages are
black for 48 hours to protest second-class treatment from the
US Government for free speech. Read about it at this WWW
page.</a>
The Center for Democracy and Technology has also agreed to mirror a
similar page at URL:http://www.cdt.org/speech.html
If your pages get lots of hits from services that cache their pages like
America Online, you may wish to start turning your pages black early.
Please try and wait though until Clinton signs the bill, for maximum
effect.
Also, urge your Internet Provider and any Internet WWW pages you
frequent to turn their pages black. Send us interesting sites that
comply to [email protected].
$ Mail [email protected]
Subject: ZTV.COM is turning their pages black!
I'm the head of the ZTV Website and I've decided to turn our
pages black. Thought you'd like to know.
^D
Mail sent!
2. Don't forget to send Clinton a message, contact him at:
Email:[email protected]
Telephone:202-456-1111
Fax:202-456-2461
Sample communique:
<ring ring>
You're about to sign a bill into law that imposes a terrible
set of speech restrictions on the Internet that belong in the
broadcast medium, not the interactive one.
I'm turning my World Wide Web pages BLACK for 48 hours after you
sign the bill as a symbol of protest to show how many people will
be affected by this bill.
It is unlikely that he will veto the bill.
3. Make a commitment become involved! There will be several court cases
coming up to challenge the Internet censorship legislation, as well as
an election that will put every single member of the House, and 1/3rd
of the Senate (most of whom voted for this legislation) onto the ballot.
Don't let them get away with this. Make this a campaign issue, and
keep an eye out for legal defense funds for those challenging these
laws in court.
________________________________________________________________________
CHRONOLOGY OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
Feb 1, '96 The House and Senate pass the Telecomm Bill (S652/HR1555)
414-16 and 91-5.
Jan 31, '96 The House and Senate prepare to signoff on the conference
report for the Telecomm bill and rush a vote to the floor.
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, but is supported by 16 Senators
who understand the Internet.
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).
________________________________________________________________________
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Web Sites (roughly in alphabetical order)
URL:http://www.vtw.org/
URL:http://www.cdt.org/cda.html
URL:http://www.cpsr.org/
URL:http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/
URL:http://epic.org/
Email:
[email protected] (General CDA information)
[email protected] (Current status of the CDA)
________________________________________________________________________
LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS AND BUSINESSES
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. Because the list is so long, we've been
forced to omit many fine organizations. See the VTW Free Speech Web Page
at URL:http://www.vtw.org/speech/ for the whole list.
Public Interest Organizations Businesses
Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW) | ECHO (www.echonyc.com)
| Hotwired (www.hotwired.com)
Center For Democracy And Technology (CDT) | Mindvox (www.phantom.com)
Center for Public Representation (CPR) | Panix (www.panix.com)
Computer Professionals for | The WELL (www.well.com)
Social Responsibility (CPSR) | Wired (www.wired.com)
Cyber-Rights Campaign +-------------------------
Electronic Fronter Foundation (EFF),
and independent regional Electronic
Frontier organizations
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
Feminists for Free Expression Hands! Off The Net
Internet Users Consortium (IUC) Joint Artists' and Music
The Libertarian Party (LP) Promotions Political Action
National Campaign for Freedom of Expression Committee (JAMPAC)
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC) National Gay and Lesbian
National Writers Union (NWU) Task Force (NGLTF)
People for the American Way (PFAW) Republican Liberty Caucus
________________________________________________________________________
End Alert
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