From: Dorothy Voss <virgie2@ais.net>
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 14:35:14 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: ALERT: House to Vote This Week on Net-Censorship Bills (fwd)
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9508031605.A16583-0100000@eagle.ais.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain




---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 17:43:34 -0400
From:editor@cdt.org
To: policy-posts@cdt.org
Subject: ALERT: House to Vote This Week on Net-Censorship Bills


HOUSE TO VOTE THIS WEEK
-----------------------

The House of Representatives will vote late Thursday or Early Friday
(Aug 3 or 4) on whether to add the Cox/Wyden Internet Freedom and Family
Empowerment Act as an amendment to the House Telecommunications Reform 
Bill (HR 1555). 

The Cox/Wyden amendment is a direct attack on the Exon/Coats Communications
Decency Act (CDA). House passage of the Cox/Wyden amendment is the last 
chance we have to defeat the Exon/Coats CDA. If the House fails to pass
Cox/Wyden, the Exon bill will likely become law.

We must act now to head off this possibility. Please take a moment to
contact your member of Congress and urge them to support the Cox/Wyden
legislation (described in the alert below). 

The attached alert is from a coalition organized by the Voters
Telecommunications Watch (VTW) which includes CDT, EFF, EPIC, and other 
online advocacy organizations.

This may be your last chance to make your voice heard on this critical 
issue, so please call before Friday August 4.

========================================================================
       CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE EXON/COATS COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
        (SEE THE LIST OF CAMPAIGN COALITION MEMBERS AT THE END)

        Update: -Latest News:
                        House vows to vote on Telecomm bill (which
                        includes the CDA) this week before recess!
                -What You Can Do Now

       ***   THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.      ***
       ***   THE HOUSE WILL VOTE ON THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY   ***
       ***   ACT THIS WEEK.  IF WE LOSE, IT WILL BECOME LAW.     ***

        CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
                             July 30, 1995

      PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
                 REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL August 14, 1995
             REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS

      Distributed by the Voters Telecommunications Watch (vtw@vtw.org)
________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
        The Latest News
        What You Can Do Now
        What is Cox/Wyden? (HR1978)
        Chronology of the CDA
        For More Information
        List Of Participating Organizations
        List of the House of Representatives

________________________________________________________________________
THE LATEST NEWS

This week the House of Representatives will choose between
ANTI-FREE-MARKET PRO-CENSORSHIP LEGISLATION (the Exon/Coats
Communications Decency Act) and ANTI-CENSORSHIP PRO-PARENTAL-CONTROL
LEGISLATION (the Cox/Wyden Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment Act
- HR1978).

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE AS A CITIZEN TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.  IF WE LOSE
THIS VOTE, THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT, ALREADY PASSED BY THE SENATE,
WILL BECOME US LAW.

The vision of a cyberspace ONLY FIT FOR CHILDREN will become reality.

The Communications Decency Act will be offered by supporters of
conservative pro-censorship groups THIS WEEK.  They will try and amend
HR1555 to include the Communications Decency Act and remove any other
net-friendly language such as the Leahy/Klink study.

________________________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

1. THERE'S NO TIME FOR EMAIL OR SNAIL MAIL.  CALL OR FAX YOUR
   REPRESENTATIVE NOW.

2. Find your rep (instructions below) and urge them to oppose the
   Communications Decency Act and support parental control legislation
   (the Cox/Wyden "Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment Act" HR1978)

   Figure out who your Rep is; feel free to use the following sample.
   
** See Instructions Below On How To Obtain Your Rep's Phone and Fax Number **

   SAMPLE PHONE CALL
    (Y=You, S=Rep's Staffer)    
        <ring ring>
        S:Rep. Snark's office, may I help you?

        Y:Hi, As your constituent I'd like to urge Rep Snark to
          oppose Internet censorship legislation such as the Exon/Coats
          Communications Decency Act and support parental control bills
          such as the Cox/Wyden Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment
          Act - HR1978.

        S:Anything else?
        Y:Yes, where does Rep. Snark stand on this issue?
        S:Rep. Snark supports HR1978.
        Y:Thank you!

   Take the response you get and mail it to vtw@vtw.org.  We'll be
   totalling up the responses and counting votes.  Send it to us
   with the subject line of "house call".

        $ Mail vtw@vtw.org
        Subject: house call
        I live in Ohio and I called Rep Snark.  Snark's staffer
        said he favors HR1978 too!
        .
        Mail sent...
        $

   SAMPLE FAX 
        Dear Representative Snark,

        As your constituent I'd like to urge Rep Snark to oppose
        Internet censorship legislation such as the Exon/Coats
        Communications Decency Act and support parental control bills
        such as the Cox/Wyden Internet Freedom and Family Empowerment
        Act - HR1978.

        Sincerely,
        
        <your address>
        
3. Ask your Internet Service Provider or Sysop to put the following
   message into their "message of the day".  We also encourage you
   to forward the following short announcement to relevant mailing
   lists where a copy of this alert would be too long for the list.

        8/1/95: The Communications Decency Act (CDA) will be voted on
        by the House of Representatives this week.  IT IS CRUCIAL THAT
        YOU CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE NOW.  To get a copy of the alert,
        send mail to vtw@vtw.org with "send alert" in the subject line,
        gopher -p 1/vtw/exon/alert gopher.panix.com, or
        URL:gopher://gopher.panix.com:70/00/vtw/exon/alert

4. Forward a copy of this alert to your friends until the "freshness
   date" above.  THIS IS CRUCIAL.  WE NEED TO GENERATE CALLS OF SUPPORT
   OR THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT WILL BECOME LAW.

5. Congratulate yourself!  You've done your part to save cyberspace.

________________________________________________________________________
HOW TO FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE'S PHONE AND FAX NUMBER:

1. If you don't remember your representative's phone number, send email to
 
     reps@cdt.org

   You will automatically receive a list of all 435 members of the House of
   Representatives with phone and fax numbers.

2. OR, call the Capitol Switchboard (+1.202.225.3121) and ask to be 
   connected to your Rep's office. If you don't remember who
   your Rep. is, the operator can tell you when provided with your zipcode.

________________________________________________________________________
WHAT IS COX/WYDEN?

Cox/Wyden (HR1978) is legislation intended to prevent the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) from imposing content regulations on
cyberspace and encourage private sector development and deployment of
parental control technologies.

Throughout HR1978's history, civil liberties advocates from ACLU, CDT,
EPIC & PFAW have examined the bill and recommended modifications to
ensure that the bill does not negatively impact your privacy or civil
liberties.  Although several questions still remain, Representatives
Cox and Wyden are committed to addressing these concerns.  As the
legislation moves to the House/Senate conference committee, civil
liberties advocates will continue to submit changes to the
Representatives' staffers throughout the conference process where the
House bill and the Senate-approved Communications Decency Act are
reconciled.

________________________________________________________________________
CHRONOLOGY OF THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT

House vote to occur before Friday August 4, 1995.

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).

________________________________________________________________________
FOR MORE INFORMATION

Web Sites
        URL:http://www.panix.com/vtw/exon/
        URL:http://epic.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)

________________________________________________________________________
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 Communication Association * American Council for the Arts *
Arts & Technology Society * Association of Alternative Newsweeklies *
biancaTroll productions * 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 * Human
Rights Watch * 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. * 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 * Voters Telecommunications Watch

(Note: All 'Electronic Frontier' organizations are independent entities,
 not EFF chapters or divisions.)
________________________________________________________________________
        End Alert
=======================================================================