Source
Automatically imported from: http://commons.somewhere.com:80/rre/1998/RRE.CDA.II.html
Content
This web service brought to you by Somewhere.Com, LLC.
[RRE]CDA II
``` ---
This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). Send any replies to the original author, listed in the From: field below. You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" command. For information on RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, see http://dlis.gseis.ucla.edu/people/pagre/rre.html or send a message to requests@lists.gseis.ucla.edu with Subject: info rre
---
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 09:43:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: ACLU Action Owner --- 09-25-98 ACLU Action Update --- Internet Censorship Threat Returns TO: Action Network FR: Bob Kearney, National Field Coordinator
(bkearney@aclu.org) 1. House Panels Approves Internet Censorship Legislation 2. Shell
Game on Juvenile Justice 1. Internet Censorship Returns! The House Commerce Committee
yesterday approved HR 3782, the latest version of the "Spawn of CDA"
Internet censorship legislation. The next stop for the bill is the House floor. Earlier this summer,
the Senate approved a similar measure introduced by Senator Dan
Coats (R-IN) as an amendment to a bigger spending bill. These "Spawn of CDA" bills represent yet another misguided attempt
to protect from "harmful" material on the Internet. They are,
essentially, a reincarnation of the unconstitutional Communicatio ns
Decency Act that was overturned last year by the U.S. Supreme Court
in Reno v. ACLU. Consideration of HR 3782 at this time is particularly ironic given
the use of the Internet to distribute the Starr report and its
sexually explicit details regarding the President. ACTION: The House must hear from Internet users about how unhappy we
are to facing yet another censorship bill. Take action to preserve
free speech on the Internet by sending a FREE FAX urging your
Members of Congress to oppose HR 3783 at:
http://www.aclu.org/action/cda2.html. While there, send a FREE FAX
to your Senators too. 2. Shell Game on Juvenile Justice. In a sign that our letters and
phone calls are working, House leaders have been forced to stoop to
underhanded tactics in their desperate attempt to pass draconian
juvenile justice legislation. Unable to persuade a majority of Senators to adopt legislation that
would mandate jailing children with adults, the Republican House
leadership has hijacked an innocuous measure to fund programs for
missing and exploited children, adding its draconian juvenile
justice provisions. Because the missing children bill had already
been approved by the Senate, the House-amended version now goes
directly to a conference committee. The result of all this maneuvering is that two barbaric juvenile
justice bills have - without debate -- been joined to a highly
popular, entirely unrelated funding bill. ACTION: This process is flat out wrong. Even if you have already
written on this issue, please send our updated letter to your
Senators and Representative TODAY and urge them to do everything
possible to oppose both the provisions of this bill and these
last-minute desperation tactics. Send a FREE FAX today from the action alert on our website, at:
http://www.aclu.org/action/juvenile.html --- ONLINE RESOURCES FROM THE ACLU NATIONAL OFFICE --- ACLU Freedom Network Web Page: http://www.aclu.org. America Online
users should check out our live chats, auditorium events, very
active message boards, and complete news on civil liberties, at
keyword ACLU. --- ACLU Action Update ACLU National Washington Office 122 Maryland
Avenue NE Washington, DC 20002 To subscribe to the ACLU Action List, send a message to
majordomo@aclu.org with "subscribe action" in the body of the
message. To end your subscription, send a message to
majordomo@aclu.org with "unsubscribe action" in the body of the
message. For general information about the ACLU, write to info@aclu.org. --- This Message sent to
action Excerpt from ACLU News 09-27-98 --- House Committee Approves CDA II FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, September 24, 1998 WASHINGTON -- In the wake of the controversial publication of the
Starr report on the Internet, the House Commerce Committee today
approved new restrictions on publishing content deemed "harmful to
minors" on the Internet. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier
Foundation warned that the bill -- which opponents have dubbed CDA
II -- would block adults from accessing a wide variety of legitimate
online material. The groups also said that the legislation, the
so-called Child Online Protection Act (H.R. 3783), includes many of
the same constitutional defects as the earlier Communications
Decency Act that was unanimously struck down by the U.S. Supreme
Court last year in Reno v. ACLU. In the name of protecting young users of the Internet, CDA II would
establish a wide-ranging ban on Web posting of material deemed
"harmful to minors." The Senate approved a similar bill as an
amendment to an appropriations bill this summer; today's vote by the
full Commerce Committee brings the bill one step closer to being
brought before the House for a vote this session. "CDA II is a Trojan horse," said EFF President Barry Steinhardt. "At
first glance, it appears relatively benign with its sponsor's claim
that it only applies to commercial pornographers who market their
sites to minors, but when you look beneath that veneer, you quickly
discover that it applies to any Web site that has a commercial
component and material that some community could consider 'harmful
to minors.'" "The fact that the Starr report on President Clinton has been
blocked by most filtering programs and that several Internet service
providers have ordered their users to take down mirror sites of the
report proves that this important public document would not pass the
legislation's 'harmful to minors' test," Steinhardt continued. Ronald Weich, a legislative consultant on cyberliberties issues
for the ACLU's Washington National Office, concurred that "if CDA
II had been the law this month, even news sites that published the
Starr report and that carry advertising or charge for access might
have been subject to criminal prosecution." "Lawmakers," Weich added, "continue to ignore the technological
realities and constitutional problems with these bills. Congress
continues to treat the topic of Internet censorship as a free
political ride." --- Paul Duguid
Social & Cultural Studies
University of California, Berkeley
duguid@socrates.berkeley.edu
Tel: 510 848 1843
Fax: 510 540 0347
``` This web service brought to you by
Somewhere.Com, LLC.