From: Pieter Stouten VM TAU AC IL> Date: 5 mar 1995 Subject: Re: CCL:Threat to the Internet Oscar N. Ventura bilbo edu uy> commented on the Communications Decency Act (Senate Bill S.314) as probably being part of the natural process of civilization. I am afraid it is far more and far more serious than that. The proposed lawcould make providers of internet services (companies, universities, AOL, CompuServe, etc.) liable for "indecent" postings which is the same as holding the Post Office responsible for delivery of "indecent" mail. Also, e-mail between individual, private users would be subject to censorship. Where does that leave freedom of speech? Contrary to what Oscar thinks, I think that the community of internet users can have considerable influence. I append an e-mail note posted earlier to the Info-Mac Digest and other newsgroups and mailing lists, which provides you with a very easy way of making your opinion (including those of foreigners!) heard. As of Saturday 4 March 76,323 signatures for the internet petition opposing S.314 and H.R.1004 have been received! For more info refer to: http://www.phantom.com/~slowdog ftp://osc.edu/pub/chemistry/legal/senate314 Sorry for wasting bandwidth, but soon there may not may be any bandwidth to waste anymore. Pieter Stouten, speaking for himself, not for his employer. lldmpc dnet dupont com> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Info-Mac Digest Sun, 26 Feb 95 Volume 13 : Issue 27 [...] Date: 95-02-26 02:04:27 EST From: Pieter Stouten VM TAU AC IL> Subject: Censorship A matter has come to my attention that is of the utmost importance to all of us online. Simply put, a couple of senators have proposed a particularly heinous piece of legislation titled the "Communications Decency Act of 1995" (Senate Bill S. 314). Basically, the bill would subject all forms of electronic communication -- from public Internet postings to your most private email -- to government censorship. The effects of the bill onto the online industry would be devastating -- most colleges and private companies (AOL, Compuserve, etc.) would probably have to shut down or greatly restrict access, since they would be held criminally liable for the postings and email of private users. Obviously, this bill is designed to win votes for these senators among those who are fearful of the internet and aren't big fans of freedom of speech -- ie., those who are always trying to censor "pornography" and dirty books and such. Given the political climate in this country, this bill might just pass unless the computer community demonstrates its strength as a committed political force to be reckoned with. This, my friends, is why I have filled your mailbox with this very long message. A petition, to be sent to Congress, the President, and the media, has begun spreading through the Internet. It's easy to participate and be heard -- to sign it, you simply follow the instructions below -- which boil down to sending a quick email message to a certain address. That's all it takes to let your voice be heard. (You know, if the Internet makes democracy this accessible to the average citizen, is it any wonder Congress wants to censor it?) Finally, PLEASE forward this message to all your friends online. The more people sign the petition, the more the government will get the message to back off the online community. We've been doing fine without censorship until now -- let's show them we don't plan on allowing them to start now. If you value your freedoms -- from your right to publicly post a message on a worldwide forum to your right to receive private email without the government censoring it -- you need to take action NOW. It'll take fifteen minutes at the most, a small sacrifice considering the issues at hand. Remember, the age of fighting for liberty with muskets and shells is most likely over; the time has come where the keyboard and the phone line will prove mightier than the sword -- or the Senate, in this case. Yours in liberty, -don ............................................................ To to sign the petition via e-mail: Send an e-mail message to: S314-petition netcom com The message (NOT the subject heading) should read as follows: SIGNED eg. SIGNED JAMES.RANDI GENIE GEIS COM James Randi YES That's all there is to it, so PLEASE send in your signature. It's really important.