roundtable: (UPDATE) More you can do to stop the Religous Right from shutting down the net!
roundtable: (UPDATE) More you can do to stop the Religous Right from shutting down the net!
(UPDATE) More you can do to stop the Religous Right from shutting down the net!
Shabbir J. Safdar, VTW (shabbir@vtw.org)
Thu, 09 Nov 1995 01:12:16 -0500
Message-Id: <199511090613.BAA07386@panix3.panix.com>
To: roundtable@cni.org
From: shabbir@vtw.org (Shabbir J. Safdar, VTW)
Subject: (UPDATE) More you can do to stop the Religous Right from shutting down the net!
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 1995 01:12:16 -0500
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CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE NET CENSORSHIP LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS
(INCLUDING THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT AND THE MGRS AMDT)
Short Update: Calls are coming in, but not enough!
What You Can Do Now: Call Congress, directions below!
SYSOPS AND ISPS: Please place a short version of this alert
in your welcome message! (directions below)
WEBMASTERS: Please place a link to this alert in your page!
(directions below)
CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
Nov 8, 1995
PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL December 1, 1995
REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS
________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
The Latest News
What You Can Do Now
________________________________________________________________________
THE LATEST NEWS
The Religious Right is attempting to push legislation the Telecommunications
Deregulation Conference Committee that would shut down most forms of
speech online.
Their proposal would:
-Make internet providers, online services, and libraries criminally liable
for expression online.
-Create a standard for criminalizing "indecency" online, dumbing down
every Web page, newsgroups, discussion forum, and chat system.
-Give the FCC jurisdiction over speech in cyberspace and software that
might be used to filter children's access to the net.
For a full analysis of the Religious Right's proposal, and a copy of their
proposed legislation and their letter to the Conference Committee, see
the alert at URL:http://www.vtw.org/.
Earlier this week the coalition started a phone campaign to let Dole and
Gingrich know how important this is to us. Calls have been coming in
strong, but not enough have come in to sway their opinion.
Please call now.
________________________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
1. If you run any sort of system that allows a welcome message for all
users, please add the following:
The Religious Right is attempting to shutdown the net by passing
legislation that would make services like this one liable
for what you say and read on the Internet. Please call Congress
now; for more info URL:http://www.vtw.org/ or send mail to
files@vtw.org with "send alert" in the subject line. (11/8/95)
If you have a Web page that gets a lot of traffic, please add the
following link:
<a href="http://www.vtw.org/">
Stop the Religious Right from shutting down online free
speech! (11/8/95)</a>
2. The proposals from the Religious Right will literally destroy online
speech as we know it. The odds of stopping this are not certain.
There is a very real chance that this legislation will pass, and
we will experience a period of uncertainty and chilling of speech
while an appropriate test case attempts to reach the Supreme Court
(should it even get there!)
The Religious Right has a strong grass-roots network. We need to
counter their energy and ensure cyberspace is not lost due to them.
IMMEDIATELY CALL House Speaker Gingrich (R-GA) and Senate Leader
Dole (R-KS) and urge them to oppose the Christian Coalition's
proposal. (fax numbers have been corrected)
Name, Address, and Party Phone Fax
======================== ============== ==============
R GA Gingrich, Newt 1-202-225-4501 1-202-225-4656
R KS Dole, Robert 1-202-224-6521 1-202-228-1245
If you're at a loss for words, try one of the following:
Please oppose the recent proposal from the Religious Right to
censor the Internet. The only effective way to address children's
access to the Internet is through parental control tools outlined
by the Cox/White/Wyden approach.
or
As a religious person and a parent, I oppose the Religious Right's
attempts to censor the Internet. I am the best person to monitor
my child's access to the Internet using parental control tools
as outlined in the Cox/White/Wyden approach.
3. Join the online fight by becoming a volunteer for your district!
Check to see if you're legislator is in the list below. If they are
not, consult the free ZIPPER service that matches Zip Codes to
Congressional districts with about 85% accuracy at:
URL:http://www.stardot.com/~lukeseem/zip.html
The conference committee legislators are:
House: Barr (R-GA), Barton (R-TX), Berman (R-CA), Bliley (R-VA),
Boucher (D-VA), Brown (D-OH), Bryant (D-TX), Buyer (R-IN),
Conyers (D-MI), Dingell (D-MI), Eshoo (D-CA), Fields (R-TX),
Flanagan (R-IL), Frisa (R-NY), Gallegly (R-CA), Goodlatte (R-VA),
Gordon (D-TN), Hastert (R-IL), Hoke (R-OH), Hyde (R-IL),
Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Klug (R-WI), Lincoln (D-AR), Markey (D-MA),
Moorhead (R-CA), Oxley (R-OH), Paxon (R-NY), Rush (D-IL),
Schaefer (R-CO), Schroeder (D-CO), Scott (D-VA), Stearns (R-FL),
White (R-WA)
Senate: Burns (R-MT), Exon (D-NE), Ford (D-KY), Gorton (R-WA),
Hollings (D-SC), Inouye (D-HI), Lott (R-MS), McCain (R-AZ),
Pressler (R-SD), Rockefeller (D-WV), Stevens (R-AK)
If your legislator is on the conference committee, you have a chance
to influence their vote on this issue with your power as a constituent.
Volunteer to help educate your legislator by sending mail to
volunteer@vtw.org. A coalition volunteer will be in touch with you.
You can starting working to help spread the word in your district by
sending this letter to five friends. Ask them to call Dole and Gingrich
as well.
4. The People for the American Way (PFAW) and the American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) are organizing a letter from ORGANIZATIONS to the Conference
Committee to oppose the censorship provisions.
If you are a representative of an organization that would like to
signon to this letter, you should contact jlesser@pfaw.org IMMEDIATELY.
5. We can't suggest relaxing at this point. The stakes are too high, and
the risk is too great. Everything now hangs in the balance.
________________________________________________________________________
End Alert
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