(PHONE)(NOW!) CDA - House prepares to vote! (fwd)

EGROOM@morgan.com
Wed, 2 Aug 1995 20:08:00 -0400


If this is something that you care about, please read on.

peace / buddhahead.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

The Capitol Hill Switchboard number is (202) 224-3121.

----------
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 1995 15:27:24 -0400
From: "Shabbir J. Safdar" <shabbir@panix.com>
To: Stop 314 List
Subject: (ALERT) House will vote on the CDA this week!

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)
Forwarded to you by Bob Bickford rab@well.com

_______________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
The Latest News
What You Can Do Now
What is Cox/Wyden? (HR1978)
Chronology of the CDA
For More Information

_______________________________________________________________________
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 on the list 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 the list of phone numbers below) (Y=You, S=Rep's Staffer)

SAMPLE PHONE CALL
<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.

_______________________________________________________________________

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)