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EFFector Online  Volume 08 No. 07      June 6, 1995       editors@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation        ISSN 1062-9424

ALERT: Communications Decency Act - Imminent Passage or Failure - Act NOW!

  The Latest News

  What You Can Do Now -- U.S. and non-U.S. citizens

  Senate Contact List

  For More Information

  List Of Participating Organizations

Newsbytes

  Dole/Grassley Legislation Threatens Online Free Speech - Worse Than CDA

  New Draft of Communications Decency Legislation

  Sen. Lott to Attempt to Rip Sysop Defenses from Exon Bill

  The Other Side of the Coin: Feinstein Bill v. Bomb Material Online 

  Prodigy Potentially Liable for User Postings

Calendar of Events

Quote of the Week

What YOU Can Do

Administrivia

* See http://www.eff.org/Alerts/ or ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/ for more

nformation on current EFF activities and online activism alerts! *

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: ALERT: Communications Decency Act  - Act NOW!

* EMERGENCY UPDATE: Just as this issue was going to virtual press, more and 

* very dire news has arrived.  Senators Bob Dole (R-KS) and Charles Grassley

* (R-IA) have announced they are sponsoring, and probably introducing very

* soon, new Internet censorship legislation even more threatening 

* to free speech than the Exon "Communications Decency Act".  Unlike the 

* Leahy alternative to the CDA, the Dole/Grassley legislation is not, 

* according to sponsor Grassley, intended to be offered as a replacement 

* for the Exon language in the Senate telecom reform bill, but rather is 

* intended as free-standing bill.  As CDT, a member of the Stop314 Coalition

* with EFF, notes, the advent of the Dole/Grassley bill creates an even 

* greater need for support of Senator Leahy's alternative (S. 714).  If 

* the Senate rejects Senator Leahy's alternative, it will pass either the 

* Exon bill or the even more draconian Dole/Grassley proposal, and the 

* net as we know it will never be the same again. Please, take the very

* few minutes it will require to call your Senators and sign the Leahy 

* petition, as detailed in the lead article below.  More info on the

* Dole/Grassley proposal is in the Newsbytes section of this newsletter.

Below is the latest action alert from the Stop314 Coalition (including EFF).

*This may look like alerts you've seen on previous days and weeks, but it

s new.*  Please take the time to check it out - the time has come to

Leahy opposition bill has receive over 20,000 signatures in a very short 

time, but it is not enough.  Please pardon the length of this EFFector,

but this is the most important action alert that has appeared in EFFector 

this year.

________________________________________________________________________

       CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE EXON/GORTON COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT

	Update: -Senate changes gears, we're caught with little time

		-What You Can Do Now (US and non-US citizens)

        CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT

			   June 6, 1995

      PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT

		 REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL June 20, 1995

	     REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS

      Distributed by the Voters Telecommunications Watch (vtw@vtw.org)

[NOTE: EFF has added two bracketed additions to the "What You Can Do Now"

and the Lott amendment.]

________________________________________________________________________

CONTENTS

	The Latest News

	What You Can Do Now -- U.S. and non-U.S. citizens

	Senate Contact List

        For More Information

        List Of Participating Organizations

________________________________________________________________________

THE LATEST NEWS

The Senate is ready to act on the Telecommunications Reform Bill this

Counter Terrorism bill would take all week, but the Senate changed its

(We sincerely apologize for issuing another alert on the heels of the

not anticipated.  We'll watch out for such a situation again and avoid

for the length of this Alert, but it contains the entire Senate contact

nfo.)

Note that there are few people who don't know about the bill.  However

f you are unfamiliar with the bill, take a moment to retrieve the

materials listed in the "For More Information" section.

________________________________________________________________________

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW -- U.S. and non-U.S. citizens

The Telecomm Reform Bill, will, in all likelihood, include either the

Exon Amendment (formerly the Communications Decency Act) or the Leahy

Amendment. It is essential that the Leahy language be substituted for

Exon's, and therefore it is essential:

   There is no time for written letters and email is too easily

   discounted or ignored. Non-U.S. citizens should contact Vice

   President Gore.  Note, if you decide to send a fax, you'll want to

   write an expanded version of the statement below.

   It's very important that you always be cool, collected, and polite.

   U.S. citizens:

	"Hello, Senator ________'s office"

	"Hi, I'm a constituent and would like to register my

	 opinion on the Telecommunications Reform bill to the 		

	 Senator."

	"Hold On please.  Alright, go ahead."

	"Please vote to remove the Communications Decency Act provision

         (Title 4 of S652) from the Telecomm Reform bill and 

	 replace it with the Leahy alternative (S714).  My name and 

	 address is ________."

	"Thanks for calling." 

[Addition in light of emergency update:  Ask your Senators to also

oppose the Lott amendment S.714, and to oppose the Dole/Grassley 

alternative to the CDA.]

   Non-U.S. citizens:

	"Dear Vice President Gore,

	 The world looks to the United States as one leader in 

	 developing a Global Information Infrastructure.  Title 4 of

	 the Telecomm Reform bill (the Communications Decency Act)

         [like the Dole/Grassley Internet censorship bill,]

     	 imperils that leadership.  Please work to remove it from the

	 Telecomm Reform bill (S652) and replace it with Senator

 	 Leahy's sensible alternative (S714).  I'm calling from

	 ____________."

   Senators, send a letter to vtw@vtw.org with a subject line of

   "XX ack" where "XX" is your state.  For example:

	To: vtw@vtw.org

	Subject: OH ack

	I called my Ohio Senators and expressed my opinion.

   If you contact Senators outside your state, please let us know what

   state you're from.  

   If you contacted Vice President Gore, send a letter to vtw@vtw.org with

   a subject line of "gore ack".  For example:

	To: vtw@vtw.org

	Subject: gore ack

	I called VP Gore and expressed my opinion.  I'm from France.

   An automatic responder will return an updated contact tally.

   BBS's.  Check the letter you get back to see which Senators are

   underrepresented by citizen contacts. Forward the Alert to any

   friends and colleagues in those states.

   do so now.  Send mail to vtw@vtw.org with a subject line of

   "send petition" for directions.

   thousands of others over the past two months. 

________________________________________________________________________

SENATE CONTACT LIST

Vice President Gore can be reached at:

	White House comment line

		Telephone: (202) 456-1111 (M-F 9-5 EST)

		Facsimile: (202) 456-2461 (M-F 9-5 EST)

		Email:	    vice-president@whitehouse.gov

US Senate Listing:

      D ST Name (Party)               Phone           Fax

      = == ============		      =====	      ===

      R AK Murkowski, Frank H.        1-202-224-6665  1-202-224-5301

      R AK Stevens, Ted               1-202-224-3004  1-202-224-1044

      D AL Heflin, Howell T.          1-202-224-4124  1-202-224-3149

      R AL Shelby, Richard C.         1-202-224-5744  1-202-224-3416

      D AR Bumpers, Dale              1-202-224-4843  1-202-224-6435

      D AR Pryor, David               1-202-224-2353  1-202-224-8261

      R AZ Kyl, Jon                   1-202-224-4521  1-202-224-2302

      R AZ McCain, John               1-202-224-2235  1-202-228-2862

      D CA Boxer, Barbara             1-202-224-3553  na

      D CA Feinstein, Dianne          1-202-224-3841  1-202-228-3954

      D CO Campbell, Ben N.           1-202-224-5852  1-202-225-0228

      R CO Brown, Henry               1-202-224-5941  1-202-224-6471

      D CT Dodd, Christopher J.       1-202-224-2823  na

      D CT Lieberman, Joseph I.       1-202-224-4041  1-202-224-9750

      D DE Biden Jr., Joseph R.       1-202-224-5042  1-202-224-0139

      R DE Roth Jr.  William V.       1-202-224-2441  1-202-224-2805

      D FL Graham, Robert             1-202-224-3041  1-202-224-2237

      R FL Mack, Connie               1-202-224-5274  1-202-224-8022

      D GA Nunn, Samuel               1-202-224-3521  1-202-224-0072

      R GA Coverdell, Paul            1-202-224-3643  1-202-228-3783

      D HI Akaka, Daniel K.           1-202-224-6361  1-202-224-2126

      D HI Inouye, Daniel K.          1-202-224-3934  1-202-224-6747

      D IA Harkin, Thomas             1-202-224-3254  1-202-224-7431

      R IA Grassley, Charles E.       1-202-224-3744  1-202-224-6020

      R ID Craig, Larry E.            1-202-224-2752  1-202-224-2573

      R ID Kempthorne, Dirk           1-202-224-6142  1-202-224-5893

      D IL Moseley-Braun, Carol       1-202-224-2854  1-202-224-2626

      D IL Simon, Paul                1-202-224-2152  1-202-224-0868

      R IN Coats, Daniel R.           1-202-224-5623  1-202-224-8964

      R IN Lugar, Richard G.          1-202-224-4814  1-202-224-7877

      R KS Dole, Robert               1-202-224-6521  1-202-224-8952

      R KS Kassebaum, Nancy L.        1-202-224-4774  1-202-224-3514

      D KY Ford, Wendell H.           1-202-224-4343  1-202-224-0046

      R KY McConnell, Mitch           1-202-224-2541  1-202-224-2499

      D LA Breaux, John B.            1-202-224-4623  na

      D LA Johnston, J. Bennett       1-202-224-5824  1-202-224-2952

      D MA Kennedy, Edward M.         1-202-224-4543  1-202-224-2417

      D MA Kerry, John F.             1-202-224-2742  1-202-224-8525

      D MD Mikulski, Barbara A.       1-202-224-4654  1-202-224-8858

      D MD Sarbanes, Paul S.          1-202-224-4524  1-202-224-1651

      R ME Snowe, Olympia             1-202-224-5344  1-202-224-6853

      R ME Cohen, William S.          1-202-224-2523  1-202-224-2693

      D MI Levin, Carl                1-202-224-6221  na

      R MI Abraham, Spencer           1-202-224-4822  1-202-224-8834

      D MN Wellstone, Paul            1-202-224-5641  1-202-224-8438

      R MN Grams, Rod                 1-202-224-3244  1-202-224-9931

      R MO Bond, Christopher S.       1-202-224-5721  1-202-224-8149

      R MO Ashcroft, John             1-202-224-6154  na

      R MS Cochran, Thad              1-202-224-5054  1-202-224-3576

      R MS Lott, Trent                1-202-224-6253  1-202-224-2262

      D MT Baucus, Max                1-202-224-2651  na

      R MT Burns, Conrad R.           1-202-224-2644  1-202-224-8594

      R NC Faircloth, D. M.           1-202-224-3154  1-202-224-7406

      R NC Helms, Jesse               1-202-224-6342  1-202-224-7588

      D ND Conrad, Kent               1-202-224-2043  1-202-224-7776

      D ND Dorgan, Byron L.           1-202-224-2551  1-202-224-1193

      D NE Exon, J. J.                1-202-224-4224  1-202-224-5213

      D NE Kerrey, Bob                1-202-224-6551  1-202-224-7645

      R NH Gregg, Judd                1-202-224-3324  1-202-224-4952

      R NH Smith, Robert              1-202-224-2841  1-202-224-1353

      D NJ Bradley, William           1-202-224-3224  1-202-224-8567

      D NJ Lautenberg, Frank R.       1-202-224-4744  1-202-224-9707

      D NM Bingaman, Jeff             1-202-224-5521  na

      R NM Domenici, Pete V.          1-202-224-6621  1-202-224-7371

      D NV Bryan, Richard H.          1-202-224-6244  1-202-224-1867

      D NV Reid, Harry                1-202-224-3542  1-202-224-7327

      D NY Moynihan, Daniel P.        1-202-224-4451  na

      R NY D'Amato, Alfonse M.        1-202-224-6542  1-202-224-5871

      D OH Glenn, John                1-202-224-3353  1-202-224-7983

      R OH Dewine, Michael            1-202-224-2315  1-202-224-6519

      R OK Inhofe, James              1-202-224-4721

      R OK Nickles, Donald            1-202-224-5754  1-202-224-6008

      R OR Hatfield, Mark O.          1-202-224-3753  1-202-224-0276

      R OR Packwood, Robert           1-202-224-5244  1-202-228-3576

      R PA Santorum, Rick             1-202-224-6324  1-202-228-4991

      R PA Specter, Arlen             1-202-224-4254  1-202-224-1893

      D RI Pell, Claiborne            1-202-224-4642  1-202-224-4680

      R RI Chafee, John H.            1-202-224-2921  na

      D SC Hollings, Ernest F.        1-202-224-6121  1-202-224-4293

      R SC Thurmond, Strom            1-202-224-5972  1-202-224-1300

      D SD Daschle, Thomas A.         1-202-224-2321  1-202-224-2047

      R SD Pressler, Larry            1-202-224-5842  1-202-224-1259*

      R TN Thompson, Fred             1-202-224-4944  1-202-228-3679

      R TN Frist, Bill                1-202-224-3344  1-202-224-8062

      R TX Hutchison, Kay Bailey      1-202-224-5922  1-202-224-0776

      R TX Gramm, Phil                1-202-224-2934  1-202-228-2856

      R UT Bennett, Robert            1-202-224-5444  1-202-224-6717

      R UT Hatch, Orrin G.            1-202-224-5251  1-202-224-6331

      D VA Robb, Charles S.           1-202-224-4024  1-202-224-8689

      R VA Warner, John W.            1-202-224-2023  1-202-224-6295

      D VT Leahy, Patrick J.          1-202-224-4242  1-202-224-3595

      R VT Jeffords, James M.         1-202-224-5141  na

      D WA Murray, Patty              1-202-224-2621  1-202-224-0238

      R WA Gorton, Slade              1-202-224-3441  1-202-224-9393

      D WI Feingold, Russell          1-202-224-5323  na

      D WI Kohl, Herbert H.           1-202-224-5653  1-202-224-9787

      D WV Byrd, Robert C.            1-202-224-3954  1-202-224-4025

      D WV Rockefeller, John D.       1-202-224-6472  na

      R WY Simpson, Alan K.           1-202-224-3424  1-202-224-1315

      R WY Thomas, Craig              1-202-224-6441  1-202-224-3230

________________________________________________________________________

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For more information on the Communications Decency Act, visit the

following resources:

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

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 help" in the subject line)

	cda-info@cdt.org (General CDA information)

	cda-stat@cdt.org (Current status of the CDA)

________________________________________________________________________

LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

Communications Decency Act.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)		  infoaclu@aclu.org

American Communication Association (ACA)   comminfo@cavern.uark.edu

American Council for the Arts

Arts & Technology Society			  cyberguy@well.com

biancaTroll productions				  bianca@bianca.com

Californians Against Censorship Together         BobbyLilly@aol.com

Center For Democracy And Technology (CDT)              info@cdt.org

Centre for Democratic Communications (CDC)     cshariff@aztec.co.za

Center for Public Representation (CPR)   mgpritch@facstaff.wisc.edu

Computer Communicators Association     community@pigpen.demon.co.uk

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility      cpsr@cpsr.org

Cross Connections 				    staff@xconn.com

Cyber-Rights Campaign			      cyber-rights@cpsr.org

CyberQueer Lounge				 tomh@cyberzine.org

Electronic Frontier Canada (EFC)         efc@graceland.uwaterloo.ca

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)                   info@eff.org

Electronic Frontier Foundation - Austin		 eff-austin@tic.com

Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA)		efa-info@efa.org.au

Electronic Frontiers Houston (EFH)                      efh@efh.org

Electronic Frontiers New Hampshire (EFNH)		efnh@mv.com

Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)	      info@epic.org

Feminists For Free Expression (FFE)                     FFE@aol.com

First Amendment Teach-In       		     croth@omnifest.uwm.edu

Florida Coalition Against Censorship          pipking@mail.firn.edu

FACTS (Friendly Anti-Censorship Taskforce for Students)

					jt885291@oak.cats.ohiou.edu

Hands Off! The Net                               baby-x@phanton.com

Human Rights Watch (HRW)			    infohrw@hrw.org

National Libertarian Party                73163.3063@compuserve.com           

Libertarian Party (national) (LP) 	      lphq@access.digex.net

Marijuana Policy Project			  MPProject@AOL.com

Metropolitan Data Networks Ltd.

MindVox						 system@phantom.com

National Bicycle Greenway			 cycleam@cruzio.com

National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)	    ncac@netcom.com

National Public Telecomputing Network (NPTN)          info@nptn.org

National Writers Union (UAW Local 1981 AFL-CIO)   kip@world.std.com

Oregon Coast Rural Information Service Cooperative

Rock Out Censorship				  TWieseROC@aol.com

Society for Electronic Access				sea@sea.org

The Thing International BBS Network (TTNet)    info@thing.nyc.ny.us

The WELL                                              info@well.com

Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW)                   vtw@vtw.org

(Note: All 'Electronic Frontier' organizations are independent entities,

 not EFF chapters or divisions.)

	[End of Alert]

------------------------------

Subject: Newsbytes

------------------

* Dole/Grassley Legislation Threatens Online Free Speech - Worse Than CDA

[This summary provided by Center for Democracy & Technology, info@cdt.org]

The Dole/Grassley bill would create new penalties in Title 18 for all

operators of electronic communications services who knowingly transmit

ndecent material to anyone under 18 years of age.  The bill would also

create criminal liability for system operators who willfully permit minors

to use an electronic communications service in order to obtain indecent

material from another service.

The Dole/Grassley bill would impose criminal liability on online service

that uses computer storage to deliver information to users, including video

that an entity could be said to have the requisite knowledge if it is

merely informed by a third party that some material on its system is

ndecent.

The text of the Dole/Grassley bill (currently unintroduced and without a 

bill number) is at:

ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/dole_grassley_95.bill

* New Draft of Communications Decency Legislation

Sen. Exon, the Dept. of Justice, and some unnamed online service providers

Decency Act, recently folded into the Senate telecom reform bill, S.652.

All in all, the amendment fixes only superficial problems, leaving the 

core faults of the bill intact.

The revisions are not currently out of the draft stage as far as can be 

floor in an attempt to convince the Senate that the CDA is "fixed" and 

various minor parts of the bill (e.g. changes "knowingly and willfully" to 

"knowingly"); allows but fails dismally to require that the implementation

of technology to enable the user to restrict or prevent access to "obscene,

lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent" material may be used to avoid 

liability on the part of system operators; and separates out some 

offenses from others more clearly.  The revisions also aim to 

CDA's negative effect on law enforcement's ability to enforce "dial-a-porn"

citizens enjoy under privacy laws.  Whether the changes actually do 

address these problems is highly questionable.

The Exon legislation revised by this draft amendment will remain 

unconstitutional, as it still attempts to ban expression protected by the 

First Amendment.  Even the regulation of indecency has been limited by 

the courts to very narrowly defined circumstances - none of which apply 

to online media. Such restrictions, even if eventually overturned after 

years of expensive legal battles, will greatly hamper networking 

electronic communications subject to censorship so that adults are 

limited to accessing and expressing only that which is suitable for 

children.

Additionally, the new version introduces a new problem: It protects only

large commercial service providers from more-restrictive state laws.  The 

for commercial activities or actions by commercial entities...that is 

nconsistent with the treatment of those violations under this section..."

EFF concurs with the Center for Democracy & Technology in finding no 

valid argument for according greater protection to commercial than 

non-commercial speech.  Indeed the entire history of commercial 

opposite direction.  The CDA revisions would leave individuals, educational

nstitutions, non-profit organizations, users' groups and all others

besides commercial interests subject to whatever censorship measures states

might wish to enact on whatever whim.

The draft changes to the Exon bill, showing what was deleted and what was 

added, are available at:

ftp.eff.org, /pub/Legislation/Bills_by_number/s652_051995_amend.draft

* Sen. Lott to Attempt to Rip Sysop Defenses from Exon Bill

CDT in their alert regarding the Dole/Grassley bill also note that

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) has announced plans to introduce an amendment to 

S.652 to remove all of the service provider defenses from the Exon 

language (the CDA).  *This move would make the Exon bill even more of a 

editorial control threatens to put most providers out of business, stifle 

free expression online, and force the remaining providers to become 

full-time censors and invaders of user privacy.

[Apologies to those who also receive CDT newsletters and get essentially 

two copies of this information, but its relevance here and its effect on 

the now extreme urgency of the main action alert in this newsletter and 

on the Leahy petition drive requires at least summarizing the main points 

The text of the Lott amendment will be available as soon as we receive it

from:

ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/

Look for a file with "lott" in the filename.

* The Other Side of the Coin: Feinstein Bill v. Bomb Material Online

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has drafted an amendment to the Senate 

Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention bill, S.735, of Sen. Dole.  Like the CDA

bill is in open discussion in the Senate.  The draft intends to: 

"prohibit the dissemination of information on the making of explosive 

materials with intent or knowledge that such information will be used for 

a criminal purpose."

The draft amendment would mandate up to twenty years in prison for anyone 

the manufacture of explosive materials" if the person even "resonably 

used for, or in furtherance of, a federal offense or other criminal 

Though the legislation does not directly mention the Internet, it is 

certainly drafted to apply to online media, and was inspired by what 

Feinstein perceives (or hears about in the media, since it is unlikely 

the Senator has actually ever logged in and found any bombmaking 

nstructions online) as tools for terrorism on computer networks.  The

agenda is clear. Feinstein, herself a near-victim of a failed letter-bombing 

attempt, along with other legislators, representatives of the 

Administration, and spokespersons from the civil liberties community, 

Availability of Bomb Making Information On The Internet".  Feinstein 

_Interactive_Week_.  Calling such materials information that "teaches 

_Anarchist_Cookbook_) from bookstores, after she suggested 

that the "doctrine of prior restraint is one we have to look at", 

because such information "isn't what this country is all about."  

Others likely to support the Feinstein amendment if introduced when the 

anti-terrorism bill hits the Senate floor include Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) and 

the Justice Department. Kohl at the same hearing commented that Americans 

the industry acts now, or Congress will do it for you... After all, if we 

technology to get them off." Expanding on the overused outrage-generator of

Atty. Gen. Robert Litt, testified, "Not only do would-be terrorists have

access to detailed information on how to construct explosives, but so do

children."

Experienced BBS and Internet users may marvel at the seeming gullibility 

of these hearing pronouncements. It is clear that Kohl, Feinstein and Litt 

are unware, or choose to ignore, that most of the material they are 

likely at all to be used by terrorists - and that far more reliable 

nformation on topics like the anatomy of a bomb can be had from most

U.S. government itself.  Brock Meeks writing for _Interactive_Week_ 

notes that the very bomb type used to destroy the Federal Building in 

Oklahoma City is covered in a "detailed recipe" in the Forestry 

Service's own readily available _Blaster's_Handbook_.

Others at the hearing, including Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), warned against 

looking to censorship for a solution. Leahy retorted that the real problem

s "harmful and dangerous conduct, not speech".  Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA),

being neither certain that censorship and access restriction to online 

material was technically feasible, nor encouraged to call for censorship 

by the DoJ's admission that they had no evidence at all of crimes taking 

The full text of the Feinstein draft can be found at

ftp.eff.org, /pub/Legislation/Bills_by_number/s735_95_feinstein_amend.draft

There's plenty more to worry about from this and other anti-terrorism 

legislation, most of which proposes one or more unconstitional 

"solutions" to perceived problems, and many of which seek to expand, in 

authority and abilities.  These bills, archived by bill number, are 

also available in the Bills_by_number directory at the sites above.

* Prodigy Potentially Liable for User Postings

communications service provider Prodigy Services Company may be liable for

by the securities investment banking firm of Stratton Oakmont, Inc., and

ts president, Daniel Porush, for statements made by an unidentified poster

on Prodigy's Money Talk bulletin board.  The statements claimed that

Stratton Oakmont committed criminal and fraudulant acts in connection with

the initial public offering of stock of Solomon-Page, Ltd.

Stratton Oakmont and Porush sued Prodigy, the volunteer moderator of the

Money Talk forum, and the anonymous user who made the postings.  Prodigy

filed a motion for summary judgment, asking to be dismissed from the case

on the claim that Prodigy could not be held responsible for the postings of

ts users.

On May 24, 1995, the court held that Prodigy had editorial control over the

messages in the Money Talk forum and was therefore liable for the content

of those messages.  According to the New York Supreme Court (which is a

trial level court in New York), Prodigy's policy of systematically

monitoring messages made it liable for the content of these messages.

actions of volunteer Board Leaders, at least for the limited purpose of

monitoring and editing the Money Talk bulletin board, Prodigy was

------------------------------

Subject: Calendar of Events

---------------------------

This schedule lists EFF events, and those we feel might be of interest to

our members.  EFF events (those sponsored by us or featuring an EFF speaker)

are marked with a "*" instead of a "-" after the date.  Simlarly, government

events, such as deadlines for comments on reports or testimony submission, are

marked with "!" in place of the "-" after the date.

The latest full version of this calendar, which includes material for

later in the year as well as the next couple of months, is available from:

ftp: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/calendar.eff

Updated: Jun. 6, 1995

June 7-

     9  - Third International Conference on Artificial Intelligence

          Applications on Wall Street; Pace University, New York City, NY.

          Contact: +1 914 763 8820 (voice), +1 914 763 9324 (fax)

          Email: satwell@mcimail.com

June 8-

     10  - Exploring the VideoClass Alternative; Raleigh, N. Carolina.

          Email: tom_russell@ncsu.edu

June 11-

     14 - Society & the Future of Computing (SFC'95); Tamarron Lodge,

          Durango, Colorado.  Sponsored by the Assoc. for Computing

          Machinery, LANL, U. of Md., IEEE. Speakers will include Phil Agre

          (UCSD), Leslie Sandberg (Institute for Telemedicine), Wm.

          Halverson (PacBell), Don Norman (Apple), Linda Garcia

          (Congressional Office of Technology Assessment), John

          Cherniavsky (Natl. Science Found.) and several others.

          Email: sfc95@lanl.gov

          WWW: http://www.lanl.gov/LANLNews/Conferences/.sfc95/sfcHome.html/

June 13-

     15 - IDT 95 - 12th Congress on Information Markets and Industries;

          Paris, France.  Organized by ADBS (a society of information

          professionals), ANRT (National Association of Technological

          Research), and GFII (French association of information industries).

          Contact: +33 1 43 72 25 25 (voice), +33 1 43 72 30 41 (fax)

June 17-

     19 - NECC'95: Emerging Technologies and Lifelong Learning: 16th Annual

          National Educational Computing Conf., sponsored by International

          Society for Technology in Education; Baltimore, Maryland.

          VP Gore and Sec'y. of Labor Robert Reich invited as keynote

          speakers. Other speakers include: John Phillipo (CELT), Frank

          Knott (MGITB)

          Contact: +1 503 346 2834 (voice), +1 503 346 5890 (fax)

          Email: necc95@ccmail.uoregon.edu

June 18-

     21 - ED-MEDIA'95; Graz, Austria. A world conference on educational

          multimedia and hypermedia. Sponsor: The Association for the

          Advancement of Computing.

          Contact: +1 804 973 3987 (voice)

          Email: aace@virginia.edu.

June 24-

     28 - Workshop on Ethical & Professional Issues in Computing;

          Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY. Deadline for submissions:

          Apr. 15.

          Contact: +1 518 276 8503 (voice), +1 518 276 2659 (fax)

          Email: cherkt@rpi.edu

June 27-

     29 - Women in Technology Conference: Channels for Change; Santa Clara

          Conv. Ctr., Santa Clara, Calif.  Speakers include: Gloria Steinem.

          Sponsored by Int'l. Network of Women in Technology (WITI).

          Contact: +1 818 990 1987 (voice), +1 818 906 3299 (fax)

          Email: witi@crl.com

June 28-

     30 - INET '95 Internet Society 5th Ann. International Networking

          Conf.; Honolulu, Hawaii.  Sponsored by Internet Society (ISoc).

          See Jan. 13 for proposal deadline

          Contact: +1 703 648 9888 (voice)

          FTP: ftp.isoc.org, /isoc/inet95/

          Gopher: gopher.isoc.org, 1/isoc/inet95

          WWW: http://www.isoc.org/inet95.html

          Email: inet95@isoc.org

July 5-

     7  - Key Players in the Introduction of Information Technology: Their

          Social Responsibility & Professional Training; Namur, Belgium.

          Sponsored by CREIS.

          Email: nolod@ccr.jussieu.fr, clobet@info.fundp.ac.be

July 5-

     8  - Alliance for Community Media International Conference and Trade

          Show. [See Jan. 31 for proposal submission deadline info].

          Contact: Alliance c/o MATV, 145 Pleasant St., Malden, MA 02148

          Fax: (617) 321-7121; Voice: Rika Welsh (617) 321-6400

          Email: matv@world.std.com

July 5-

     8  - 18th International Conf. on Research & Development in Information

          Retrieval; Sheraton Hotel, Seattle, Wash.

          Email: sigir95@u.washington.edu

July 6-

     7  ! Interoperability & the Economics of Information Infrastructure;

          Freedom Forum, Rosslyn, Virginia.  IITF/NSF/Harvard/FFMSC joint

          workshop to "analyze and evaluate economic incentives and

          impediments to achieving interoperability in the National

          Information Infrastructure.  The goal is to help agencies,

          associations, the Administration, and the Congress to develop

          sound policies for realizing the vision of a seamless,

          interoperating NII. Deadline for proposals: Mar. 17.  Deadline

          for submissions: June 15.

          Contact: +1 617 495 8903 (voice), +1 617 495 5776 (fax)

          Email: kahin@harvard.edu

July 11-

     15 - '95 Joint International Conference: Association for Computers and

          the Humanties, and Association for Literacy and Linguistic

          Computing; UCSB, Santa Barbara, Calif. Will highlight the

          development of new computing methodologies for research and

          teaching in the humanities

          Contact:  Eric Dahlin, +1 805 687 5003 (voice)

          Email: hcf1dahl@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu

July 22-

     26 - Syllabus'95; Sonoma State U., Rohnert Park, Calif.

          "The premier conference covering the use of technology in the

          curriculum"

          Contact: 1-800-773-0670 (voice, US-only), +1 408 746 200 (voice,

          elsewhere)

          Email: syllabus@netcom.com

------------------------------

Subject: Quote of the Week

--------------------------

ssue's quote of the week for this issue too:

"It is no solution to define words as violence or prejudice as

oppression, and then by cracking down on words or thoughts pretend that

easier to pass a speech code or hate-crimes law and proclaim the streets

confused with the other...Indeed, equating "verbal violence" with

  - Jonathon Rauch, in an essay in _Harper's_Magazine_, May 1995

Find yourself wondering if your privacy and freedom of speech are safe 

the rush to protect us from ourselves that our government representatives 

may deprive us of our essential civil liberties? 

Join EFF!

------------------------------

Subject: What YOU Can Do

------------------------

* Communications Decency Act (the Exon Legislation)

The Communications Decency Act poses serious threats to freedom of

expression online, and to the livelihoods of system operators.  The

legislation also undermines several crucial privacy protections.

Business/industry persons concerned should alert their corporate govt.

affairs office and/or legal counsel.  Everyone should write to their own

Senators and ask them to support the replacement of Exon's 

communications decency language in the Senate telecom reform bill s.652 

quickly, clearly and politely, why you feel the Exon language is dangerous.

S.652, the Senate telecom deregulation bill, now contains Sen. Exon's

"Communications Decency Act" (formerly S.314.)  The House version of the 

CDA, H.R.1004, is essentially stalled.  The House telecom reform bill

For more information on what you can do to help stop this and other 

ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/

for information to ask@eff.org.

* The Dole/Grassley Draft Internet Censorship Bill

As above, contact your Senators, and ask them to oppose this legislation,

and to support the Leahy amendment to S.652.

* The Lott Draft Amendment to the Exon Legislation

As above, contact your Senators, and ask them to oppose this amendment to 

the Senate Telecom Bill.  Ask the to not only oppose this but oppose all 

of the Communications Decency Act, urging them to support the Leahy 

alternative, currently S.714.

* The Feinstein Draft Internet Censorship Bill

As above, contact your Senators, and ask them to oppose the addition of

any such legislation, particular that authored by Sen. Feinstein, to the

Dole "Comprehensive Terrorism Prevention Act", S.735.  You may also wish 

to express your concerns about other civil liberties problems raised by 

the bill, and encourage your Senator to vote against such proposals until 

a proper study and period of public evaluation an input have taken place.

* Find Out Who Your Congresspersons Are

Writing letters to, faxing, and phoning your representatives in Congress

s one very important strategy of activism, and an essential way of

making sure YOUR voice is heard on vital issues.

EFF has lists of the Senate and House with contact information, as well

as lists of Congressional committees. These lists are available at:

ftp.eff.org, /pub/Activism/Congress_cmtes/

The full Senate and House lists are senate.list and hr.list, respectively.

Those not in the U.S. should seek out similar information about their

own legislative bodies.  EFF will be happy to archive any such

nformation provided.  If you do not know who your Representatives are,

you should contact you local League of Women Voters, who typically maintain

* Join EFF!

You *know* privacy, freedom of speech and ability to make your voice heard

n government are important. You have probably participated in our online

campaigns and forums.  Have you become a member of EFF yet?  The best way to

opinions heard.  EFF members are informed and are making a difference.  Join

EFF today!

For EFF membership info, send queries to membership@eff.org, or send any

message to info@eff.org for basic EFF info, and a membership form.

------------------------------

Administrivia

=============

EFFector Online is published by:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation

Washington DC 20006-1605 USA

+1 202 861 7700 (voice)

+1 202 861 1258 (fax)

+1 202 861 1223 (BBS - 16.8k ZyXEL)

+1 202 861 1224 (BBS - 14.4k V.32bis)

Membership & donations: membership@eff.org

Legal services: ssteele@eff.org

Hardcopy publications: pubs@eff.org

General EFF, legal, policy or online resources queries: ask@eff.org

Editor: 

Stanton McCandlish, Online Services Mgr./Activist/Archivist (mech@eff.org)

This newsletter printed on 100% recycled electrons.

Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged.  Signed

articles do not necessarily represent the views of EFF.  To reproduce

ually at will.

To subscribe to EFFector via email, send message body of "subscribe

effector-online" (without the "quotes") to listserv@eff.org, which will add

you to a subscription list for EFFector.

Back issues are available at:

ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/

To get the latest issue, send any message to effector-reflector@eff.org (or

er@eff.org), and it will be mailed to you automagically.  You can also get

the file "current" from the EFFector directory at the above sites at any 

time for a copy of the current issue.  HTML editions available at:

at EFFweb.

End of EFFector Online v08 #07 Digest

*************************************

$$