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EFFector        Vol. 10, No. 04       Mar. 17, 1997        editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation        ISSN 1062-9424

CDA Demonstration, Supreme Court Battle and Follow-up Live Chat

Summary of eTRUST Market Survey Results

Newsnybbles

  Internet Taxation Issue Heats Up: "No New Taxes"!

  Web Link Lawsuits Raise Serious Questions

Upcoming Events

Quote of the Day

What YOU Can Do

Administrivia

 * See http://www.eff.org/hot.html for more information

   on current EFF activities and online activism alerts! *

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

Subject: CDA Demonstration, Supreme Court Battle and Follow-up Live Chat

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

  ____ ___ _____ ____      _    _           _

 / ___|_ _| ____/ ___|    / \  | | ___ _ __| |_   Join CIEC lead attorney

| |    | ||  _|| |       / _ \ | |/ _ \ '__| __|  Bruce Ennis LIVE ONLINE

| |___ | || |__| |___   / ___ \| |  __/ |  | |_   after he argues the case

 \____|___|_____\____| /_/   \_\_|\___|_|   \__|  before the Supreme Court!

______________________________________________________________________________

     The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition --  http://www.ciec.org

______________________________________________________________________________

                       ** SPECIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMNT **

  JOIN BRUCE ENNIS - FRESH FROM FIGHTING THE CDA AT THE SUPREME COURT - LIVE

        ONLINE WEDNESDAY MARCH 19TH 1997 AT 6:00 PM EST (3:00 PM PACIFIC)

                               March 17, 1997

   Please distribute widely with this banner intact. Please post only in

       appropriate forums.  Do not distribute after March 19, 1997

_______________________________________________________________________________

SPECIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

On March 19th, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in

the legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act -- a law which

mposes broad content regulations on the Internet.  The outcome of this

case will have a profound impact on the future of the Internet and the fate

of the First Amendment in the Information Age.  A decision is expected in

June.

Curious how the Supreme Court justices reacted to the arguments? Have

questions abut the case and its implications? Join Bruce Ennis, lead

attorney for the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), who will

ACLU and CIEC plaintiffs, for a special online debriefing and discussion.

DETAILS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

This special event is presented by the Citizens Internet Empowerment

Coalition, HotWired, and Progressive Networks. It will combine a live

nterview with Bruce Ennis, cybercast via RealAudio, with a simultaneous

nteractive chat forum where participants can ask questions and discuss the

case.

DATE:  Wednesday March 19, 1997

TIME:  6:00 pm Eastern time, 3:00 pm Pacific

Audio feeds and links to the chat discussion will be available from the

following sites:

* Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition   -  http://www.ciec.org/

* HotWired                                  -  http://www.hotwired.com/

* Progressive Networks's WebActive          -  http://www.webactive.com/

You will need a RealAudio (available free at http://www.realaudio.com/), a

Java enabled browser, or a telnet application on your computer in order to

BACKGROUND ON THE CDA AND THE LAW SUIT

The Communications Decency Act was signed into law as part of the

Telecommunications Reform Act on February 8th 1996.  The law makes it a

crime to "display" "indecent" or "patently offensive" material in a public

forum on the Internet.  Opponents argue that the law is overly restrictive

and threatens to severely restrict the free flow of information on the

and their children.

Two lawsuits were filed to challenge the constitutionality of the CDA in a

The cases have been brought, respectively, by The Citizens Internet

Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), comprised of the American Library

Association. civil liberties groups, Internet Service Providers, Commercial

Online Service Providers, Newspaper, Magazine and Book Publishers, and over

liberties groups, advocacy groups, online content providers, and others

filed the initial case on the day the CDA was signed into law.

The ACLU and CIEC cases will be argued together before the Supreme Court on

March 19, 1997 by CIEC lead attorney Bruce Ennis.  A decision is expected

n June.

Detailed information on the legal challenges, as well as information about

the CDA, is available at the following web sites:

*  Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition    -  http://www.ciec.org/

*  The ACLU                                   -  http://www.aclu.org/

The outcome of this legal battle will have far reaching implications.  At

nformation age.

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

JOIN THE FIGHT FOR FREE SPEECH ONLINE

WEDESDAY MARCH 19TH IN WASHINGTON DC

As you know, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the legal

challenge to the Communications Decency Act on Wednesday March 19th at

future of the Internet and the fate of the First Amendment in the

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR FREE SPEECH ONLINE --

JOIN THE DEMONSTRATION ON THE STEPS

against the CDA on the steps of the Supreme Court beginning at 8:30 am on

Wednesday March 19th.  If you are in the DC area and are concerned about

TIME:      8:30 am - 12:00 noon

DATE:      Wednesday, March 19th, 1997

LOCATION:  The Steps of the US Supreme Court

           1st & East Capitol Streets, NE, Washington, DC

Signs will be available, just bring yourself and your friends.

For more information on the case and events on the 19th, including a

online interview with Bruce Ennis, CIEC lead attorney who will argue the

case on behalf of both the CIEC and ACLU plaintiffs, please visit the

Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC) web page at

Seiger .

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

Subject: Summary of eTRUST Market Survey Results

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

See http://www.etrust.org for more information.

The information below is based on a PowerPoint interactive presentation,

eTRUST INTERNET PRIVACY STUDY

Summary of Market Survey Results

March 12, 1997

The Boston Consulting Group

Two Embarcadero Center

San Francisco, California  94111 

tel. 415-732-8000

The following pages are a partial summary of the results of a project

conducted by The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. on behalf of eTRUST – 

not-for-profit organization co-founded by CommerceNet and the Electronic

Frontier Foundation 

The focus of the project was to investigate consumer and business attitudes

to develop a business model for a privacy assurance entity that would create

and enforce guidelines for disclosure of privacy policies and the handling

of personal information online

The BCG project team consisted of:

Michael Kleeman – Vice President

Andy Blackburn – Manager

Theanne Thomson – Consultant

To a Greater Extent Than in the Physical World

Trust Spans Issues of Privacy, Security and Authentication

SCOPE OF eTRUST INTERNET PRIVACY STUDY

SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS 

Consumer and Merchant Perspectives on Privacy

Consumers express strong concerns regarding privacy over the Internet;

nterested in limiting and controlling spread of their information;

businesses they are not familiar with.

Consumers also recognize that they have only crude control over

or disguising their identity; usually based on a subjective assessment of

trust.

Consumers indicate they would increase the depth and breadth of their

Assurance of non-dissemination of personal information would have a

e-commerce by a factor of 2 to 3.

Disclosure of privacy practices alone would have a more limited impact,

ncreasing consumer willingness to participate by approximately 50%

The combined positive impact on e-commerce could reach $6B by 2000.

Merchants also express interest in a privacy assurance program, however,

they are less certain about specific benefits to their businesses.

Smaller companies seeking trusted brand recognition see highest value.

Larger companies want a proven, credible program before signing on.

CONSUMERS PRIVACY CONCERNS ARE LIMITING INTERNET ACTIVITY AND THE GROWTH OF

E-COMMERCE

CONSUMERS 

A LARGE PROPORTION OF CONSUMERS SEE SECURITY AND PRIVACY AS OVERLAPPING ISSUES 

CONSUMERS INDICATE PRIVACY ASSURANCE HAS GREATER VALUE THAN DISCLOSURE ALONE 

Consumers were asked under what conditions they would be willing to

 * would give today;

 * would give if privacy policies disclosed — e.g., including if

   information is shared with third party;

 * would give if privacy policies disclosed and privacy was assured —

   e.g., no information given to third party.

With no privacy disclosure, consumers are less likely to disclose key

financial information (credit card number, Social Security number, bank and

the Internet.

CONSUMERS INDICATE PRIVACY ASSURANCE HAS GREATER VALUE THAN DISCLOSURE ALONE

Assurance of non-dissemination of personal information has a much more

nformation; up to 45% of respondents would give more sensitive

nformation they otherwise wouldn'’ tdisclose.

Reflects strong consumer desire to control the spread of their

nformation.

CONSUMER WILLINGNESS TO DISCLOSE VARIES WITH TYPE OF INFORMATION AND KIND

OF BUSINESS

CONSUMERS ARE LESS WILLING TO DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION TO UNFAMILIAR

COMPANIES

MOST WEB SITES TODAY REPRESENT SMALLER, LESS WELL KNOWN COMPANIES

DISCLOSURE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES INCREASES CONSUMER COMFORT IN GIVING

Levels the playing field for companies with low brand recognition.

Consumers want to know that their information will be treated responsibly.

MERCHANTS SURVEYED EXPRESS INTEREST IN AN INTERNET PRIVACY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

But level of interest varies with size of firm.

Most merchants interviewed express interest in a privacy assurance program

Small businesses seeking stronger brand recognition and credibility

expressed higher interest (62%) than larger businesses with strong existing

brands outside the Internet (47%).

Majority of merchants perceive the primary benefit of privacy assurance to

be promoting electronic commerce in general

A subset believe privacy will have a direct economic impact on their

businesses.

Smaller businesses project higher impact than larger businesses (30%

ncrease in customers versus 15% increase).

Large businesses want proven credibility before signing on worry about

SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANIES HAVE THE GREATEST INTEREST IN PRIVACY

ASSURANCE

Businesses also foresee some direct economic benefits.

SUMMARY 

Consumers are concerned about controlling the privacy of their personal

 information on the Internet.

 * low rates of consumer participation;

 * falsification of personal information given online;

 * potential for government intervention.

Consumers would welcome Internet privacy assurance,

 indicating that they would modify their behavior accordingly.

Online businesses would also support a privacy assurance entity  with

 varying levels of enthusiasm:

 * Promote the good of e-commerce;

 * Potential benefit to their business.

An independent privacy assurance entity could generate significant benefits

for e-commerce as well as for consumers and online businesses:

 * Increased consumer trust and confidence in online businesses;

 * Higher accuracy of consumer information provided online;

 * Increased consumer online activity, valued at up to $6 billion by 2000.

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

Subject: NewsNybbles

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

* Internet Taxation Issue Heats Up: "No New Taxes"!

e-commerce report, positioning in the US Administration against the

creation of new Internet taxes, 3 bills have been introduced to make such

a policy the law of the land. The new action also comes on the heel of

Of the new bills, first out of the gate on March 6 was the Tax-Free

taxes, and even forbids the use of federal funds to develop Internet

taxation proposals. The bill number is HR995.

More recently, a bicameral bill, the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1997

(ITFA) has been introduced in the House by Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) and Rep.

Rick White (R-WA), and in the Senate by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).  Though

there is a Republic majority involved (not surprisings, given that this is

a taxation issue), the effort is bi-partisan, and all three sponsors are

members of Congressional Internet Caucus.  ITFA, the bill number and full

text of which is not available at e-press time, places a moratorium on

user taxes still apply) establishes a task force made up of local, state

and federal representatives that will issue a finding within 18 months

after enactment of the legislation, directing the federal government on

Communication Commission (FCC) from setting rates for Internet services,

according to a Press release from White's office. The summary is

consistent with an short analysis of the legislation issued by Rep.

Wyden's office. The bill also calls for the White House to seek agreements

All of these efforts are in marked contrast the majority of US state and

local action regarding taxation and the Internet, which has to date

been almost invariably aimed at imposing some kind of taxation.

EFF has to agree with the sponsors of ITFA, noting that the existence of

over 30,000 taxation jurisdictions within the US alone makes for an

ntractable problem if any and all such jurisdictions can impose taxes

upon online transactions.

More information on these bills can be found at:

* Web Link Lawsuits Raise Serious Questions

              Comments of the Electronic Frontier Foundation 

                     on Web Content Linkage Lawsuits

 Mar. 17, 1996.

copyrighted comic strip graphics in a third party web page, a host of

court against a company called TotalNews.  TotalNews uses the experimental

"frames" extension to Web code to point their site's visitors to various

news sources around the Web.  CNN, Washington Post, Dow Jones, Times

Mirror and Reuters, who have filed the suit, allege that TotalNews'

companies' rights. 

under copyright law.  The intermediary site, TotalNews, does not actually

make any copy of content from CNN, et al, but rather simply instructs the

user's Web browser to obtain the content direct from CNN, et al., and to

There is essentially a conflict between two theoretical approaches to

copyright: one that says claims of infringement should be interpreted

based on what *functionally* is occurring (that is, on whether

t *functions* just like a traditional infringment) and another that says

the issue of infringement turns on what is technically true about the

facts -- e.g., whether an actual, unlicensed copy was made by the

consistent with most prior cases), and yet "unreasonable" in that either

may result in rulings that have negative consequence for Internet users.

As with many other areas of the law, now probably is just not the time to

Because the law of course does not recognize any distinction between HTML

code making use of Netscape & Microsoft proprietary "frames"

capabilities, and that which does not, it will be very difficult for a

The plaintiffs allege more than simply copyright infringment in the

TotalNews case, also claiming the practice infringes trademarks,

constitutes misappropriation, and trademark dilution. Some of these claims

may have merits, depending upon the facts discovered in this case. EFF

because TotalNews is not providing its own content and is simply pointing

to others' content, is untenable. Under such logic, any directory of

There is of course no guarantee that the court will carry this case very

far, much less fail to fully understand what is at stake and

therefore issue harmful but precedent-setting rulings. The danger is there

EFF calls on the participants in this dispute to please keep the interests

of the public in mind.  In particular, it is the position of EFF that:

legalistic means, of dealing with the problem of linkage of material in

critized and exposed as plagiarists (and possibly trademark infringers

n some cases). Whether there is any copyright issue here that can be

questionable.

manner than lawsuits, e.g. by working with the issuers of draft standards

to ensure that they work better and hamper others' rights as little as

outside linkage by usage of visitor registrations or subscriptions using

login IDs and passwords.

nature are best settled by carefully considered arbitration or bilateral

compromise, in private, rather than in the judicial system, where

Web, and how they operate, in sufficient technical detail that judge and

from whom, to whom.  

EFF recognizes that intentionally plagiaristic abuse of inlining and

frames within web pages is a valid issue of concern. However, this would

not appear to be the modus operandi of TotalNews, which serves as an

ndex of and jumping-off point to online news sources, much the way Yahoo

or HotBot provide links to other sites. The only difference (barring

actual trademark infringement of which we are unaware) would appear to be

technology, and it may be incumbent upon the WWW standards community to

a form of security hole, even if others find it to be a useful feature.

EFF does not presume to offer a magic bullet solution to the problems.

content providers must yield and acknowledge others' right to build

n the middle, perhaps in the creation of a framing/inlining permissions

the rights of all users, is a powerful argument against willy-nilly,

be tested and reviewed in more private, controlled circumstances.

and policy analysts with an eye to ferreting out and fixing legal

cause crises of this sort.

tradmark holders.  Courts cannot do this for us.

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

Subject: Upcoming 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,

or conferences at which government representatives are speaking) are marked

ndicates a non-USA event.  If it's a foreign EFF event with govt. people,

t'll be "*!+" instead of "-".  You get the idea. To let us know about an

event, please send details to Dennis Derryberry, dennis@eff.org, with a

The latest version of the full EFF calendar is available from:

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

See also our new Now-Up-to-Date HTML calendar at:

Mar. 24 ! Deadline for reply comments on FCC inquiry into technological

          hurdles for Net growth

          URL: http://www.fcc.gov/isp.html

Apr. 1 + PARIS, FRANCE - 1st INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL

	 SEMIOTICS; Paper submission deadline; conference to be held May

	 26-27, 1997; send four copies of an abstract (approximately 500

	 words) in english to:

         Irene Ludman - IWCS'97

         Pele Universitaire Leonard de Vinci

         92916 PARIS-LA DEFENSE-CEDEX, FRANCE

         Phone: (33) 01 41 16 73 05

         Fax : (33) 01 41 16 73 35

         Email : irene.ludmann@devinci.fr

         URL: http://www.devinci.fr/home/actua.htm

Apr. 1-

     2 - WASHINGTON, DC - Virtual Diplomacy: The Global Communications

         Revolution And International Conflict Management; Omni Shoreham

         Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington, D.C.; an international

         conference to explore how information and communication

         technologies are affecting the sovereignty of nations and shaping

         global affairs; conference registration ranges from $75 for

         students to $150 for on-site registration;

         URL: http://www.usip.org/virtual_dipl.html

         E-mail: virtual_diplomacy@usip.org

Apr. 1-

     3 *- SAN FRANCISCO - Spring '97 VON Conference: "Telecommunications 

	  and Streaming Media on the Net";  This conference has three

	  major tracks: Net Broadcasting, Regulatory Issues and Internet

	  Telephony; featured speakers include EFF Board Member David

	  Farber and EFF Emeritus Board Member Rob Glaser; 

	  Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, CA

	  URL: http://www.pulver.com/von97

Apr. 7-   BONN, GERMANY - first Annual Conference of the G7 Project "A 

     9 +  Global Marketplace for SMEs"; conference aims to raise the 

	  interest of SMEs in the fast growing market of electronic

	  commerce and stimulate the debate in the industry and 

	  policy-making on electronic commerce. A series of major 

	  announcements, political as well as business related, are already 

	  projected for the event; for more information contact:

	  Ms Sandra Herms

	  D3 Group

	  Oxfordstr. 2

	  53111 Bonn, Germany

	  Tel: +49-228-9853888

	  Fax: +49-228-9853889

	  Email: g7@empirica.de

	  URL: http://www.g7ec.de/

Apr. 8-

     11 - FRACTAL 97: Fractals in the Natural & Applied Sciences 4th 

          International Working Conference; Denver Colorado.  Sponsored by

          IFIP; paper submissions due by Aug. 5, 1996.

          Contact: Miroslav Novak, +44 181 547 2000 (voice), 

                   +44 181 547 7562 or 7419 (fax)

          Email: novak@kingston.ac.uk   

Apr. 9-

     10 - WASHINGTON, DC - Networking '97: Exploring the Continued

	  Evolution of Internet Technology for Research and Education;

	  sponsored by CNI, CRA, Educom, & FARNET; Sheraton City Centre,

	  Washington, DC; registration cut-off date for both the

	  conference and the hotel is March 7; register via the Internet:

	  URL: http://www.educom.edu/web/nttf/net97.html

	  If you would like to register by mail but have not received the

	  brochure or if you need more information, contact Krystal

	  Bullers by email  or call 202-872-4200

Apr. 22-

     24 - CHICAGO, IL - DCI Internet Expo; the world's largest Internet,

          Web and email conference and exposition; comprehensive program

          will cover Web-enabled marketing, best practices for e-commerce

          and application development; San Jose Convention Center; also

          will be held February 18-20 at the San Jose Convention Center;

          email: ExpoReg@dciexpo.com

          URL: http://www.dciexpo.com

June 2-

     4  - American Society for Information Science 1997 Mid-Year Conference;  

          gathering will focus on privacy and security issues online; 

          Scottsdale Arizona; paper submissions due Nov. 1, 1996.

	  Contacts:

		Gregory B. Newby, Co-Chair GSLIS/UIUC

	  	 Tel: (217) 244-7365; Email: gbnewby@uiuc.edu

		Mark H. Needleman, Co chair UCOP

		 Tel: (510) 987-0530; Email: mhn@stubbs.ucop.edu

		Karla Petersen, Panel  Sessions

		 Tel: (312) 508-2657; Email: kpeter1@luc.edu

		Richard Hill, Executive Director, ASIS

		 Tel: (301) 495-0900; Email: rhill@cni.org

	  URL: http://www.asis.org

June 14-

     19 + CALGARY, CANADA

	  ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 97--World Conference on Educational 

	  Multimedia and Hypermedia and World Conference on Educational 

	  Telecommunications are jointly held international conferences, 

	  organized by the Association for the Advancement of Computing 

	  in Education (AACE). These annual conferences serve as multi-

	  disciplinary forums for the discussion and dissemination of 

	  information on the research, development, and applications on all 

	  topics related to multimedia/hypermedia and distance education.  

	  We invite you to attend ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 97 and submit proposals 

	  for papers, panels, roundtables, tutorials, workshops, 

	  demonstrations/posters, and SIG discussions. Proposals may be 

	  submitted in either hard copy (send 5 copies or fax 1 copy) 

	  or in electronic form.  Electronic proposals in the form of 

	  URL addresses or ASCII files (uncoded) are preferred.

	  Submission Deadline: Oct. 25, 1996; Send to:

	  Program Chairs

	  ED-MEDIA 97/AACE

	  P.O. Box 2966

	  Charlottesville, VA 22902, USA

	  E-mail: AACE@virginia.edu; Phone: 804-973-3987; Fax: 804-978-7449

	  URL: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia

June 19-

     20 - WASHINGTON, DC - CyberPayments '97

	  Conference will investigate issues of online commerce including

	  electronic cash and checks, credit cards, encryption systems 

	  and security products; Sheraton Washington Hotel, Washington, DC

	  For more information contact:

	  email: vinceiaboni@msn.com

	  tel: +1 216 464 2618 x228

	       +1 800 529 7375

June 20-

     21 + GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - International Symposium on Technology and 

	  Society 1997 (ISTAS'97): Technology and Society at a Time of 

	  Sweeping Change; University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland

	  ISTAS '97 aims to tackle questions of how advancements in 

	  technology are affecting the social and natural landscape;

	  ISTAS '97 Secretariat

	  Conference Services Department

	  The Institution of Electrical Engineers

	  Savoy Place

	  London WC2R 0BL

	  UK

	  Tel: + 44(0)171 344 5469/8425

	  Fax: +44 (0)171 240 8830

	  E-mail: ISTAS@iee.org.uk

	  URL: http://www.iee.org.uk/LSboard/Conf/call_for/istas97.htm

June 22-

     25 + TORONTO - GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE '97; given the vital role of

          knowledge in economic and social development, and the

          opportunities and challenges posed by new information

          and communication technologies, how can developing countries,

          and particularly the world's poor, access and harness knowledge

          for development, so as to promote empowerment, enable life-long

          learning, and reduce poverty?

          URL: http://www.bvx.ca/ict/gk97.htm

          Conference Secretariat

          The World Bank Economic Development Institute

          1818 H Street, NW, M7-075

          Washington, DC 20433 USA

          Tel: 202-473-6442

          Fax: 202-676-0858

          E-mail: GlobalKnowledge@worldbank.org

          Alain Brousseau

          Phone: (819) 997-6849

          Fax: (819) 953-6356

          E-mail: alain_brousseau@acdi-cida.gc.ca

July 13-

     17 - ACUTA 26th Annual Conference; Atlanta, Georgia.

          Contact: +1 606 278 3338 (voice)

Aug. 24 + NAGOYA, JAPAN - IJCAI-97 Workshop on AI in Digital Libraries: 

	  Moving From Chaos to (More) Order; Nagoya Congress Center, 

	  Nagoya, Japan;

          URL: http://www.dlib.com/people/innes/aiindl/cfp.html

Sep. 7 -

     11 + LANCASTER, UK - ECSCW'97, the Fifth European Conference on 

	  Computer Supported Cooperative Work; deadline for paper 

	  submissions is January 13, 1997; papers must contain an abstract 

	  of not more than 100 words and not exceed 16 pages in length; full 

	  formatting instructions are available from

	  http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/papers/

	  queries: ecscw97-papers@comp.lancs.ac.uk

	  for more information:

	  snail mail: ECSCW'97 Conference Office

		      Computing Department

		      Lancaster University

		      Lancaster  LA1 4YR  UK

	  URL: http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/

	  email: ecscw97@comp.lancs.ac.uk

Sep. 12-

     14   SAN DIEGO - Association of Online Professionals Annual 

	  Conference; sysop trade association's yearly gathering to 

	  discuss issues of relevance to the industry

	  URL: http://www.aop.org/confrnc.html

Sep. 25-

     27 + PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA - RUFIS'97: Role of Universities in the

          Future Information Society; Czech Technical University, Prague,

          Czechoslovakia; to obtain a registration form, please, send an

          empty e-mail message to:

          rufis-call@mail.vc.cvut.cz

          Karel Kveton

          UNESCO International Centre for Scientific Computing

          Czech Technical University - Prague

          Computing Centre

          Zikova 4, 166 35 Prague 6

          Phone: + 42 2 2431 0369, fax: + 42 2 311 7529

          e-mail: kveton@vc.cvut.cz

          URL: http://www.cvut.cz/RUFIS97

Oct. 7-

     10 + BEIJING, CHINA - '97 China Database: Electronic Publications 

	  & Software Exhibition; Beijing International Convention Center

	  Contact: Mr. Cheng Bin and Ms. Hu Yongning

	  Beijing Evertrust Exposition Co. Ltd.

	  15 Fuxing Road, Beijing, China

	  Post code: 100038

	  Tel: +86-10-68514007

	  Fax: +86-10-68537092

	  URL: http: // www.sti.ac. cn/Exhibition/ invi.htm

	  E-mail: expo@istic.sti.ac.cn

Oct. 28-

     31 - EDUCOM '97; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

          Contact: +1 202 872 4200 (voice)

          Email: conf@educom.edu

Dec. 1  - Computer Security Day (started by Washington DC chapter of the

          Assoc. for Computing Machinery, to "draw attention to computer

          security during the holdiay season when it might otherwise become

          lax."   

----

July 12-

     16 - ACUTA 27th Annual Conference; San Diego, California.

          Contact: +1 606 278 3338 (voice)

Oct. 13-

     16 - EDUCOM '98; Orlando, Florida.

          Contact: +1 202 872 4200 (voice)

          Email: conf@educom.edu

Dec. 1  - Computer Security Day (started by Washington DC chapter of the

          Assoc. for Computing Machinery, to "draw attention to computer

          security during the holdiay season when it might otherwise become

          lax."   

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

Subject: Quote of the Day

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

"All bad precedents begin with justifiable measures."

  - Julius Caesar

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

the rush to make us secure from ourselves that our government 

Concerned that legislative efforts nominally to "protect children" will 

actually censor all communications down to only content suitable for 

the playground?  Alarmed by commercial and religious organizations abusing

the judicial and legislative processes to stifle satire, dissent and 

criticism?

Join EFF!   

Even if you don't live in the U.S., the anti-Internet hysteria will soon 

be visiting a legislative body near you.  If it hasn't already.

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

Subject: What YOU Can Do

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

* Keep an eye on your local legislature/parliament!

All kinds of wacky censorious legislation is turning up at the US state 

and non-US national levels.  Don't let it sneak by you - or by the 

online activism community. Without locals on the look out, it's very 

* Inform your corporate government affairs person or staff counsel

f you have one. Keep them up to speed on developments you learn of,

and let your company's management know if you spot an issue that warrants

your company's involvement.

* 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.

try contacting your local League of Women Voters, who maintain a great 

that matches Zip Codes to Congressional districts with about 85%

accuracy at:

Computer Currents Interactive has provided Congress contact info, sorted 

by who voted for and against the Communications Decency Act:

fortunately, been voted out of office.)

We are not presently aware of servers that provide contact info for non-US

legislators.

* 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 is published by:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation

San Francisco CA 94103 USA

+1 415 436 9333 (voice)

+1 415 436 9993 (fax)

Membership & donations: membership@eff.org

Legal services: ssteele@eff.org

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

Editor: Stanton McCandlish, Program Director/Webmaster (mech@eff.org)

This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons.

Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged.  Signed

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ually at will.

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

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

End of EFFector Online v10 #04 Digest

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$$