Rally at CMU

[David J. Farber <A5103643626 () attpls net>]

ATTACHMENT: 


CMU STUDENTS ORGANIZE "FREEDOM IN CYBERSPACE" RALLY
 
For more information, contact:


Donna Riley, (412) 268-5605, (412) 422-4305
Karen Fabrizius, (412) 268-6420
Declan McCullagh, (412) 268-6047


November 8, 1994 -- Carnegie Mellon University students have organized
a
Freedom in Cyberspace rally at noon on Wednesday, November 9 on the
front steps of the Warner Hall administration building to show support
for free access to Internet information. Speakers from the Electronic
Frontier Foundation and ACLU will attend.
    The rally is in response to the university's November 3 decision to
censor Internet discussion groups with graphical and textual
sex-related
information, starting today. Yesterday the university responded to
concerns from the campus community by deciding to retain some text
groups pending legal review. As of this writing, the school's legal
counsel recommended removing text groups and the university president
has not made a decision.
    "The rally will show the administration how much we care about the
issue. We want to provide a forum for dialogue between the
administration and students. We want to press for continued freedom in
cyberspace," said Donna Riley, a graduate student in the Engineering
and
Public Policy department.
    Student Body President Declan McCullagh said students are upset
over
the university's decision to censor discussion groups with sexual
content, especially the text newsgroups. "There's no reason to remove
the groups. They're protected by the university's statement ensuring
academic freedom. Students use the text groups for legitimate
educational discussions about topics like sexual abstinence, safe sex,
and how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. There's often no other
place for students to get this information," he said.
    "Carnegie Mellon always has been a leader in cyberspace. To remain
a
leader, we need to continue to respect academic freedom," said
McCullagh.
    Mike Godwin, staff counsel for the Washington, DC-based Electronic
Frontier Foundation, will give the keynote address at the rally. Godwin
writes for Wired and Internet World and writes about freedom of speech
on the Internet.
    Pittsburgh ACLU executive director Vic Walczk, who will speak at
the
rally, said that Carnegie Mellon should not ban any electronic
discussion groups. "For well-established reasons of free speech, this
type of censorship is not only wrong, but very dangerous. The Internet
is analogous to a library, and libraries are protected from obscenity
prosecutions under Pennsylvania law."
    University President Robert Mehrabian and Marvin Sirbu, chairman of
Carnegie Mellon's Information Networking Institute, have been invited
to
speak at the rally.