IP: ACLU/EFF/EPIC: Congress Just a Step Away from Censoring the Net

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 12:26:04 -0700
To: eff-all () eff org
From: Alexander Fowler <afowler () eff org>
Subject: ACLU/EFF/EPIC: Congress Just a Step Away from Censoring the Net

This is the final press release that went out today re: the latest
developments in Congress with the Coats and Oxley Internet censorship
bills.  Please forward to other lists or reporters.

Alex


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- Wednesday, October 7, 1998

Congress Just a Step Away from Censoring the Net:
Civil Liberties Groups Agree that Legislation is Unconstitutional

WASHINGTON -- Both the Senate and House of Representatives are voting on
legislation today that will restrict publishing of content deemed "harmful
to minors" on the Internet.  The American Civil Liberties Union, the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Electronic Privacy Information
Center warned that both measures -- dubbed CDA II -- are unconstitutional
and would inhibit adults from communicating a wide variety of legitimate
online material.

The Senate passed for the second time one of the censorship bills, which in
both cases was offered as amendments to another piece of legislation by
Senator Dan Coats (R-IN).  His amendment passed the Senate this morning by
a vote of 98 - 1 as part of the Internet Tax Freedom Act.  The House will
vote on a different censorship bill, which was introduced by Representative
Mike Oxley (R-OH), later today.  The Oxley bill would impose criminal
penalties for violating a wide-ranging ban on "commercial" Web posting of
material any community deems "harmful to minors."

Passage of these measures brings Internet censorship one step closer to
becoming law this year.  If the House passes the Oxley bill, the only
hurdle remaining for lawmakers will be to reconcile the legislation passed
by the Senate with the Oxley bill.

"Both versions of CDA II are Trojan horses," said EFF President Barry
Steinhardt.  "At first glance, they appear relatively benign in that they
are supposedly limited to commercial pornographers who market their sites
to minors, but when you look beneath that veneer, you quickly discover that
they apply to any Web site that has a commercial component and material
that some community could consider 'harmful to minors.'"

Ronald Weich, a legislative consultant on cyberliberties issues for the
ACLU's Washington National Office said, "it is ironic that Congress would
declare the Internet a tax-free zone, but at the same time try to censor
speech on the Net."

"Congress should leave the Internet alone.  It is the most free and open
form of communication ever invented, and should not be stifled by
heavy-handed federal regulation. Inevitably, this legislation will leave
parents with no more tools to protect their children than those they
already have," Weich said.

David Sobel, EPIC's General Counsel, noted that legislation restricting
free expression on the Internet will ultimately prove to be an ineffective
means of protecting children.  "Congress can pass a hundred laws, but
material will always be available on the Internet that some will find
objectionable.  It's time for Congress to stop grandstanding on this issue
and commit some real resources to teaching our kids how to make responsible
use of this powerful medium," said Sobel.

"The fact that the Starr report on President Clinton was blocked by most
filtering programs and that several Internet service providers ordered
their users to take down mirror sites of the report shows that this public
document would not pass the legislation's 'harmful to minors' test,"
Steinhardt added.

The ACLU, EFF, and EPIC agree that the censorship bills, in both of its
present incarnations, suffer from many of the same constitutional defects
as the earlier Communications Decency Act, which was unanimously struck
down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year in Reno v. ACLU.  The civil
liberties groups are instructing concerned net users not to give up the
fight, yet, and urge President Clinton to veto CDA II.  More information
can be found on the ACLU's Freedom Network at
<http://www.aclu.org/congress/congress.html>, on the EFF's Blue Ribbon
Campaign page at <http://www.eff.org/br> or at EPIC's Free Speech Action
page <http://www.epic.org/free_speech/action/>.

CONTACTS

Jennifer Helburn, ACLU Media Relations,
     Tel 202 675 2312, E-mail <jhelburn () aclu org>

Alex Fowler, Director of Public Affairs, EFF,
     Tel 415 436 9333, E-mail <afowler () eff org>

David Sobel, EPIC General Counsel
     Tel 202 544 9240, E-mail <sobel () epic org>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Alexander Fowler
  Director of Public Affairs
  Electronic Frontier Foundation

  E-mail: afowler () eff org
  Tel: 415 436 9333; Fax 415 436 9993

  You can find EFF on the Web at <http://www.eff.org>

  EFF supports the Global Internet Liberty Campaign
  <http://www.gilc.org>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~