IP: Joint ACLU/EFF Statement on Today's CDA II Mark-up

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10:00 AM, Thursday, September 17, 1998


In the Wake of the Starr Report, CDA II Marked Up in the House
Civil Liberties Groups Call Development Dangerous, if not Hypocritical


Contacts:
  Barry Steinhardt, President, EFF, Tel 203 981 3025,
    E-mail <barrys () eff org>
  Phil Gutis, Director of Legislative Communications, ACLU,
    Tel 202 675 2312, E-mail <philg () aclu org>
  Alex Fowler, Director of Public Affairs, EFF, Tel 415 436 9333,
    E-mail <afowler () eff org>


WASHINGTON -- In the wake of the controversial publication of the Starr
report on the Internet, a House subcommittee met this morning to consider
new restrictions on publishing content deemed "harmful to minors" on the
Internet.


The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation
warned that the bill -- which opponents have dubbed CDA II -- would block
adults from accessing a wide variety of legitimate online material.  The
groups also said that the legislation, the so-called Child Online
Protection Act (H.R. 3783), includes many of the same constitutional
defects as the earlier Communications Decency Act that was unanimously
struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last year in Reno v. ACLU.


In the name of protecting young users of the Internet, CDA II would
establish a wide-ranging ban on Web posting of material deemed "harmful to
minors."  The Senate approved a similar bill as an amendment to an
appropriations bill this summer; today's vote by the Telecommunications,
Trade, and Consumer Protection subcommittee of the Commerce Committee marks
the first House consideration.


"CDA II is a Trojan horse," said EFF President Barry Steinhardt.  "At first
glance, it appears relatively benign with its sponsor's claim that it only
applies to commercial pornographers who market their sites to minors, but
when you look beneath that outside veneer, you quickly discover that it
applies to any Web site that has a commercial component and material that
some community could consider 'harmful to minors.'"


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


Ron Weich, a legislative consultant on cyberliberties issues for the ACLU's
Washington National Office, added that "if CDA II had been the law last
week, even news sites that published the Starr report and that carry
advertising or charge for access would have been open to criminal
prosecution."


"Lawmakers," Weich added, "continue to ignore the technological realities
and constitutional problems with these bills.  Congress continues to treat
the topic of Internet censorship as a free political ride with little
thought for the taxpayers who will ultimately pay the price when the courts
strike them down."


Both ACLU and EFF were co-signers of last week's joint statement submitted
by the Internet Free Expression Alliance, which urged members of the House
to consider alternative, educational approaches to regulating content on
the Internet.


In addition, the ACLU and EFF, together with the Electronic Privacy
Information Center, are co-sponsors of the Blue Ribbon Campaign for Online
Freedom of Expression (http://www.eff.org/blueribbon).  The Campaign
provides netizens a Web-to-Fax gateway so that they too can combat
legislative attempts to regulate content on the Internet.


                                    #####


For more information, visit the following Web sites:


The Internet Free Expression Alliance's September 11, 1998 Statement:
     http://www.ifea.net/joint_statement_9_98.html


American Civil Liberties Union:
     http://www.aclu.org


Electronic Frontier Foundation:
     http://www.eff.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>


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