Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 18:07:54 -0700 From: Jim Warren Subject: GovAccess.078: NY legis, debates?, MN e-demo, b'caster gagged, religion NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY INTERNET ADDRESS ALLEGED; SENATE SOON TO FOLLOW I'm told that the New York Legislature's lower house now has an Internet server, and that their Senate will have one shortly. No word yet as to whether either is yet operational, nor if the world can reach 'em. But it's alleged that they are taking Inet access very seriously and hot in pursuit of comin' online. For more information, contact yer legis-creature. And send authorative details to me for blabbering to the world herevia. --jim ------------------------------ I DON'T KNOW OF ANY DEBATE SCHEDULES ... DO YOU? >From bhami@ix.netcom.com Thu Oct 13 23:01:51 1994 A constant annoyance every election season is the inability to find schedules of campaign debates, short of spending an hour a day scanning newspapers (time I don't have). Do you know of any BBS's, Web sites, gophers, listservs, etc., that might have such information? I missed the Feinstein/Huffington "debate" on Larry King Live. :-( --Bruce (Bruce Hamilton, Gardena, CA) bhami@netcom.com (preferred) 70700.2225@compuserve.com BHamilton.LAX1B@Xerox.com --day 310-333-3538 --day [You don't really think that most members of the free press are going to go out of their way to encourage you to watch some competitor's channel do you? All the more reason why we need for the online nets to remain economically viable for *anyone* to report/publicize anything, and for all users to be able to afford to receive what they wish - even if telco and cable corps and media monopolists aren't reaping massive profits from it. --jim] ------------------------------ MINNESOTA E-DEMOCRACY 1994 - CAMPAIGN AND ELECTION INFORMATION From: "Steven L. Clift" Sun Oct 16 15:26:20 1994 [An outstanding model of some of the possibilities. What are you or others doing in *your* state? --jim] The Minnesota E-Democracy project invites you to explore our updated campaign and election information server on the Internet and to join our interactive election and public policy electronic mail forum. This citizen organized project has combined the an interactive forum with retrievable election information. This combination has been key to its success. It has built a foundation electronic citizen participation and discussion of important issues. The new Twin Cities Free-Net is the host of the Internet server and the Minnesota Regional Network (MRNet) has donated the e-list facilities. The project has collected position papers from candidates for Governor and U.S. Senate, the voter registration and constitutional amendment information from the Secretary of State, candidate profiles from the Star-Tribune newspaper, and many other election oriented documents in electronic form. In near future we will be adding the text of the voter guide produced by the Minnesota League of Women's Voters. This on-line effort was launched only a few weeks before the September primary election and is one of only a handful multi-candidate, state-level projects of it kind. The E-Democracy Internet server is filled with content and the Minnesota Politics and Public Policy E-mail Forum (MN-POLITICS) has around 300 subscribers - close to three times more than any other state-based public affairs electronic mail list. The forum is also archived on the server, so you need not subscribe to the list to follow the interesting debate. Project volunteers are now working to hold the first e-mail debate between candidates for the U.S. Senate and Governor in Minnesota. If it can be pulled off, it will probably be the first on-line e-debate between campaigns at that level. At a minimum side-by-side issue papers will be presented on a some key topics over the course of a few days for each race. If the information below does not answer your questions about reaching the server, subscribing to the e-mail forum, or about the effort in general, please feel free to contact us at our e-mail address. The volunteers working on the debate are looking for question suggestions for the e-debate, so send them in! We look forward to your participation. Steven Clift, Project Coordinator, Minnesota E-Democracy 1994 E-Democracy@Free-Net.Mpls-StPaul.MN.US <- E-mail P.S. ... Please forward this posting to others who might be interested. --- To reach the Minnesota E-Democracy Internet Server World-Wide-Web: http://free-net.mpls-stpaul.mn.us:8000/govt/e-democracy/ Gopher: free-net.mpls-stpaul.mn.us, port 8001 Twin Cities Free-Net Main Menu/ (through these folders) The Government Center/ The Minnesota E-Democracy Project/ *The server is also listed on the "Mother" Gopher at the University of Minnesota (gopher.tc.umn.edu) via the following path: /Other Gopher and Information Servers/North America/USA/Minnesota/ Telnet: free-net.mpls-stpaul.mn.us - Login: guest - No password necessary. 20 minute time limit. VT100 terminal emulation advised. E-mail Send the following e-mail message to Retrieval: "Majordomo@Free-Net.Mpls-StPaul.MN.US" with the following text (case-sensitive) in the message body: info E-Democracy Excerpts from the E-Democracy WWW Home Page: The purpose of this non-partisan, volunteer effort is to provide public access to campaign information in electronic form and to help create an electronic public space for voters to discuss the election issues that they feel are important. This server is sponsored by the Twin Cities Free-Net. Contents: Project Description Text Submission and Volunteer Information Election and Voter Registration Information Voter Guides and Other Information Campaign Releases by Candidate Search Text of Campaign and Election Information [via WWW and Telnet only] Minnesota Politics and Public Policy E-Mail Forum and Archive Links to Other Election Servers and Related Information --- Minnesota Politics and Public Policy Electronic-Mail Forum Facilities provided by the Minnesota Regional Network MN-POLITICS@MR.NET MN-POLITICS is an unmoderated Internet electronic-mail list for the sharing of information on and discussion of Minnesota politics and public policy. Members of this forum are encouraged to contribute campaign and election information, announcements from Minnesota-focused political and civic organizations, public policy and legislative information, and presentations on issues of public interest. The list encourages discussion from diverse political perspectives that is respectful in nature. This forum is more about the presentation of ideas and information than being right with one's ideology. As the membership broadens,the forum will seek to contain informational postings that represent the diverse political scene in Minnesota. E-mail users with Internet access can SUBSCRIBE by sending the following command to: Majordomo@MR.NET In the text portion write*: subscribe mn-politics *WARNING: Do NOT write anything after "mn-politics". Majordomo does accept the inclusion of any text after the list name. If text is included (like your name) we will not be able to notify you of this error. List Manager: Mick Souder Note: As of 10/13/94 the e-list has around 300 subscribers and averages about six postings a day. This number should increase as the election approaches. The list is archived on the E-Democracy server and is searchable by keyword. The e-list was established to live on beyond the election and as a public affairs forum focusing on Minnesota issues. ------------------------------ Information Infrastructure ... but not for little folks or "radical" views? DUNIFER SAYS FCC SEEKS INJUNCTION TO GAG MICRO-POWER BROADCASTER From: mech@eff.org Sun Oct 16 05:18:20 1994 From: Stephen Dunifer To: action@eff.org (action mailing list) On Tuesday, October 10 attorneys for Stephen Dunifer and Free Radio Berkeley received notice, 80 pages worth, of the FCC's intention to seek an injunction which would bar further broadcasts by Free Radio Berkeley. Stephen Dunifer is named as the responsible party. Free Radio Berkeley is part of a rapidly growing movement which uses inexpensive and low power radio transmitters (1/2 watt to 30 watts) to reach local communities. Called micro power broadcasting, this movement sees simple, easy to use transmitters as the leaflet of the 90's. In an era of multinational controlled mass media, micro power broadcasting is the voice of the community; the voice of the people. For four years the government has been trying to squelch this movement with escalating (but uncollected) fines. Clearly, it sees broadcasting which anyone can do as a threat to centralized control of information, ideas and culture. Intimidation having failed, the FCC is abandoning its own procedures and turning to the weight of the Federal Courts to squelch this new and democratic media. It won't happen. Last July the FCC served a notice of apparent liability on Stephen Dunifer in the amount of $20,000 for alleged illegal broadcasts. This case has been pending before an FCC administrative panel for over a year. In July 1994, a Federal Appeals Court in the District of Columbia ruled that the FCC's current fine structure was invalid. This action, at the very least, places the FCC fine process into a state of limbo until new hearings are held. Perhaps this explains why the FCC has taken this mode of attack. Luke Hiken, attorney for Stephen Dunifer, stated, "This is a totally unprecedented move on the part of the FCC. It appears they have side-stepped their own authority regarding micro radio broadcasting. Instead, they have chosen to bring down the full weight of the Federal Court System on an ever expanding community of broadcasters who are challenging the FCC's ban on micro power broadcasting.". (continued) "They can kiss my Bill of Rights" was Stephen Dunifer's response, who went on further to say, "Neither myself nor the movement to liberate and reclaim the airwaves from corporate control will be deterred one bit by the FCC's latest action. It is a matter of free speech and human rights. No where in their prodigious legal tome does any aggrieved party come forth, other than the FCC, to assert damage or harm. FCC, in my opinion, stands for fostering corporate control. Free Radio Berkeley has been on vacation for the last few months in order to allow time to put together new equipment. Broadcasts will resume shortly at a new frequency, 104.1 FM, and continue until the date of the first court hearing. If an injunction is granted, there are many others taking up the banner of Free Radio Berkeley. We shall not be moved nor stymied by a justice system which means, in reality, just us corporations." Another member of the legal defense team, Allen Hopper, put it this way, "It is utterly amazing that the FCC would seek a TRO, which is only sought for emergency situations where the threat of immediate and irreparable harm requires the intervention of the Court. The fact that the FCC has had this case pending before its own administrative panel for over a year contradicts any notion of emergency or injury. Further, their actions clearly demonstrate the fear they hold for the kind of public dialogue which takes place over micro power radio." Luke Hiken and the National Lawyers Guild Committee on Democratic Communications are committed to defending the rights of micro broadcasters under the US Constitution and principles of international law. At this moment, a hearing on this matter is scheduled to take place on December 2 in Federal District Court in Oakland starting at 10:30 AM. A Free Speech Solidarity Support Rally will be held outside the Oakland Federal Building prior to the hearing. On the following evening (Saturday, December 3) a public forum flying the banner of - Seizing the Space, Media and Communications Free Speech Activism - will be held in Berkeley at the Unitarian Fellowship (Cedar & Bonita). Starting time will be 8 PM. Simultaneous forums on this topic will be taking place in a number of other cities around the US, and perhaps internationally as well, on this date. Contact: Stephen Dunifer, Free Radio Berkeley - (510) 644-3779, 464-3041 Luke Hiken, Attorney At Law, NLGCDC - (415) 705-6460 ------------------------------ RELIGION AND THE LAW >From owner-new-list@VM1.NODAK.EDU Sat Oct 15 22:38:04 1994 From: Eugene Volokh Organization: UCLA School of Law Subject: NEW: ReligionLaw - Religion and the Law - mostly for law profs ReligionLaw on listserv@grizzly.ucla.edu A list for discussion of religion and the law -- free exercise, Establishment Clause, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, equal protection, religious discrimination and religious harassment under Title VII, and so on. Primarily aimed at law professors, and lawyers with a good grounding in the relevant legal doctrine. The discussion tends to be technical, and to assume a good deal of background knowledge. To subscribe, send a message to listserv@grizzly.ucla.edu with the following in the BODY of the message: subscribe religionlaw yourfirstname yourlastname Note: The server software appears to be ListProc rather than LISTSERV. Owner: Eugene Volokh volokh@law.ucla.edu ------------------------------ Activism is the killer app for the net. -- Steven Cherry Mo' as it Is. --jim GovAccess is an email distribution-list of irregular postings, maintained by Jim Warren, columnist for MicroTimes, Government Technology, BoardWatch, etc. 345 Swett Rd., Woodside CA 94062; voice/415-851-7075; fax/<# upon request> jwarren@well.com -or- jwarren@autodesk.com >> Permission herewith granted for unlimited reposting and recirculation.<< >> Past postings are at ftp.cpsr.org:/cpsr/states/california/govaccess << >> To add or drop the GovAccess list, email to jwarren@well.com . <<