Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 21:17:00 -0700 From: Jim Warren Subject: GovAccess.072: $500M for wire-taps, fees, NII plans, Powell, Playboy $500,000,000.00 ALLOCATED TO MAKE UNITED STATES TELECOMM "WIRETAP READY" Appropriately in the dark of the night, Congress passed HR 4922, the national wiretap bill, about 9:30 pm on Oct. 7th. Half a billion tax dollars was authorized to begin making your, and my, and every previously- presumed-innocent citizen and business in Amerika undetectably wire-tappable by a remote keystoke, by whichever incumbent politicians and bureaucrats are willing to use their control of the system. Bill language implies that telecomm rate-payers will get to pay for the rest of the work to make their phones trivially tapable. Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover never had it so good. And poor ol' LBJ had to use his control of the IRS to harass his political opponents. They must surely be envious from their graves. George Orwell was wrong -- but only by ten years. I URGE YOU -- fetch a copy of the *actual legislation* and READ ITS ACTUAL MANDATES. Do *NOT* depend on others' interpretations of it, including mine. >From ftp.eff.org , fetch /pub/EFF/Policy/Digital_Telephony/digtel94.bill . It has been updated to the text of the final version, passed by Congress. --jim ------------------------------ PRECURSOR TO UNITED STATES ACCESS FEES? From: farber@central.cis.upenn.edu (David Farber) Subject: Australia -- interesting test case BILLING BY THE BYTE Internet users in Australia face a new system of charges in January that could cost them as much as $1.50 (U.S.) for every megabyte of information they send or receive. Currently, faculty members pay nothing, and universities pay a fixed annual fee based on the operating grant they receive from the federal government. Details are still being worked out, but AARNET says the change is necessary to upgrade the network: "The increase in capacity is in response to the apparently insatiable demand for Internet access in Australia..." says AARNET's general manager. (Chronicle of Higher Education 10/3/94 A23) ------------------------------ HEADS UP! NATIONAL INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE & KNOWLEDGE MONOPOLY PROPOSALS Thu, 6 Oct 1994 23:33:31 -0400 From: Stanton McCandlish There's been a flurry of document-releasing recently at the Information Infrastructure Task Force, the National Performance Review, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and the Patent & Trademark Office. EFF is archiving many of the more important documents, including several time-sensitive notices of inquiry, annoucements of conferences, and requests for comments, all of which YOU can participate in. How much of this is hype and how much of this deserves serious attention is a good question, but one might wish to keep in mind that the more agencies talk about regulating NII issues at the same time they are talking about the NII being more like (or just plain being) the Internet, the closer they are to talking about regulating the Internet outright. Speak up now or forever hold thy peace. There are several Requests for Comment included in here, and you owe it to yourself to submit clear and direct comments letting regulators know what you think needs to be done or not done. Available from: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/Policy/OP/ gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF/Policy/OP http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Policy/OP/ [NOTE: Due to large number of IITF docs, IITF material maybe moved to a Gov_docs subdirectory of .../OP - if you find that the files aren't there, just append Gov_docs to the paths above. This move is not imminent, but probably eventual.] cat_iitf.charter - Charter of the IITF Committee on Applications and Tech. fed_med_edu_agri_nii_funding.notices - pile of Federal govt. funding mechan- ism and grant notices re: agricultur- al telecom, telemedicine, and distance learning. gii_iitf.note - Short IITF document on the Global Information Infrastructure. Maybe some less parochial memes are catching on? hiawg_iitf.charter - Charter of the IITF Health Information and Applications Working Group iitf.faq - factsheet on IITF, what it is, and what it does. iitf_0912.report - monthly IITF Committee Report for Sept. 1994 iitf_goals_nii.paper - Selection of IITF papers, "The Information Infrastruc- ture: Reaching Society's Goals". nii_access_051394_ntia_cpuc_hearing.summary - Summary of NTIA and Calif. Pub. Utility Commission hearing on open access and the NII nii_access_051394_ntia_cpuc_hearing.transcript - transcript of above hearing nii_prinicples_progress.report - Clinton Administration "NII Progress Report" and "NII Principles and Actions: A Checklist of Progress" report, 93-94. See also WWW version at: gopher://www.arpa.mil:80/0/NII_Report_94.html nist_nii_framework.report - NIST report, "Framework for NII Services". See http://www.eff.org/papers/otherpapers.html for WWW version with graphics. npr_it_082294.report - NPR report, "Reengineering Through Information Technology" ntia_iitf_nii_94_hearings.report - NTIA/IITF summary of 1994 hearings on NII, open access and universal service. Subtitled "America Speaks Out", natch. ntia_iitf_uniserv_conf.announce - Announcement of NTIA/IITF virtual conference on universal service and the NII. * TIME SENSITIVE - DEADLINE: OCT. 14, 1994 * ntia_uniserv_access.noi - NTIA Notice of Inquiry on NII universal service & open access issues. * TIME SENSITIVE - DEADLINE: DEC. 14, 1994 omb_gils.notice - OMB bulletin on establishment of a Government Information Locator Service (GILS) pto_iitf_nii_security.rfc - Request for Comments and Notice of Hearing (PTO and IITF) on Commercial Security in the NII. * TIME SENSITIVE - DEADLINE: OCT. 13, 1994 * pto_intprop_extension.rfc - Extenstion to deadline for comments submitted in response to PTO's Request for Comments on draft report on the NII and Intellectual Property Rights. * TIME SENSITIVE - DEADLINE: OCT. 21, 1994 * putting_ii_to_work_iitf.report - IITF report: "Putting Information Infrastructure to Work" putting_ii_to_work_iitf.comments - public comments from a variety of individuals and organizations on the above report s1822_doc_irving_092094.testimony - Dept. of Commerce Asst. Secy. Larry Irving's Sept. 20 1994 US Senate testimony before the Antitrust, Monopolies and Bus- iness Rights Subcommittee of the Judiciary on S. 1822, the would-be Communications Act of 1994 (Senate companion to the Markey bill, HR. 3636, which implemented most of EFF's Open Platform NII provisions) satel_gii_doc_irving_hr_072894.testimony - Dept. of Commerce's Larry Irving testimony to House of Rep. on satellite-based technologies and the GII tpwg_cat_iitf.charter - Charter of the Technology Policy Working Group of the Committee on Applications and Technology of IITF -- Stanton McCandlish
mech@eff.org

Electronic Frontier Fndtn.

Online Activist ------------------------------ "THEY MADE ME DO IT!" Hmmm. The Playboy Foundation would like to have this circulated on the nets, but they're not online (at least, their p.r. dept isn't). I agreed to do it, though I would *much* prefer that anyone other than me do it -- considering the topic. --jim ===re=== PLAYBOY FOUNDATION 680 North Lake Shore Drive Chicago, Illinois 60611 (312) 751-8000 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 14, 1994 Contact: Carilyn Engel, (312) 751-8000 Ext. 2657 Kristine Hung, (312) 751-8000 Ext. 2658 COMPUTER COLUMNIST AND OPEN-GOVERNMENT ACTIVIST JIM WARREN TO RECEIVE 1994 HUGH M. HEFNER FIRST AMENDMENT AWARD Computer columnist and open-government activist Jim Warren has been selected to receive the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award in the category of Government, the Playboy Foundation announced today. Warren is honored for being one of the leaders in effectively using online advocacy and network-assisted citizen action. Warren organized and led a successful grass roots campaign to implement a plan for a low-cost computerized public information system, bringing access to state government records to citizens throughout California. In March, 1993, California Assemblywoman Debra Bowen introduced a bill that required that virtually all of the state's public legislative information be made available to tbe public by computer modem. Intrigued by the bill, Warren called Bowen and was told tliat the bill was virtitally dead because it would cost millions of dollars to implement and there was very little public support. Convinced that there was an almost free way of implementing it using the Internet, the largest, nonprofit, nonproprietary, cooperative public computer network in the world, Warren single-handedly launched a crusade to ensure the bill's passage. Warren went online broadcasting the details of the bill and issued calls for citizen support and action alerts. Tbe result of his grass roots electronic campaign was immediate and impressive. What had ben a "dead" bill passed four committee votes and three floor votes without a single opposing vote. In October 1993, Califomia Governor Pete Wilson signed the bill into law, making California the first state in the nation to provide online access via the Internet to extensive details of all state legislation in progress. Warren's efforts to open up state government marks the first time online advocacy and network assisted citizen action was instrumental in the passage of state legislation. A leading figure in computer-assisted public access, Warren founded the online newsletter, GovAccess, through which he has campaigned vigorously and effectively to open government to public view. He has long used his columns in MicroTimes, Government Technology and BoardWatch magazines to rally support for overdue reforms in government information procedures, and was the 1991 founder and chair of the First Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy. He is now campaigning to make similarly accessible, records such as the economic interest statements of state officials, lobbyists' disclosure forms, campaign finance reports and state information that is already computerized and to which the public has a theoretical right of access under the California Public Records Act. He is also encouraging local communities to develop civic networks, providing 24-hour online access to city and county government. Along with Warren, other 1994 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award winners include: media critics Jeff Cohen and Normon Solomon, for cowriting Adventures in Medialand: Behind the News, Beyond the Pundits, a collection of collection of commentaries on media issues; attorney Anthony Griffin, for his moral courage in defending the right of the Klu Klux Klan to keep its membership lists private; The Oregonian editorial page editor Robert Landauer, for producing a series of editorials aimed at overturning Measure 9, the anti-gay constitutional amendment in Oregon; drama teacher Carole Marlowe, for staging a dramatic reading of the play the play, The Shadowbox that provided a far greater opportunity for the community to discuss censorship, the First Amendment and artistic freedom; and First Amendment Congress founder Jean Otto, for devoloping the Education for Freedom curriculum for teaching the First Amendment in public schools. These winners, who will be honored at an awards luncheon ceremony on November 16, 1994 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, were selected by an independent panel of judges, including Carl Jensen, professor of communication studies at Sonoma State University, founding director of Project Censored and a 1992 recipient of a Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award; Jessica Mitford, social change activist and author of The American Way of Death; and Rex Armstrong, attorney, volunteer counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and 1988 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award winner. Established in 1979 by the Playboy Foundation, the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards programn honors individuals who have made significant contributions to defend First Amendment rights for Americans. Eligibility is not restricted by profession, but nominees traditionally have come from the areas of print and broadcast jourtialism, education, publishing, law, govenment and arts and entertainment. === They didn't mention it, but the awards are also accompanied by $5,000 checks! Plus travel expenses and W'astoria accomodations. Wow, neato, groovey! :-) ------------------------------ COLIN POWELL DISCUSSION LIST >From owner-new-list@VM1.NODAK.EDU Wed Oct 5 13:17:03 1994 Sender: NEW-LIST - New List Announcements Subject: NEW: Powell - Colin Powell Discussion List POWELL on LISTSERV@GITVM1 or LISTSERV@GITVM1.GATECH.EDU POWELL is a discussion list on Colin Powell. Any aspect or points of view are welcome. To subscribe send the following command to LISTSERV@GITVM1 or LISTSERV@GITVM1.GATECH.EDU sub powell yourfirstname yourlastname Example: sub powell Jason Slack Owner: Jason Slack jslack2@onondaga or jslack2@ocmvm.cnyric.org ------------------------------ "Lead, follow, or get out of the way!" - popular Silicon Valley motto 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 . <<