-------------------------------------- Date: 2/23/95 12:32 PM From: ACLU Information **ACLU CYBER-LIBERTIES ALERT** FIGHT ONLINE CENSORSHIP! AXE THE EXON BILL! The American Civil Liberties Union urges you to contact the members of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and your own Senators to ask them to oppose the efforts to turn online communications into the most heavily censored form of American media. In a clumsy effort to purge sexual expression from the Internet and other online networks, the self-described "Communications Decency Act of 1995" (S.314, introduced by Senator Exon on 2/2/95) would make ALL telecommunications service providers liable for every message, file, or other content carried on their networks. Senator Exon is planning to attach the bill to Senator Pressler's new telecommunications legislation, which is targeted for action in early March. The Exon proposal would severely restrict the flow of online information by requiring service providers to act as private censors of e-mail messages, public forums, mailing lists, and archives to avoid criminal liability. The ACLU believes that online users should be the only censors of the content of the information they receive. **The Exon proposal broadens existing law by subjecting service providers, as well as the individuals who actually send messages, to criminal liability for any "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent" message transmitted over their networks.** If enacted into law, this vague and overly broad legislation could have the following draconian effects: * The Exon proposal would prohibit communications with sexual content through private e-mail between consenting adults, and would inhibit people from making comments that might or might not be prohibited. * Under the Exon proposal, service providers would pay up to $100,000 or spend up to 2 years in jail for prohibited content produced by subscribers on other networks, over which they had no control. * The Exon proposal would expand current restrictions on telephone access by minors to dial-a-porn services to include online access to indecent material, requiring service providers to purge "indecent" material from public bulletin boards and discussion groups to avoid accidental viewing by a minor. In effect, online providers would be forced to offer to adults only that content that is "suitable for minors." S. 314 is nearly identical to an amendment Senator Exon successfully attached to last year's Senate version of the telecommunications law overhaul. Last year's bill died for unrelated reasons, but the Senate Commerce Committee is determined to pass new telecommunications legislation this year that could easily include the Exon proposal. The ACLU opposes the restrictions on speech imposed by this legislation because they violate the First Amendment's guarantee of free expression. Forcing carriers to pre-screen content violates the Constitution and threatens the free and robust expression that is the promise of the Net. The Constitution requires that any abridgement of speech use the least restrictive means available -- the language of the Exon proposal is clearly the most restrictive because it sweeps broadly against a wide array of protected material involving sexual expression. Stop the information superhighway from becoming the most censored segment of communications media! ACT NOW: Urge members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: *To oppose the Exon proposal, or any Senate or House variation. *To drop the Exon proposal BEFORE it goes to the Senate floor. *To hold full hearings on the Exon proposal and to review it thoroughly before it goes to the Senate floor. *To reject any effort to attach the Exon proposal to the Senate telecommunications legislation. THE EXON PROPOSAL COULD BE LAW WITHIN WEEKS IF WE DON'T ACT TODAY. Send your letter by e-mail, fax, or snail mail to: Senator Larry Pressler, S.D. Chairman, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation SR-254 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-6125 (202) 224-5842 (phone) (202) 224-1630 (fax) e-mail: larry_pressler@pressler.senate.gov To maximize the impact of your letter, you should also write to the members of the Senate Commerce Committee and to your own Senators. A sample letter is attached. Majority Members of the Senate Commerce Committee Senator Bob Packwood, Ore. SR-259 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-3702 (202) 224-5244 (phone) (202) 228-3576 (fax) Senator Ted Stevens, Alaska SH-522 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-0201 (202) 224-3004 (phone) (202) 224-1044 (fax) Senator John McCain, Ariz. SR-111 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-0303 (202) 224-2235 (phone) (202) 228-2862 (fax) Senator Conrad Burns, Mont. SD-183 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2603 (202) 224-2644 (phone) (202) 224-8594 (fax) Senator Slade Gorton, Wash. SH-730 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4701 (202) 224-3441 (phone) (202) 224-9393 (fax) e-mail: senator_gorton@gorton.senate.gov Senator Trent Lott, Miss. SR-487 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2403 (202) 224-6253 (phone) (202) 224-2262 (fax) Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Tex. SH-703 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4303 (202) 224-5922 (phone) (202) 224-0776 (fax) e-mail: senator@hutchison.senate.gov Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Maine SR-174 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1903 (202) 224-5344 (phone) (202) 224-6853 (fax) Senator John Ashcroft, Mo. SH-705 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2504 (202) 224-6154 (phone) (202) 224-7615 (fax) Minority Members of the Senate Commerce Committee Senator Ernest F. Hollings, S.C. SR-125 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4002 (202) 224-6121 (phone) (202) 224-4293 (fax) Senator Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii SH-772 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1102 (202) 224-3934 (phone) (202) 224-6747 (fax) Senator Wendell H. Ford, Ky. SR-173A Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1701 (202) 224-4343 (phone) (202) 224-0046 (fax) e-mail: wendell_ford@ford.senate.gov Senator J. James Exon, Neb. SH-528 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2702 (202) 224-4224 (phone) (202) 224-5213 (fax) Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, W. Va. SH-109 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4802 (202) 224-6472 (phone) (202) 224-1689 (fax) Senator John F. Kerry, Mass. SR-421 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2102 (202) 224-2742 (phone) (202) 224-8525 (fax) Senator John B. Breaux, La SH-516 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-1803 (202) 224-4623 (phone) (202) 224-2435 (fax) Senator Richard H. Bryan, Nev. SR-364 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-2804 (202) 224-6244 (phone) (202) 224-1867 (fax) Senator Byron L. Dorgan, N.D. SH-713 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-3405 (202) 224-2551 (phone) (202) 224-1193 (fax) You can also write or fax your own Senator at: The Honorable ______________________ U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Senate directories including fax numbers may be found at: gopher://ftp.senate.gov:70 gopher://una.hh.lib.umich.edu:70/0/socsci/polscilaw/uslegi Additional information about the ACLU's position on this issue and others affecting civil liberties online and elsewhere may be found at: gopher:\\aclu.org:6601 OR request our FAQ at infoaclu@aclu.org -----------------------------------------------cut here---------------------------------------------------------- SAMPLE LETTER Dear Senator _______: I am writing to urge you to oppose the restrictions on speech that would be imposed by the legislation introduced by Senator Exon, known as the Communications Decency Act of 1995, S.314, introduced on 2/2/95. The Exon proposal would severely restrict the flow of online information by requiring service providers to act as private censors of e-mail messages, public forums, mailing lists, and archives to avoid criminal liability. I believe that online users should be the only censors of the content of the messages they receive. I urge you to: *Oppose the Exon proposal, or any Senate or House variation. *Drop the Exon proposal BEFORE it goes to the Senate floor. *Hold full hearings on the Exon proposal and review it thoroughly before it goes to the Senate floor. *Reject any effort to attach the Exon proposal to the Senate telecommunications legislation. Sincerely, [name] -- ACLU Free Reading Room | American Civil Liberties Union gopher://aclu.org:6601 | 132 W. 43rd Street, NY, NY 10036 mailto:infoaclu@aclu.org| "Eternal vigilance is the ftp://ftp.pipeline.com | price of liberty" ------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------ Received: by epic.org with SMTP;23 Feb 1995 12:22:10 -0500 Received: from pipe1.pipeline.com (pipe1 [198.80.32.41]) by pipeline.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with ESMTP id KAA00444; Thu, 23 Feb 1995 10:48:54 -0500 From: ACLU Information Received: (infoaclu@localhost) by pipe1.pipeline.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) id KAA12373; Thu, 23 Feb 1995 10:48:53 -0500 Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 10:48:53 -0500 Message-Id: <199502231548.KAA12373@pipe1.pipeline.com> To: alt.privacy@pipeline.com, alt.politics.datahighway@pipeline.com, alt.privacy.clipper@pipeline.com, talk.politics.crypto@pipeline.com, comp.org.cpsr.talk@pipeline.com, comp.org.eff.talk@pipeline.com, comp-privacy@uwm.edu, tk0jut2@mvs.cso.niu.edu, risks@csl.sri.com, telecom@eecs.nwu.edu, privacy@vortex.com, cypherpunks@toad.com, pi@epic.org Subject: ACLU cyber-liberties alert: Axe the Exon Bill!