The basic facts of the PGP case is as follows:

The Customs Bureau has interviewed Phil Zimmermann and others involved with PGP. A San Jose grand jury subpoenaed documents relating to PGP from ViaCrypt and Austin Code Works, two companies that intend to offer commercial products related to PGP. The State Department has sent a letter to Austin Code Works requiring them to register as an arms dealer, even if they don't plan to export cryptography.

In light of these developments, the Electronic Frontier Foundation Board of Directors met in Austin on Sept 22-23 to plan EFF's response.

EFF's Board of Directors believes that this case may involve fundamental issues in the application of the U.S. Constitution to digital media. At stake is the right to privacy, the right to public access to secure cryptography, the right to publish digital writings, and the right to equal protection under the law. We are resolved to take this matter very seriously.

For this reason, EFF will undertake a vigorous investigation of the facts in this and any other PGP related cases which might arise.

If the Grand Jury issues indictments that would, in the view of EFF, threaten the future of digital liberty, we are prepared to assist in the case, and any other cases that might have similar adverse effects. We are also prepared to seek to amend the export laws to protect constitutional speech and the right to disseminate and use encryption to protect the citizens' right to privacy and to the security of their communications.

In the short run, EFF will assist Phil and others involved with PGP to find criminal defense attorneys, explore ways to get any cases handled pro bono publico, or for expenses only, and contribute funds to Phil and other possible defendants for pre-indictment constitutional research, and we encourage others to do the same. As of this announcement, several thousand dollars have been pledged by EFF and EFF board members, including John Gilmore, Mitchell Kapor and John Perry Barlow.

In the near future, EFF will launch a national campaign designed to provide legal and financial support for cases or legislative efforts that would promote the constitutionally guaranteed rights to develop, discuss, and use cryptographic technology.

We urge you to help Phil Zimmermann in preparing his constitutional defense by contacting Phil's lawyer, Philip Dubois dubois@csn.org or at +1 303 444 3885, or 2305 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80304, USA). He is accepting legal defense contributions relating directly to Phil's defense as an individual.

Board of Directors
Electronic Frontier Foundation

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Subject: WIRE: Women's Information Resource & Exchange Opens Online Doors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., October 1, 1993 -- Women's Information Resource & Exchange (WIRE), the first international, interactive computer network dedicated to women, today opened its gateways to Founding Subscribers, defined as people actively interested in building this electronic frontier community.

"More demographic balance in the online world is crucial," commented Cliff Figallo, online communications coordinator of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and former general manager of the WELL. "WIRE is providing a vital information clearinghouse and an easy-to-use networked meeting place for the half of our population that has, until now, been vastly underrepresented and underserved in the online world. By offering a safe and welcoming haven where women can assemble and learn, WIRE will help seed the world network with net-savvy females and bring the electronic community more in balance with Real World demographics."

WIRE provides women with an easily accessed centralized source of women-oriented information and conversation. For the first time, individuals and organizations can quickly and easily access up-to-date databases, discussions, alerts, abstracts, resources and experts on health, politics, career, finance, technology, parenting, education, lifestyle and many other issues of interest to women. Women and men can log onto WIRE and discuss topics of interest with each other, network to solve problems, instantly access information, keep in touch with family and friends via email, and participate in newsgroups and mailing lists from other systems on the Internet.

"We think WIRE will be a great new destination on the information superhighway," explained Ellen Pack, co-founder and president of WIRE. "There's a wealth of information for women to tap into -- health studies, tips on starting a business or traveling alone, parenting stories, legislative updates, funding sources, and discussions about art and literature. WIRE is excited to bring resources and dialog directly to people's home and office computers. WIRE is providing a place for women around the world to get connected to what's happening and to each other."

WIRE Founding Subscribers will be limited to 500 people who want to be early influencers committed to actively developing the online community. The Grand Opening for WIRE is scheduled for early 1994.

"We want to foster diversity," says Pack. "In Founding Subscribers, we are looking for people with something to contribute, personally, intellectually or through their involvements. While many subscribers will already be familiar with computer conferencing, our goal is to make it so easy to get around online that it's completely unnecessary to be technologically sophisticated."

"WIRE's interface uses familiar desktop conventions with some nice extensions -- a most refreshing alternative to the usual tangle of Unixoid arcana," said Dr. Brenda Laurel, researcher at Interval Research "The big news with WIRE, however, is the content -- the pump is primed with topics and points of view that invite women-centered discourse and community building. I'm looking forward to living with WIRE. It seems like the right place to introduce my daughters (ages 5 and 8) to the wonderful world of networking, too."

USING WIRE IS EASY

The point-and-click, graphical user interface makes it especially easy for people to find the information they want and reduces the learning curve required to use the system. The graphical user interface is currently available for Mac and Windows computers, with a DOS version to be announced within a few months. A command line interface is also currently available.

WIRE ENCOURAGES CALLS TO CUSTOMER SUPPORT

A friendly customer support team is available to users at no charge. "Part of our mission is to introduce more women to computer networking which involves friendly and consistent user support."said Nancy Rhine, co-founder and development director of WIRE. "We want people to ask questions! We even hold face-to-face workshops at our offices to demo the how-tos of exploring the online world. At WIRE there is no such thing as a 'stupid question'."

ACCESS TO THE VAST WORLD OF THE INTERNET

Currently, WIRE offers Internet email, mailing lists, UPI Newswires, and Usenet newsgroups. Subscribers can telnet to WIRE using either the vt-100 based command line interface or the Mac GUI supporting color, sounds, and pictures.

"Along with all the really juicy information available on WIRE, we want to encourage women to access other information resources out there on the Internet. We are working towards providing the full range of popular applications available via the Internet, including gopher, WAIS, archie, ftp, and others", said Rhine. "WIRE will be rolling out technical tools one-at-a-time, both to ensure technical quality and to provide the appropriate customer support. We think focusing on quality is the only proper way to keep up with the latest and greatest tools available."

WIRE NETWORKS, INC.

WIRE is an international, interactive, computer network serving the information and networking needs of women. WIRE's management and support office is located in South San Francisco. WIRE's computer hardware is located and supported around the clock by Pandora Systems of San Francisco. WIRE is available today to founding subscribers at a cost of $15/month which includes 2 free hours of online time, additional hours cost $2.50/hour. For long distance users, access is available thru SprintNet at an additional cost, which varies according to time of day. WIRE is also available via telnet from a remote Internet site. Discounts are available for groups. Gift certificates are also available.

For more information contact WIRE click here or at 415/615-8989 or send email to info@wire.net.

Press contacts: Naomi Pearce (415/615-7914) or Nancy Rhine (415/615-8989)

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Subject: Senator Kennedy Offers Info Online

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: PAM HUGHES - 202/224-2633
SEPTEMBER 14, 1993

SENATOR KENNEDY IS FIRST TO OFFER DIRECT ACCESS TO CONSTITUENTS THROUGH COMPUTER OUTREACH

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is the first member of the U.S. Congress to offer constituents direct access to his speeches, press releases and Senate statements through their personal computers. In a pioneering experiment, Kennedy began posting releases in May on computer bulletin boards for reading by his Massachusetts constituents.

"Massachusetts citizens are among the most technologically sophisticated in the nation," said Kennedy. "By communicating directly with my constituents in their homes, schools, and workplaces, I hope to make my day-to-day work in Washington more accessible to the people of Massachusetts. I invite Massachusetts citizens to take advantage of this inno vation in electronic democracy."

Kennedy's public statements are accessible on several computer bulletin boards, as well as in two USENET news groups via the Internet. The bulletin boards provide a cost-effective way for voters to directly access information from Sen. Kennedy on various policy issues.

Readers of the Kennedy releases may provide the Senator with immediate feedback on the issues by commenting via computer. While all comments will be monitored, staff limitations will prohibit individual replies for the foreseeable future. Constituents are encouraged to contact Kennedy's Boston or Washington office by mail when a reply is desired.

Response during the summer experiment has been so positive that Kennedy's office has expanded its reach of bulletin boards and is actively alerting the general public about the availability of the Kennedy postings. Comments from con stituents have included:

"I would like to thank you for making the effort to publish these press releases on our bulletin board. It is admirable that you are sincerely making an effort to get your opinions out into the public arena..."

"I'm all for our elected reps getting 'with it'."

"I recommend that everyone check out the Sen. Kennedy press release conference..."

Senator Kennedy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources, will play a major role in the Senate's consideration of President Clinton's comprehensive health care proposal. The Labor Committee also has jurisdiction over federal legislation involving jobs and education. Constituents interested in these and other policy matters can read his electronic postings to obtain up-to-date information.

North Shore Mac, a free bulletin board run by Jonathan Gourd in Beverly, Massachusetts, provides the home location for the "Sen. Kennedy Releases" conference. This board can be reached at 508/921-4716 and can be accessed with standard telecommunications software, or in its graphical interface via Macintosh or Windows client software available for downloading on-line. Visitors can sign-on with the User ID: visitor, Password: visitor.

On the Internet, releases can be found in the following USENET news groups: ne.politics and talk.politics.misc

These releases are also available via anonymous FTP: ftp ftp.ai.mit.edu, (login as) anonymous, cd incoming/Kennedy

Technical assistance and distribution to the Internet is provided as a public service by the Intelligent Information Infrastructure Project, at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Subject: EFF Welcomes Dan Brown, Stanton McCandlish & Kathleen Zaffina

Dan Brown will be EFF's new Systems Administrator. Recently, Dan has been administering the system and providing technical support at Case Western in Cleveland, Ohio. One of Dan's earliest tasks will be to relocate EFF's cluster of SUN Sparkstations from Cambridge, MA, to Washington, DC. Dan will then be responsible for administering our gopher, wais and ftp sites. You can reach Dan here or at brown@eff.org.

Stanton McCandlish is starting as EFF's Online Activist. Stanton may be familiar to many of you already, as he is a relatively outspoken member of several popular mail lists. Stanton has just moved all of his belongings to DC from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he ran his own BBS. One of Stanton's earliest tasks will be to set up an EFF BBS. Stanton will also be taking over editorial responsibility for EFFector Online. You can reach Stanton here or at mech@eff.org.

Kathleen Zaffina will be replacing Kirsten Erickson as EFF's Executive Assistant. Kathleen has over 15 years of experience in similar positions, most recently working at Amideast, a nonprofit organization in DC that promotes understanding between people in the United States and Middle Eastern countries. Kathleen will be responsible for making sure that EFF's office runs smoothly, providing support to EFF staff and board. You can reach Kathleen here or at kzaffina@eff.org.

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Administrivia

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
1667 K St. NW, Suite 801
Washington DC 20006-1605 USA
+1 202 861 7700 (voice)
+1 202 861 1258 (fax)
+1 202 861 1223 (BBS - 16.8k ZyXEL)
+1 202 861 1224 (BBS - 14.4k V.32bis)
Membership & donations: membership@eff.org
Legal services: ssteele@eff.org
Hardcopy publications: pubs@eff.org
General EFF, legal, policy or online resources queries: ask@eff.org

Editor: Stanton McCandlish, Online Services Mgr./Activist/Archivist (mech@eff.org)
This newsletter printed on 100% recycled electrons.

Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles individually, please contact the authors for their express permission. Press releases and EFF announcements may be reproduced individ- ually at will.

To subscribe to EFFector via email, send message body of "subscribe effector-online" (without the "quotes") to listserv@eff.org, which will add you to a subscription list for EFFector.

Back issues are available at:

ftp.eff.org,/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/
gopher.eff.org,1/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/
http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/

HTML editions available at:

http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/Newsletters/EFFector/HTML/ at EFFweb.

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