IN THE 153rd ISSUE OF EFFECTOR (now with over 24,000 subscribers!):

• ALERT: Drug Speech Censorship Bill Nearing Passage
  • Introduction
  • What YOU Can Do
• Third Circuit Appeals Court Upholds COPA Injunction
• Changes at EFF
  • Shari Steele Named Executive Director
  • EFF Launches Radio EFF Streaming MP3 Audio Programs
  • CAFE-News List Available (Frequent DVD Case Updates)
  • EFFector List Changes (New Subscribe/Unsubscribe Instructions)
  • EFF Web Site Changes
• Administrivia

For more information on EFF activities & alerts: http://www.eff.org

Contact Legislators: Stop the Censorship Provisions of Bankruptcy Reform Act, and the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act!

Both the Bankruptcy Reform Act and The Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act may sound like a good ideas from their titles, but their effect would be to stop constitutionally protected speech on the Internet and in print, and there are several other very disturbing aspects.

The BANKRUPTCY REFORM ACT, H.R. 833, is in House/Senate conference and the closest to passing. It passed the House intact (as a bankruptcy reform measure), but passed the Senate with the full text of Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act (see below) attached as a "rider", Title XVII.

Some of the provisions H.R. 833 Title XVII/H.R. 2987 that EFF objects to:

• Makes it illegal to share information about harm reduction and growing hemp even for industrial purposes. Not only does it criminalize speech, it makes it illegal to even LINK TO sites with these types of articles and gives the government power to order Web sites censored and shut down without due process of law. It gives the DEA and the FBI the right to order ISPs to close down a site without notice to the owner on a police judgement call without an order from a court. This provision violates the First, Fourth and Fifths Amendments (free speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, due process).
• H.R. 833 and H.R. 2987 will allow secret searches. This provision was beaten down before but is trying to come in through the back door again. The government could enter your home or office with a warrant, search or copy files from your computer and not tell you till months later. Another section of this bill removes the responsibility of the government to give an inventory of what was seized as is currently required under the law. This provision also violates the Fourth Amendment.
• The bill would also create new federal drug offences and incarcerate a whole new wave of low-level "drug offenders", this time for merely expressing themselves. This is a major threat to the First Amendment and American democracy in general.

There is a broad coalition of organizations and people opposing both H.R. 833 Title XVII and H.R. 2987. These include the ACLU, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, the Media Awareness Project, and the November Coalition among many others.

Contact your Representatives and Senators, and urge the rejection of these senseless and highly controversial Net censorship (and offline privacy violation) provisions.

A) Ask your legislators to pressure the House/Senate conference committee conferrees to remove the Methamphetamine Antiproliferation Act section (Title XVII) from the Bankruptcy Reform Act, H.R. 833; and
B) Ask your legislators to vote *against* the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act, H.R. 2987, and any similar legislation.

The key part of your message is that, regardless of the intent of the legislation, the censorship and secret search provisions are unconstitutional and violate the rights of all Americans.

You should send a letter or fax (or, at the very least, an e-mail), or make a phone call to the office of, 1) your Representative, 2) your two Senators, and if you have time both 3) members of the conference committee, and 4) for good measure, the offices of the President and Vice-President as well.

To find out who your legislators are and to get contact information for them (and the White House), please see EFF's Contacting Congress Fact sheet:
http://www.eff.org/congress

Short sample message about the issue for phone calls or telegrams (faxes & letters should be more detailed):

[The letter begins "I'm a constituent"; this statement should be removed when sending to the President, VP, and any member of the conference committee, unless (s)he actually is your Representative or Senator.]

I'm a constituent, and am contacting you to oppose controversial and misguided provisions of
H.R. 833 - The Bankruptcy Reform Act, and
H.R. 2987 - The Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act

Please OPPOSE the inclusion in H.R. 833, The Bankruptcy Reform Act (currently in conference committee) of the provisions of the unconstitutional Methamphetamine Antiprofileration Act.
I urge you to push for the conferees to REMOVE this language (Title XVII) from the Bankruptcy bill.

Please also vote AGAINST H.R. 2987, The Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act, the original bill, which is currently in the Judiciary Committee, and any similar bill, including H.R. 4553 and S. 2612.

This legislation removes rights that our forebears fought and died for, including government accountability for searches and seizures, and our right to speak and write freely.

Additional material (to ADD to, not replace, the above) for longer letters/faxes/e-mail; feel free to rework it in your own words.

H.R. 2987, the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act, and the identical Title XVII rider on the H.R. 833 bankruptcy bill, contain provisions that directly conflict with the First Amendment, specifically the provisions entitled "Criminal Prohibition on Distribution of Certain Information Relating to the Manufacture of Controlled Substances," and "Advertisements for Drug Paraphernalia and Schedule I Controlled Substances" These provisions may seem reasonable on their face, but they will undermine the ability of any and all interested parties to provide information that people in the modern world need to have to secure their own safety and make good decisions. The language is so vague as to threaten prosecution for the publication of basic educational chemistry material, or the open discussion of drug treatment options.

Along with this are provisions that, in violation of the 4th and 5th Amendments, allow police to enter homes and offices and conduct secret searches. Computer files and papers could be removed or copied and no notice be given till months later. H.R. 2987/833-XVII even removes the necessity to provide an inventory of what was taken, so there is no chance for the target of the search to put the material in context. Furthermore, this legislation enables law enforcement agencies to force the shut-down of Web sites police don't like, without court orders, in violation of due process.

Our freedoms to speak, read and publish, and to enjoy protection from unreasonable intrusion into our private lives, are our nation's most precious assets. Please don't allow a handful of extremist lawmakers to sacrifice the Bill of Rights over highly questionable drug war grandstanding.

I urge you to do what's right and take steps against this poorly thought-out legislation as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Please see http://www.eff.org/congress for more information on how and where to contact your legislators.

"Democracy is not a spectator sport"   -- anonymous

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June 22, 2000, the US federal Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a District Court order granting a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the "Child Online Protection Act" (COPA, a.k.a. "CDA-2"), and reaffirmed that the EFF/ACLU/EPIC plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of the case at the final hearing

EFF Executive Director Shari Steele comments, "It's nice to see that the Courts, unlike Congress, are still willing to uphold the First Amendment."

In Oct. 1998, Congress passed and President Clinton signed into law a new "sequel" to the unconstitutional "Communications Decency Act". This new Internet censorship bill, the "Child Online Protection Act", would establish criminal penalties for any "commercial" distribution of material deemed "harmful to minors". The numerous problems with this legislation include overbreadth, vagueness of definitions of key terms such as "commercial", an illegal attempt to force adults to give up privacy to excerise their right to read, prior restraints on publication, and a flawed "community standards" approach that would allow the most conservative jurisdiction in the US country to set the "decency" standards for all Web content nationally.

Just days after passage of this legislation, EFF in conjunction with the ACLU and EPIC (two other civil liberties organizations) filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of this law and seeking to have it overturned.

The 3rd Circuit ruling focuses principally on the "community standards" issue. The government has the option of appealing to the 3rd Circuit en banc and then to the Supreme Court, appealing directly to the Supreme Court, or abandoning appeals on the injunction and allowing the main body of the case (to have the law completely struck down or upheld) to proceed in the Eastern District Court for Pennsylvania (in Philadelphia).

The full text of the 3rd Circuit ruling is available here:
http://www.eff.org/copa/20000622_copa_3rdcir.ruling

More background material on the case (full text of law, previous legal documents, etc.) available at:
http://www.eff.org/copa/"

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For Immediate Release: June 6, 2000

EFF Welcomes New Executive Director Shari Steele

Civil Liberties Attorney Returns EFF to its Roots

Contacts:

Katina Bishop - EFF Communications Manager
+1 415 436 9333 x101
katina@eff.org

Shari Steele - EFF Executive Director
+1 415 436 9333 x0
ssteele@eff.org

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is pleased to announce the return of attorney Shari Steele as our new Executive Director. Ms. Steele brings with her a rededication to the founding principles of the organization-- making sure that basic rights are protected in our increasingly digital world. She starts the job immediately and will relocate her family to the San Francisco area in July.

"These issues are in my blood," says Steele. "I'm looking forward to working again with the EFF staff and board on getting the organization back to its roots, the cutting edge where technology and law collide."

Shari returns to the EFF after a starting up a new non-profit called Bridges.org, which works on technology policy issues related to developing countries. She is a civil liberties attorney who worked for the EFF for eight years, most recently as Director of Legal Services. Steele was a driving force in many of EFF's precedent setting cases, including Steve Jackson Games, Bernstein vs. State, and ACLU vs. Reno II. Prior to joining EFF, she was an advocacy fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, where she earned her Masters of Law degree.

John Gilmore, board member and co-founder of EFF, came out of retirement to serve as Interim Executive Director for three months while EFF looked for a permanent director. "Shari is not just the best candidate we could find -- she's the best we could imagine," he said. "Her years of experience working with our issues; her familiarity with our board, staff, and collaborators; and her straightforward and easygoing management style make it a pleasure to hand her the job."

"Shari has been with the EFF for most of its life, so she is extremely experienced with both the organization and all the issues we deal with every day," said board chairman, Brad Templeton. "Plainly put, there's nobody else on the planet with her qualifications. We were extremely sorry when the call of being at the top of a new organization took her away from us, and we are thrilled to be able to win her back."

EFF continues to pursue its long-term mission of educating the public, policymakers, and courts about the issues that arise when traditional expectations conflict with the new worlds created by computers and the Internet. The organization remains focused on civil liberties and civil responsibilities in cyberspace and continues to offer legal advice, referrals, and a large archive of current and historical online civil liberties information.

Founded in 1990, the Electronic Frontier Foundation ( http://www.eff.org ) is a non- profit organization that actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free expression, privacy, and openness in the information society. EFF is a member-supported organization and maintains one of the most-linked-to Web sites in the world.

For more information about Shari Steele see:
http://www.eff.org/homes/steele.html

For more information on the Electronic Frontier Foundation see:
http://www.eff.org

For information about joining us in our fight to protect your rights, see:
http://www.eff.org/support

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Radio EFF - http://www.eff.org/radioeff

Soundtracking The Digital Revolution

Log On, Tune In, Sound Off!

EFF's streaming Internet radio shows, exploring the conjunction of high technology, cyberlaw, and your rights as both netizen and artist.

Featuring music, informative interviews, how-to's, and more

Station manager: Patrick Norager

RADIO EFF PROGRAMS

THE DIGITAL DIALECTIC:

Soundtracked discussions with the guardians of your cyber-rights

* Chris DiBona, Linux Evangelist: DeCSS and Napster, MP3.com and other Cyberspace IP issues. (Coming soon)
* Deborah Pierce, EFF Staff Attorney: The use of defamation lawsuits to squelch the free speech rights of netizens. (May 2000)
* Robin Gross, EFF Staff Attorney: DVD litigation background and progress report. (May 2000)
* Deborah Pierce, EFF Staff Attorney: Ways to better shield your privacy from big business. (May 2000)
* Stanton McCandlish, EFF Program Dir.: Censorware (Internet filtering software) and freedom of expression. (May 2000)
* Andrew Bunner, Defendant #2 in the California DVD case: The movie industry's attempts to use litigation to pirate our fair use rights. (Feb. 2000)
* Andrew Bridges, Head of the Trademark Practices Group of the law firm Wilson Goodrich & Rosati: The Legality of MP3 players; and the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 (AHRA). (Feb. 2000)
* Larry Lessig, Professor at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society: Constitutional values in cyberspace. (Feb. 2000)

THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER:

Electronic music and cyberspace news for netizens

* Denial of service attacks in cyberspace: the Jim Warren theory. (Feb. 2000). Music by: John Williams
* RIAA vs MP3.com; fair use under attack. (Feb. 2000). Music By: MI5; Ubar Tmar, Mind Warped, & Looping Lizards (BooM! Records, Amsterdam); and Nova
* Jon Johansen, Norwegian teenage programmer: first person account of search, interrogation and indictment in DVD DeCSS case. (Feb 2000). Music by: UKUSA & NSA

THE NET MUSICIAN:

How high technology empowers artists Tips and tools for digital musicians How best to move music from your mind to mine via cyberspace

* Low frequency oscillators and how they can enhance your creative control of electronic music. (Coming Soon)
* What is "open source music" and how can I make some? Guests: John Gilmore and musicians NSA. (Coming Soon)

Why Radio EFF Uses Streaming MP3: The Value of Open Source

The basic idea behind open source is simple. When programmers on the Internet can read, modify and even redistribute the source for a piece of software, it evolves. People improve it, people adapt it, and build upon the work of others. And this can happen at a speed that, if one is used to the slow pace of conventional proprietary software, seems astonishing.

The same principles from the development of open source software also apply to musicianship. The codes that make music possible may be different from the codes required to write software, but the collaborative spirit of free expression remains the same.

Besides these reasons for using open source technology instead of a proprietary audio format, Radio EFF also showcases open source MP3 streaming as a demonstration of the quality and usabilty of open source "products" and "services" - a model of content and technology deployment that is under attack by entrenched interests among "infotainment" intellectual property holders, including the mainstream music industry.

For more information about the conflict between intellectual property interests on the one hand, and fair use rights and open creative development on the other, participate in EFF's Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression:
http://www.eff.org/cafe

For more information about the open source movement, see:
http://www.opensource.org

For more information about the related (but different in important ways) free software movement, see:
http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

Radio EFF's streaming open source MP3 signal can be received by at least the following MP3 Players:

Available in 3 speeds:
16Kbps (slow modem)
24Kbps (fast modem/ISDN)
64Kbps (DSL/cable/T1)

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For those who would like more detailed and more frequent information about the progress of EFF-CAFE's DVD cases, we have set up a CAFE-News mailing list. Subscribers will get several DVD Update bulletins every week (except during major lulls in the litigation).

Here's full information on the list:

EFF'S CAMPAIGN FOR AUDIOVISUAL FREE EXPRESSION (CAFE) ANNOUNCEMENTS LIST

cafe-news@eff.org

News and announcements regarding CAFE and it's activities, including the DVD/DeCSS cases. Messages will be no more frequent than one per day, usually a short summary of any changes or happenings, occasionally including press releases or other documents.

This is a closed list (only the EFF staff can post to it.)

To subscribe to the list, submit to majordomo@eff.org a message body (not subject line) of

NOTE: If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, please send to majordomo@eff.org a message body (not subject line) of:

If you receive an error, try:

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where "your@address.here" is your e-mail address. If this still does not work, you can try sending additional unsubscribe commands for alternate e-mail addresses you may have, in case it is not your main one that is on the list. You can put more than one such command per message; each must be on a separate line. If all else fails, write to listmaster@eff.org and ask to be removed manually.

EFF does NOT condone, much less engage in, spamming. We respect your privacy and have made it virtually impossible for you to be added to this mailing list against your will, since the listserver (Majordomo) will send you a confirmation command you must send back to in order to be added to the list.

If you need to change your address, follow the above instructions to remove your old address, and then submit to majordomo@eff.org this:

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If you would like to have your friends subscribe, please tell them about the list and how to subscribe, rather than attempting to subscribe them yourself (it won't work.)

If you find this list important and informative, please consider becoming an EFF member, or supporting us with a donation. See:
http://www.eff.org/support for more information. Thank you.

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E F F E C T O R - EFF NEWSLETTER LIST

effector@eff.org

Welcome to the EFFector, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's newsletter and action alert bulletin. This is a low-traffic list, consisting at most of one newsletter per week, often less. We understand "information overload" and will not send you trivia, only the most important news relating to EFF and our mission of protecting privacy, freedom of expression and fair use online.

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To subscribe to the list, submit to majordomo@eff.org a message body (not subject line) of

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NOTE: If you wish to be removed from this mailing list, please send to majordomo@eff.org a message body (not subject line) of:

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If you receive an error, try:

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where "your@address.here" is your e-mail address. If this still does not work, you can try sending additional unsubscribe commands for alternate e-mail addresses you may have, in case it is not your main one that is on the list. You can put more than one such command per message; each must be on a separate line. If all else fails, write to listmaster@eff.org and ask to be removed manually.

EFF does NOT condone, much less engage in, spamming. We respect your privacy and have made it virtually impossible for you to be added to this mailing list against your will, since the listserver (Majordomo) will send you a confirmation command you must send back to in order to be added to the list.

If you need to change your address, follow the above instructions to remove your old address, and then submit to majordomo@eff.org this:

subscribe effector your@new.address

where "your@new.address" is the address you want to subscribe to the list in place of the old one.

If you would like to have your friends subscribe, please tell them about the list and how to subscribe, rather than attempting to subscribe them yourself (it won't work.)

If you find this list important and informative, please consider becoming an EFF member, or supporting us with a donation. See:
http://www.eff.org/support for more information. Thank you.

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EFF has a new "look and feel" at our web site:
http://www.eff.org

Among the new features:

• A clean, lean design, checked for readability and functionality on many platforms (and more than 10 different browsers). No functions are dependent on javascript, stylesheets or other "fancy" stuff, but newer browsers can take advantage of some enhancements (such as autoloading of Browse menu selections without having to click submit).
• A navigation menu sidebar, with links to our main subsections.
• More membership & support options
• A Search/Browse bar at top and bottom.

Many more improvements are on the way, and this new design will begin to "propagate" throughout our archives and other sections. We appreciate your patience while our enormous site is in this transitional phase. All features should remain functional during and after these changes.

We also apologize for our overly-long downtime in March (due to "technical difficulties" as they say on TV. Our site is much more robust today. We have moved to a custom multiprocessor Intel machine (donated by VA Linux) on a UPS, and running OpenBSD, the most secure Unix available. The new machine is much faster than our old Sparc 5 clone, which means faster download times for you, especially in https (SSL encrypted) mode.

Please report any bugs, typos, or other problems you find to bugs@eff.org. The webmaster would greatly appreciate screenshots of how our front page looks in various flavors of Unix, in a variety of browsers. Please contact mech_filter@eff.org

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Administrivia

EFFector is published by:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
1550 Bryant St., Suite 725
San Francisco CA 94103-4832 USA
+1 415 436 9333 (voice)
+1 415 436 9993 (fax) http://www.eff.org

Editor: Stanton McCandlish, Online Communications Director/Webmaster (editor@eff.org)

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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 & articles may be reproduced individually at will.

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