----------------------------------------------------------------- November 8, 1995 ACLU CYBER-LIBERTIES UPDATE A bi-weekly e-zine on cyber-liberties cases and controversies at the state and federal level. ----------------------------------------------------------------- IN THIS ISSUE: * ACLU Statement and ACTION ALERT on Federal Wiretap Bill * ACTION ALERT on Federal Online Indecency Legislation * State Utility Commissions Consider Online Access and Privacy Issues * News on Electronic Access to Public Information in Washington State * John Perry Barlow Launches Cyberspace Lecture Series Co-Sponsored by the ACLU of Washington * ACLU Student Chapter President at Georgetown University Law Center Writes About Marty Rimm Controversy * Conferences * Online Resources from the ACLU National Office and State Affiliates ----------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL PAGE (Congress/Agency/Court Cases) ----------------------------------------------------------------- * ACLU Statement and ACTION ALERT on Federal Wiretap Bill Last week, the ACLU emphatically urged the FBI to withdraw its proposal for greatly increased wiretapping powers. "Given the government's own statements on the usefulness of wiretaps, we can only guess at the FBI's motives," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's National Washington Office. "But if Congress were to allow this system to go into place, we'd have a national surveillance apparatus that would pale in comparison to the infamous security state of the former Soviet Union." "This proposal, Murphy added, "would make the KGB look like privacy advocates." "The proposal would dramatically reduce the privacy rights in the United States because it would -- no matter what the Justice Department says -- result in significant increase in the number of innocent third party conversations intercepted by law enforcement officials," Murphy said. "Already too many innocent conversations -- nearly two million in the last year alone -- are intercepted by federal and local law enforcement wiretaps." According to the government's own statistics, 1,800 innocent conversations are intercepted each and every time a wiretap or other form of electronic surveillance is placed. Just last week, the ACLU joined with the National Rifle Association and a broad coalition of other gun advocates and civil liberties organizations in calling for Congress to institute a 24-point reform plan for federal law enforcement. In a letter to Congress, the groups said that the excesses of Waco and Ruby Ridge demonstrate that Congress and the Administration must begin to reign in the powers of federal police authorities. [The 24-point reform plan and related documents are available on America Online, at keyword ACLU, under "federal law enforcement reforms." For an e-mailed copy of the reform plan, send a message to infoaclu@aclu.org with "fed law enforcement reform" in the subject line.] URGENT ACTION NEEDED: -Call the FBI at 202-252-7296 and urge it to withdraw the proposed wiretapping system. You can also find the phone number of the FBI's local field offices at the FBI web site at http://www.fbi.gov. -Call the Attorney General at 202-514-2001 and urge her to order the FBI to withdraw its wiretapping proposal. -Call your members of Congress and tell them to urge the Justice Department and the FBI to withdraw the wiretap proposal. Urge your representatives to oppose any funding for this wiretap scheme. You can reach the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 for the Senate and 202-225-3121 for the House of Representatives. -Call Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), a former federal prosecutor and leading opponent of funding effots for wiretap: Rep. Bob Barr U.S. House of Representatives 1607 Longworth Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-2931 -Call your own telephone companies, both local and long distance, and urge them to oppose the wiretap proposal and to stand up for the privacy rights of their customers instead of becoming the snooping arm of a prying government. ----------------------------------------------------------------- * ACTION ALERT on Federal Online Indecency Legislation The conference committee on the telecommunications bill will soon consider whether to remove provisions that would make "indecency" a crime in cyberspace. On Monday, November 6, we distributed an action alert urging individuals to call Congress to express opposition to any measures to censor the Net. THIS MAY BE YOUR LAST CHANCE TO STOP UNCONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTIONS ON YOUR RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH IN CYBERSPACE!! [You can find the action alert on America Online, at keyword ACLU, under "threats to civil liberties in cyberspace," or on the Internet at http://www.vtw.org/] In addition to the call to action for individual Net users, the ACLU and People for the American Way obtained signatures from over 75 organizations to a letter opposing the federal online indecency provisions. The letter will be sent to Senator Pressler and Representative Bliley on the conference committee later this week. [After 11/13, you can find a copy of the organizational letter on America Online, at keyword ACLU, under "threats to civil liberties in cyberspace." To receive a copy of the letter via e-mail, send a message to infoaclu@aclu.org with "organizations opposed to online censorship" in the subject line.] The ACLU continues to prepare for a constitutional challenge to the online censorship provisions if they become law. Please contact Ann Beeson, beeson@aclu.org, if your organization is interested in being a plaintiff in this ground-breaking litigation that will define First Amendment rights in cyberspace. ----------------------------------------------------------------- STATE PAGE (Legislation/Agency/Court Cases) ----------------------------------------------------------------- * State Utility Commissions Consider Online Access and Privacy Issues Many state utilities commissions are considering issues that can affect your online access and privacy rights, from approving caller ID to defining universal access. Online users are urged to stay informed and involved in utilities commission decisions in their states that may affect cyberspace rights. Consumer Project on Technology has put up a list of information about state utility commissions. The list includes contact information for all 50 state utility commissions, and also lists utility consumer advocates in 40 states. See http://www.essential.org/cpt/isdn/contacts.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- * News on Electronic Access to Public Information in Washington State A Washington State task force has been examining the issue of electronic access to information maintained by government agencies. The ACLU of Washington submitted comments commending the task force for requiring some form of free electronic access, and limiting all fees to incremental costs. But the task force was criticized for not paying sufficient attention to privacy, especially increased threats to privacy presented by accumulation of information on individuals from diverse sources. Also in Washington State, King County Superior Court Judge George Finkle ruled that Geographical Information System databases are public records and must be made available to the public for nominal copying fees. (GIS systems are databases that contain information associated with a physical location, such as the location of utility cables, public buildings, roads, demographic information, zoning info, or traffic density.) As in many locations around the country, the City of Bellevue had attempted to charge far higher fees for GIS databases, which were created for government use but also have commercial value. This ruling reaffirms the notion that public information should be available to all, not just those with deep pockets. ----------------------------------------------------------------- * John Perry Barlow Launches Cyberspace Lecture Series Co-Sponsored by the ACLU of Washington The ACLU of Washington began a series of talks in Seattle to explore the impact and implications of the technology revolution on art and culture. John Perry Barlow, former Grateful Dead lyricist and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, launched the series on November 3rd. "Cyberspace is largely about conversation that ultimately could include everybody on the planet . . . . Cyberspace can be the greatest venue for freedom of expression humans have ever had," said Barlow. Barlow talked of the spiritual dimension of cyberspace, which he sees as an egalitarian ecosystem with the potential to link "every synapse on the planet." For him cyberspace must be a place where anybody can say anything they think without fear of reprisal. But he tempered his lyrical vision of cyberculture with a warning of the dangers of censorship from elected officials who do not appreciate -- or even understand -- how new forms of communication function. "When I visit Congress, I feel like Tom Paine in the Court of King George," Barlow quipped. ----------------------------------------------------------------- * ACLU-Georgetown University Law Center President Writes Articles on the Marty Rimm controversy Alan Lewine, President of the ACLU student chapter at GULC, has written a series of articles for the Georgetown Law Weekly on the Georgetown Law Journal's involvement in the controversial publication of Marty Rimm's purported study of net porn. They are available at http://www.tripod.com/userland/A/alewine/index.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONFERENCES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Nov 8, 6 pm: "Regulating the Internet: Should Pornography Have A Free Ride on the Information Superhighway?" Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 55 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York. Panelists include Nadine Strossen, National President, ACLU; Bill Burrington, Staff Counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation; and Barbara Bennett Woodhouse, Professor of Law at University of Pennsylvania Law School. Sponsored by the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal. Nov 16, 5 pm: Nadine Strossen (National President, ACLU) speaks on "Defending Pornography: A Feminist Perspective on New Technologies and Old-Fashioned Sex," GULC, 600 New Jersey NW, 12th Floor Ballroom, Gewirz Hall. Co-sponsored by ACLU-GULC and the Student Bar Association Speakers Fund. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ONLINE RESOURCES FROM THE ACLU NATIONAL OFFICE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stay tuned for news on the ACLU's world wide web site, under construction at http://www.aclu.org. America Online users should check out our live chats, auditorium events, *very* active message boards, and complete news on civil liberties, at keyword ACLU. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ONLINE RESOURCES FROM ACLU STATE AFFILIATES ----------------------------------------------------------------- Florida: ACLU of Pinellas County Florida http://www.stpt.usf.edu/~greek/aclu.html Illinois: Illinois Civil Liberties Union http://www.aclu-il.org/ Champaign County, Illinois ACLU Chapter http://www.prairienet.org/cc-aclu/ (The chapter also maintains an Illinois Civil Liberties Alert List. To subscribe send a message to cla@prairienet.org) Indiana: Indiana Civil Liberties Union http://www.inetdirect.net/iclu/ South Carolina: ACLU of South Carolina http://www.cris.com/~katrinan/aclu/index.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update Editor: Ann Beeson (beeson@aclu.org) American Civil Liberties Union National Office 132 West 43rd Street New York, New York 10036 To subscribe to the ACLU Cyber-Liberties Update, send a message to infoaclu@aclu.org with "subscribe Cyber-Liberties Update" in the subject line of your message. To terminate your subscription, send a message to infoaclu@aclu.org with "unsubscribe Cyber-Liberties Update" in the subject line. For general information about the ACLU, write to infoaclu@aclu.org. ----------------------------------------------------------------- **PLEASE REPOST WITH HEADER INTACT**