...
This is a question that has never been answered by a court.
Personally I think that the Congress can't constitutionally set up a scheme that restricts US citizens from communicating with each other ...
If some hardy soul wants to set up a nice clean situation, like Phil Karn did for the paper-vs-magnetic-media distinction, I'm sure we can find some more pro-bono (zero cost) lawyers who'll take the case for the fun and notoriety. You don't have to break the law to get into court; Phil didn't, for example. You make a situation where the law restricts you, then sue to have the restriction declared invalid. And if you have ever been in court, it's a lot more fun being the Plaintiff than being the Defendant.
Doing this will take significant time on your part. Even if the lawyers do 95% of the work, you have to talk with them, review what they write, explain the details in gory detail, and believe in what they're doing for you. And sometimes do things in a way that they are sure is right, even though you yourself aren't sure. And stick with the case even though it would drag on for years through several courts. So it's not something to do lightly. But it's worth it. And it's a lot safer and easier to enforce your civil rights now, than to try to live through the civil war that would follow the slide into authoritarian government.
I'd do this case myself, except that I think we should have few single points of failure. If we spread the work around, it's more likely to happen. And your civil rights are safer, because you yourself have learned how to defend them.
John
I recently moved to the DC area (N VA) and might be amenable to a relatively harmless scenario like this. (Not that I have much time, but I'm flexible.) sdw -- Stephen D. Williams 25Feb1965 VW,OH (FBI ID) sdw@lig.net http://www.lig.net/sdw Consultant, Vienna,VA Mar95- 703-918-1491W 43392 Wayside Cir.,Ashburn, VA 22011 OO/Unix/Comm/NN ICBM/GPS: 39 02 37N, 77 29 16W home, 38 54 04N, 77 15 56W Pres.:Concinnous Consulting,Inc.;SDW Systems;Local Internet Gateway Co.;28May95