---------------------------------------------------------------- November 22, 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: * New York Civil Liberties Union Opposes Discipline of Cornell Students for Offensive Online Speech * Seattle Negotiates New Franchise Agreement with Cable Network to Offer Internet Access; ACLU of Washington Gives Testimony on Privacy Implications * Watch Out for Cyber-Liberties Infringements in Counter-Terrorism Legislation; House May Consider Bill in Early December * Update and ACTION ALERT on Federal Online Indecency Legislation * Online Discussion Groups on Electronic Access Issues ---------------------------------------------------------------- STATE PAGE (Legislation/Agency/Court Cases) ---------------------------------------------------------------- * New York Civil Liberties Union Opposes Discipline of Cornell Students for Offensive Online Speech The latest controversy over appropriate use of the Internet at universities erupted last week after four Cornell students made a list of "75 reasons why women should not have freedom of speech" and the list got loose on the Internet. Responding to e-mail and phone complaints about the message, Cornell considered disciplinary action against the students. The NYCLU wrote a letter to Cornell on Thursday, November 16th, urging Cornell not to proceed with disciplinary action. The letter said, "Freedom of expression, especially in the academic forum, is designed to encourage truth-seeking by protecting the challenge and response of intellectual discourse. . . . It is understandable that university officials should be concerned about the increase in the use of sexist language. . . . However, no matter how troubling or offensive the message is, the administration of Cornell University should not depart from principles of freedom of expression when addressing the issues surrounding this dispute." The letter went on to note that "the marketplace theory of free expression appears to be in full swing as the wrong-minded e-mail message has apparently already provoked thousands of angry messages' both to Cornell and to the particular four students." On Thursday afternoon, Cornell announced that it would not pursue any disciplinary action against the students. For a copy of the letter that NYCLU sent to Cornell, send a message to infoaclu@aclu.org with "NYCLU Letter to Cornell" in the subject line. For more information, contact Beth Haroules, Staff Attorney, NYCLU, at 212-382-0557. ---------------------------------------------------------------- * Seattle Negotiates New Franchise Agreement with Cable Network to Offer Internet Access; ACLU of Washington Testifies at Hearing on Privacy Implications Cities across the country are beginning to renegotiate franchise agreements with cable networks who want to get into the Internet access business. Civil libertarians must work to ensure that strong privacy protections are included in these agreements. The City of Seattle is currently negotiating a new franchise agreement with TCI of Seattle, Inc., and the ACLU of Washington urged the city to include provisions to protect consumer privacy. In a letter dated November 9th, ACLU-W said that "franchisees should be prohibited from collecting any data on individual use of the cable network, including Internet access, except that data minimally needed for billing purposes. . . . [T]he franchisee should be precluded from collecting information about which other Internet sites are accessed through the cable network, which newsgroups are read, which real-time interactive forums are participated in, or any other information that could be used to compile a data profile of the subscriber." The letter also urged the city to require technological protections, like encryption, to guard against unauthorized tapping. For a copy of the letter, send a message to infoaclu@aclu.org with "cable franchise agreement" in the subject line. For more information, contact Doug Klunder, ACLU-W Information Technology Committee, dougk@eskimo.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL PAGE (Congress/Agency/Court Cases) ---------------------------------------------------------------- * Watch Out for Cyber-Liberties Infringements in Counter-Terrorism Legislation; House May Consider Bill in Early December The House of Representatives is scheduled to debate a broad counter-terrorism bill in early December. (The Senate passed a similar bill in June 1995.) While the counter-terrorism bill contains many unconstitutional provisions, the net community should be particularly alert to the following: 1. The pending House counter-terrorism bill contains a funding mechanism for vastly expanded wiretap capabilities for federal law enforcement (authorized by the Digital Telephony law passed by Congress last year). The FBI's scheme would give government an unprecedented ability to intrude on privacy through increased wiretaps. The net community should oppose this and any other funding scheme for the FBI's wiretap proposal. (See our 11/8 issue of the Cyber-Liberties Update for an ACLU statement and action alert on the federal wiretap proposal.) 2. The version of counter-terrorism legislation already passed by the Senate contains a revised Feinstein Amendment, which makes it a felony "to distribute by any means information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture of explosive materials, if the person intends, or knows that such explosive materials or information will likely be used for" criminal purposes. While the legislation applies to all media, it grew out of Senator Feinstein's vilification of the Internet at the Senate's May 11th counter-terrorism hearings. The House version of counter-terrorism legislation does not currently contain language like the Feinstein Amendment, but the online community should stand ready to oppose any effort to include such unconstitutional provisions in the final House bill. For a copy of the ACLU's letter to the Senate in opposition to the original Feinstein Amendment, send a message to infoaclu@aclu.org with "Feinstein Amendment" in the subject line. For further information on the ACLU's opposition to counter-terrorism legislation (which would also expand the FBI's powers in electronic surveillance and other areas), visit the ACLU's Constitution Hall on America Online, at keyword ACLU. ---------------------------------------------------------------- * Update and ACTION ALERT on Federal Online Indecency Legislation The Conference Committee on the telecommunications bill is currently considering whether to remove provisions that would make "indecency" and other speech a crime in cyberspace. The Christian Coalition and other anti-free-speech groups continue to heavily lobby the Conferees to make the new speech crimes even stricter than the Exon Amendment. To counter this backlash, the online community must overwhelm the Conference Committee with a loud and clear message -- that parental empowerment tools and not big government censorship are the only effective means to address children's access to online content. While the Conference Committee is home for Thanksgiving, we urge you to call the Conferees in your state. To find a list of the home office phone numbers for the Conferees, see the current ACTION ALERT at http://www.vtw.org/ 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Online Discussion Groups on Electronic Access Issues ---------------------------------------------------------------- The following discussion groups are actively debating government information and access issues: GOVPUB -- issues related to publishing local and state government information online Subscribe: listserv@vm1.nodak.edu Message: subscribe govpub GOVACCESS -- citizen access to government information Subscribe: majordomo@well.dom Message: subscribe govaccess PUBPOL-D -- substantive discussion of public policy issues Subscribe: listserv@vm1.spcs.umn.edu Message: subscribe pubpol-d [your name] COMMUNET -- issues related to community and civic networks Subscribe: listserv@uvmvm.uvm.edu Message: subscribe communet [your name] ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------