On Thu, 22 Aug 1996, Rich Graves wrote, quoting me:
But the benefit of having a pro-privacy statement in the platform (which in fact was watered down significantly from that originally proposed by advocates on our side) is that the platform covers Republican Party candidates for any office, not just the presidency.
One Republican staffer sent you an ass-kissing note quoting an ALLEGED piece of the platform WHICH IS NOT ACTUALLY THERE. The platform was finalized on August 12th. The text you quoted is not even in the list of rejected amendments.
Wrong. Check out what I've attached below. Happily, I don't waste time listening to Rich's rants. I take this as a lesson that his posts are, in fact, not worth the time it takes to delete them. Rich, I suggest you stick to whining about MS Windows unless you enjoy the embarrassment of being proved wrong, once again. -Declan --- Muckraker By Brock Meeks http://www.hotwired.com/muckraker/ [...] The word "Internet" appears only once in the platform language. It's a small victory, but not an insignificant one. Two paragraphs are of particular interest - the last two in the "Creating Jobs for Americans" section. Here they are: "The communications revolution empowers individuals, enhances health care, opens up opportunity for rural areas, and strengthens families and institutions. A Dole-led Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to promote full and open competition and freedom of choice in the telecommunications marketplace. In contrast, the Clinton-Gore administration repeatedly defended big-government regulation. The micromanagement of the Information Age is an impediment to the development of America's information superhighway. "We support the broadest access to telecommunications networks and services, based upon marketplace capabilities. The Internet today is the most staggering example of how the Information Age can and will enhance the lives of Americans everywhere. To further this explosion of new-found freedoms and opportunities, privacy, through secured communications, has never been more important. Bob Dole and the Republican Party will promote policies that ensure that the US remains the world leader in science, technology, and innovation." First off, it's amazing to see the Republicans taking credit for the Telecommunications Reform Act because, in doing so, they also are taking credit for one of the most egregious attacks on the First Amendment in recent history: the passage of the Communications Decency Act, which was embedded in the telecom bill like a virus. [...] The really interesting stuff comes after you decode the phrase "privacy, through secured communications." This really means: "the right to use private encryption technology." This brilliant gem was wedged into the platform, so I'm told, through the efforts of Senator Conrad Burns' staff. Burns, of course, is the author of the pro-crypto technology bill known as "Pro-CODE," which flies in the face of the administration's nearly paranoid anti-crypto policies. [...] // declan@eff.org // I do not represent the EFF // declan@well.com //