----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fight-Censorship Dispatch #14 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CDA VICTORY!!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Declan McCullagh / declan@well.com / Redistribute freely ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In this dispatch: Philly judges deal death blow to CDA, 3-0 decision Press confererences and rallies June 12, 1996 WASHINGTON, DC -- It's finally over, and it's about fucking time. Our lawsuit seeking to overturn the ill-begotten Communications Decency Act has succeeded in its first phase, two years after Sen. Jim Exon (D-NE) first introduced the act. The three-judge panel struck down both sections of the CDA in a unanimous decision. Even Judge Ronald A. Buckwalter got a clue in the end. The ACLU will have the text of its decision online at its web site by 11 am today. HotWired is putting together an extensive special report that will go live this evening, including interviews with attorneys and advocates on both sides of the issue. Justice Department lawyers, unfortunately, declined to be interviewed for it. Why? Let's just say they're not breaking out the champagne over at DoJ headquarters over on tenth street. And now, on to the Supreme Court... +-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ PRESS CONFERENCES AND RALLIES +-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ ACLU attorneys will hold a press conference at 11 am today at the group's headquarters: 132 West 43rd Street, 5th floor, NYC. Contact Emily Whitfield at 212-944-9800 x426, emilyaclu@aol.com. ACLU and ALA plaintiffs will attend. At noon today, CIEC representatives including Bruce Ennis (Jenner & Block), Jerry Berman (CDT), and Bill Burrington (AOL) will hold a press conference at Jenner & Block, 601 13th St. NW, Washington, DC. Contact Sydney Rubin at 202-828-8829. There's a New York City rally in Silicon Alley at 6:30 pm today at 626 Broadway, Suite 3-A. Contact: Shabbir Safdar (VTW) at 718-596-7234, shabbir@vtw.org. Pittsburghers will rally in defense of free speech online at 4 pm today on the steps of the Oakland Branch of the Carnegie Library, on Forbes Avenue adjacent to the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Contact: Josh Knauer at 412-683-6400, josh@envirolink.org. HotWired is holding a live WiredSide chat with ALA/CIEC attorney Bruce Ennis this evening. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- COPYRIGHT UPDATE: The House markup of HR2441 tentatively scheduled for June 13 has been postponed indefinitely. My sources tell me that this probably means the bill's dead this session. HotWired's live WiredSide chat with ALA/CIEC attorney Bruce Ennis: http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/ Relevant web sites: <http://www.aclu.org/> <http://www.vtw.org/> <http://www.epic.org/> <http://www.eff.org/> <http://www.ala.org/> <http://www.cpsr.org> <http://www.cdt.org/> This document and previous Fight-Censorship Dispatches are archived at: <http://fight-censorship.dementia.org/top/> To subscribe to future Fight-Censorship Dispatches and related announcements, send "subscribe fight-censorship-announce" in the body of a message addressed to: majordomo@vorlon.mit.edu -----------------------------------------------------------------------------