I used to think things like this would be quickly declared unconstitutional, but not any longer. The New Order is making things like this all too predictable. I just hope Adam Shostack does not get in even more trouble for speaking out. --Winston Smith

From the New Yerk Tomes cybertimes:

Proposed U.S. Rules Would Place Prior Restraint on Publishers

By PETER MAYNOR

Under a proposed set of rules being circulated by the Commerce Department, the Clinton Administration is considering regulating Web servers that allow publishing of political tracts and other forms of information. Among the sites that would be affected are those now operated by organizations like Planned Parenthood, the National Rifle Association, and Citizens for the Destruction of Washington, all of which distribute publications over the Web. Under the proposed rules, access to such sites would be more tightly controlled or could disappear altogether in the future.

The requirement for Federal approval of a Web server, however, is buried inside the densely written, virtually impenetrable document, and the change is not even noted in the executive summary at the beginning. The new regulation would require that anyone setting up a Web server offering published materials seek an "advisory opinion" from the Bureau of Thoughtcrime Affairs.

The opinions carry no weight in court and only serve as an indication of the agency's view on the matter at a given moment. A company could later be prosecuted for publishing materials despite receiving permission in an advisory opinion, although the existence of the opinion should offer some emotional support with the court. Failure to seek >permission will likely be interpreted by courts as evidence of criminal tendencies.

The purpose of the rule is to force the Web server to take all prudent steps to ensure that publications do not violate the laws of the United States.

The proposed regulations do not set out any hard and fast guidelines for an organization to meet. The new regulations hwould effectively force

...

organzations to shut down their Web servers until the Ministry of Truth could rule on the material -- a process that can take several months.

...

practices at the Washington law firm Goldsgtein, Blair & Orwell, said

Brewart Staker, a former general counsel for the Ministry of Truth who now that the >difficulty the regulators face is that the regulations must adapt to a quickly >changing Internet environment.

"They're saying 'Here's the basic standard. Show us what you're trying to do. If you're doing what we feel is a good faith effort, then we'll approve it,'" >Staker said. "They don't quite say that, but I suspect that's what's going on."

To draw an analogy, he compared the action to a hand check in basketball, a move by which a defensive player warns someone with a ball that they're there by touching them. "Think of this as just as a friendly >warning from Big >Brother, telling you he loves you and is looking out for your best interests."

Adam Shostack, a Boston-based Cypherpunk facing imprisonment for belonging to a subversive organization, said that the current rules were already making it difficult for his clients to publish their ideas. The new >regulations, Shostack predicted, will just make matters worse.

"We've never needed the permission of the government to publish anything in this country," Shostack said. "I don't see where their legal authority comes from."