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EFFector Online Volume 09 No. 16 Dec. 30, 1996 editors@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
IN THIS ISSUE:
Bernstein Takes on New Crypto Regs - Asks for Constitutional Review
Press Release
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
6th Annual EFF Pioneer Awards - Call for Nominations
Upcoming Events
Quote of the Day
What YOU Can Do
Administrivia
Have a happy New Year!
* See http://www.eff.org/hot.html or ftp.eff.org, /pub/Alerts/ for more
information on current EFF activities and online activism alerts! *
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Bernstein Takes on New Crypto Regs - Asks for Constitutional Review
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Press Release *
PROFESSOR ASKS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW OF NEW ENCRYPTION REGS
"Shell Game" Attempts to Continue Unconstitutional Rules
December 30, 1996
Electronic Frontier Foundation Contacts:
Shari Steele, Staff Attorney
+1 301 375 8856, ssteele@eff.org
John Gilmore, Founding Board Member
+1 415 221 6524, gnu@toad.com
Cindy Cohn, McGlashan & Sarrail
+1 415 341 2585, cindy@mcglashan.com
San Francisco - Laywers for Professor Dan Bernstein today asked the
Government to delay enforcement of new encryption restrictions until
they can be reviewed by a court for Constitutionality. The new
regulations contain the same features struck down earlier this month
by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel.
"The government apparently decided to ignore Judge Patel's findings.",
said Cindy Cohn, lead attorney in the case. "Instead of listening
to Judge Patel's analysis and attempting to fix the regulations, they
simply issued new ones with the same problems. We are giving them a
a chance to fix this before we bring the issue up in court."
President Clinton ordered on November 15 that the regulations be moved
from the State Department to the Commerce Department. Judge Patel's
decision of December 6 (released December 16th) struck down the State
Department regulations as a "paradigm of standardless discretion" that
required Americans to get licenses from the government to publish
information and software about encryption. Over Christmas, the
Clinton Administration published its new Commerce Department
regulations, containing all the same problems, and put them into
immediate effect today.
The new regulations once again put Professor Bernstein at risk of
prosecution for teaching a class on encryption and publishing his
class materials on the Internet. His class begins on January 13 at
the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Professor Bernstein's letter of today proposes that the Government
agree to delay enforcement of the new regulations while Judge Patel
reviews them for Constitutionality. Failing that, Professor Bernstein
will ask the court for a temporary restraining order to block
their enforcement.
"The government is forcing us to go back to Judge Patel again to have
the new regulations declared facially unconstitutional." said Ms.
Cohn. "This time we believe that a nationwide injunction against
their enforcement is merited."
"The new encryption rules are a pointless shell game," said John
Gilmore, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which
backed the suit. "Industry and Congress had asked that the draconian
State Department regulations be eliminated in favor of existing,
reasonable, Commerce Department regulations. Judge Patel invalidated
the State Department regulations because they were draconian. Rather
than address the concerns of either, President Clinton moved the
draconian regulations into the Commerce Department -- and made them
tougher in the process. It's his political decision whether to ignore
and anger industry leaders, but he can't ignore a federal district
court judge."
Civil libertarians have long argued that encryption should be widely
deployed on the Internet and throughout society to protect privacy,
prove the authenticity of transactions, and improve computer security.
Industry has argued that the restrictions hobble them in building
secure products, both for U.S. and worldwide use, risking America's
current dominant position in computer and communications technology.
Government officials in the FBI and NSA argue that the technology is
too dangerous to permit citizens to use it, because it provides privacy
to criminals as well as ordinary citizens.
Background on the case
The plaintiff in the case, Daniel J. Bernstein, Research Assistant
Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, developed an
"encryption algorithm" (a recipe or set of instructions) that he
wanted to publish in printed journals as well as on the Internet.
Bernstein sued the government, claiming that the government's
requirements that he register as an arms dealer and seek government
permission before publication was a violation of his First Amendment
right of free speech. This was required by the Arms Export Control
Act and its implementing regulations, the International Traffic in
Arms Regulations. The new regulations have the same effect, using the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Export Administration
Regulations, and a "state of national emergency" that President
Clinton declared in 1994 and has re-declared annually.
In the first phase of this litigation, the government argued that
since Bernstein's ideas were expressed, in part, in computer language
(source code), they were not protected by the First Amendment. On
April 15, 1996, Judge Patel rejected that argument and held for the
first time that computer source code is protected speech for purposes
of the First Amendment.
On December 6, Judge Patel ruled that the Arms Export Control Act is a
prior restraint on speech, because it requires Bernstein to apply for
and obtain from the government a license to publish his ideas. Using
the Pentagon Papers case as precedent, she ruled that the government's
"interest of national security alone does not justify a prior
restraint."
Judge Patel also held that the government's required licensing
procedure fails to provide adequate procedural safeguards. When the
Government acts legally to suppress protected speech, it must reduce
the chance of illegal censorship by the bureacrats involved -- in this
case, the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls (ODTC).
Her decision states, "Because the ITAR licensing scheme fails to
provide for a time limit on the licensing decision, for prompt
judicial review and for a duty on the part of the ODTC to go to court
and defend a denial of a license, the ITAR licensing scheme as applied
to Category XIII(b) acts as an unconstitutional prior restraint in
violation of the First Amendment."
She also ruled that the export controls restrict speech based on the
content of the speech, not for any other reason. "Category XIII(b) is
directed very specifically at applied scientific research and speech
on the topic of encryption." The new regulations continue to insist
that the Government is regulating the speech because of its function,
not its content.
The judge also found that the ITAR is vague, because it does not
adequately define how information that is available to the public
"through fundamental research in science and engineering" is exempt
from the export restrictions. "This subsection ... does not give
people ... a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited."
Judge Patel also adopted a narrower definition of the term "defense
article" in order to save it from unconstitutional vagueness.
ABOUT THE ATTORNEYS
Lead counsel on the case is Cindy Cohn of the San Mateo law firm of
McGlashan & Sarrail, who is offering her services pro bono. Major
additional pro bono legal assistance is being provided by Lee Tien of
Berkeley; M. Edward Ross of the San Francisco law firm of Steefel,
Levitt & Weiss; James Wheaton and Elizabeth Pritzker of the First
Amendment Project in Oakland; and Robert Corn-Revere, Julia Kogan,
and Jeremy Miller of the Washington, DC, law firm of Hogan & Hartson.
ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit civil
liberties organization working in the public interest to protect
privacy, free expression, and access to online resources and
information. EFF is a primary sponsor of the Bernstein case. EFF
helped to find Bernstein pro bono counsel, is a member of the
Bernstein legal team, and helped collect members of the academic
community and computer industry to support this case.
Full text of the lawsuit and other paperwork filed in the case is
available from EFF's online archives at:
http://www.eff.org/bernstein
The full text of today's letter from Professor Bernstein to the
Government, and proposed stipulation, are at:
http://www.eff.org/bernstein/Legal/961230.letter
http://www.eff.org/bernstein/Legal/961230_proposed.stipulation
The new Commerce Department Export Administration Regulations are
available at:
http://www.eff.org/pub/Privacy/ITAR_export/961230_commerce.regs
* WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
Have a look at the regs, and make your voice heard. The Commerce Dept.
is soliciting public feedback on these regulations, and needs to hear
from a lot of people what the problems are. Written comments (six copies)
should be sent to: Nancy Crowe, Regulatory Policy Division, Bureau of
Export Administration, Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Room 2705, Washington, D.C.
20230 USA. DEADLINE: February 13, 1997.
------------------------------
Subject: 6th Annual EFF Pioneer Awards - Call for Nominations
-------------------------------------------------------------
THE SIXTH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL EFF PIONEER AWARDS:
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Deadline: February 1, 1997
* Please feel free to redistribute this notice in appropriate forums. *
In every field of human endeavor,there are those dedicated to expanding
knowledge,freedom,efficiency and utility. Along the electronic frontier,
this is especially true. To recognize this, the Electronic Frontier
Foundation established the Pioneer Awards for deserving individuals and
organizations.
The Pioneer Awards are international and nominations are open to all.
In March of 1992, the first EFF Pioneer Awards were given in Washington
D.C. The winners were: Douglas C. Engelbart, Robert Kahn, Jim Warren, Tom
Jennings, and Andrzej Smereczynski. The 1993 Pioneer Award recipients were
Paul Baran, Vinton Cerf, Ward Christensen, Dave Hughes and the USENET
software developers, represented by the software's originators Tom
Truscott and Jim Ellis. The 1994 Pioneer Award winners were Ivan
Sutherland, Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman, Murray Turoff and Starr
Roxanne Hiltz, Lee Felsenstein, Bill Atkinson, and the WELL. The 1995
Pioneer Award winners were Philip Zimmermann, Anita Borg, and Willis Ware.
The 1996 Pioneer Award winners were Robert Metcalfe, Peter Neumann,
Shabbir Safdar and Matthew Blaze.
The 6th Annual Pioneer Awards will be given in Burlingame, California, at
the 7th Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy in March of 1997.
All valid nominations will be reviewed by a panel of judges chosen
for their knowledge of computer-based communications and the technical,
legal, and social issues involved in computer technology and computer
communications.
There are no specific categories for the Pioneer Awards, but the
following guidelines apply:
1) The nominees must have made a substantial contribution to the
health, growth, accessibility, or freedom of computer-based
communications.
2) The contribution may be technical, social, economic or cultural.
3) Nominations may be of individuals, systems, or organizations in the
private or public sectors.
4) Nominations are open to all, and you may nominate more than one
recipient. You may nominate yourself or your organization.
5) All nominations, to be valid, must contain your reasons, however
brief, for nominating the individual or organization, along with a means of
contacting the nominee, and your own contact number. Anonymous nominations
will be allowed, but we prefer to be able to contact the nominating
parties in the event that we need more information..
6) Every person or organization, with the single exception of EFF staff
members, are eligible for Pioneer Awards.
7) Persons or representatives of organizations receiving a Pioneer
Award will be invited to attend the ceremony at the Foundation's expense.
You may nominate as many as you wish, but please use one form per
nomination. You may return the forms to us via email to:
pioneer@eff.org
You may fax them to us at:
+1 415 436 9993
Just tell us the name of the nominee, the phone number or email address at
which the nominee can be reached, and, most important, why you feel the
nominee deserves the award. You may attach supporting documentation.
Please include your own name, address, and phone number.
We're looking for the Pioneers of the Electronic Frontier that have made
and are making a difference. Thanks for helping us find them,
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
-------EFF Pioneer Awards Nomination Form------
Please return to the Electronic Frontier Foundation the following
information about your nominee for the Pioneer Awards:
Nominee's name:
Title:
Company/Organization:
Contact number or email address:
Reason for nomination:
Your name and contact information:
Extra documentation attached:
DEADLINE: ALL NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE ELECTRONIC FRONTIER
FOUNDATION BY MIDNIGHT, US PACIFIC STANDARD TIME, FEBRUARY 1, 1997.
------------------------------
Upcoming Events
---------------
This schedule lists EFF events, and those we feel might be of interest to
our members. EFF events (those sponsored by us or featuring an EFF speaker)
are marked with a "*" instead of a "-" after the date. Simlarly, government
events (such as deadlines for comments on reports or testimony submission,
or conferences at which government representatives are speaking) are marked
with "!" in place of the "-" ("!?" means a govt. speaker may appear, but
we don't know for certain yet.) And likewise, "+" in place of "-"
indicates a non-USA event. If it's a foreign EFF event with govt. people,
it'll be "*!+" instead of "-". You get the idea.
The latest version of the full EFF calendar is available from:
ftp: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/calendar.eff
gopher: gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF, calendar.eff
http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/calendar.eff
See also our new Now-Up-to-Date HTML calendar at:
http://events.eff.org
1997
Jan. 10 - PHILADELPHIA - CALL FOR PAPERS!! - SIGIR '97 seeks original
contributions (i.e. never before published) in the broad field
of information storage and retrieval, covering the handling of
all types of information, people's behavior in information
systems, and theories, models and implementations of information
retrieval systems. Subscribe now to SIGIR '97 mailing list by
writing to Information on
SIGIR '97 will periodically be sent to the mailing list as well as
posted at http://www.acm.org/sigir/conferences/sigir97/index.html
The conference will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel in
Philadelphia, PA, USA, July 27 -- July 31, 1997
Jan. 13 + LANCASTER, UK - ECSCW'97, the Fifth European Conference on
Computer Supported Cooperative Work; deadline for paper
submissions is January 13, 1997; papers must contain an abstract
of not more than 100 words and not exceed 16 pages in length; full
formatting instructions are available from
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/papers/
queries: ecscw97-papers@comp.lancs.ac.uk
for more information:
snail mail: ECSCW'97 Conference Office
Computing Department
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YR UK
URL: http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/
email: ecscw97@comp.lancs.ac.uk
Jan. 15-
17 - WASHINGTON, DC - Universal Service '97: Redefining Universal
Telecommunications Service for the Emerging Competitive
Environment; for more information contact:
tel: +1 800 822 MEET
+1 202 842 3022 x317
URL: http://brp.com
Jan. 16-
17 - ARLINGTON, VA - NCSA International Virus Prevention Conference '97;
event will investigate "the continuing, worrisome, costly
problem of computer virus attacks, disasters and recovery;
Crystal Gateway Marriott (+1 703 271 5212);
more information:
tel: +1 717 258 1816
email: ivpc97@ncsa.com
Jan. 19-
21 - PALM SPRINGS, CA - Upside Technology Summit; "Managing Digital
Mania: An Extreme Sport for Technology Executives"; examining
effective business models and strategies in the booming world of
e-commerce; Al Franken has been invited to give a closing speech;
La Quinta Resort & Club, Palm Springs, CA; for more info contact:
URL: http://www.upside.com
tel: +1 888 33 UPSIDE
Jan. 21 *! CDA unconstitutionaly Supreme Court case: government brief due.
Jan. 23-
25 - CAMBRIDGE, MA
The Economics of Digital Information and Intellectual Property
Harvard University symposium to broaden and deepen understanding
of emerging economic and business models for global publishing
and information access and the attendant transformation of
international information markets, institutions, and businesses.
First Announcement and Call for Papers; Prospective authors should
submit short abstracts for review and comment as soon as possible.
Acceptances of abstracts and outlines are conditional pending
receipt of a satisfactory draft by December 15, 1996. Sponsored by
Harvard Law School.
email: iip@harvard.edu
regular mail: Tim Leshan, Information Infrastructure Project,
John F. Kennedy School of Government, 79 John F. Kennedy St.,
Cambridge, MA 02138
tel: 617-496-1389
fax: 617-495-5776
Jan. 28-
31 - RSA Cryptography Conference - Computerworld called last year's
event the sine qua non event of the crypto community; at various
facilities atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, the luminaries of
cryptography will gather; Right now, preparations for this
conference are underway. There are many exciting ways for
corporations and individuals to participate. Read on for
information about presenting, exhibiting, or just attending
http://www.rsa.com/conf97/
Feb. 10-
11 - Internet Society Symposium on Network and Distributed System
Security; for those interested in the practical aspects of network
and distributed system security, focusing on actual system design
and implementation, rather than theory. Dates, final call for
papers, advance program, and registration information will be
available at the URL: http://www.isoc.org/conferences/ndss97
Feb. 18-
20 - SAN JOSE, CA - DCI Internet Expo; the world's largest Internet,
Web and email conference and exposition; comprehensive program
will cover Web-enabled marketing, best practices for e-commerce
and application development; San Jose Convention Center; also
will be held April 22-24 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL;
email: ExpoReg@dciexpo.com
URL: http://www.dciexpo.com
Feb. 20 *! CDA unconstitutionaly Supreme Court case: Appellee (ACLU/ALA/
EFF/CIEC) brief due.
Feb. 24-
28 + ANGUILLA, BRITISH WEST INDIES
Financial Cryptography '97 - CALL FOR PAPERS; this is a new
conference on the security of digital financial transactions.
FC97 aims to bring together persons involved in both the
financial and data security fields to foster cooperation and
exchange of ideas. Send a cover letter and 9 copies of an extended
abstract to be received by November 29, 1996 to the Program Chair
at the address given below:
Rafael Hirschfeld
FC97 Program Chair
CWI
Kruislaan 413
1098 SJ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
email: ray@cwi.nl
phone: +31 20 592 4169
fax: +31 20 592 4199
URL: http://www.cwi.nl/conferences/FC97
Mar. 1-
5 - ACM97: The Next 50 Years of Computing; San Jose Convention
Center, March 1-5, 1997; Registration information:
URL: http://www.acm.org/acm97
tel: +1 800 342 6626
Mar. 3-
5 - NEW YORK CITY - Consumer Online Services TV; Jupiter
Communications conference featuring Steve Case of AOL and
Steve Perlman of WebTV; for more information contact:
tel: +1 800 488 4345
URL: http://www.jup.com
Mar. 7 *! CDA unconstitutionaly Supreme Court case: govt. reply brief due.
Mar. 11-
14 * 7th Conference on Computers, Freedom & Privacy (CFP97), San
Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency Hotel in Burlingame, CA.
The "cyberliberties" mega-event. Speakers will include EFF
staff counsel Mike Godwin, and many others. EFF's annual Pioneer
Awards ceremony will be held at CFP97. Early registration is
advised (registration will probably open in Jan., and reg. info
will appear on the CFP site listed below).
Email: cfpinfo@cfp.org.
URL: http://www.cfp.org
Apr. 8-
11 - FRACTAL 97: Fractals in the Natural & Applied Sciences 4th
International Working Conference; Denver Colorado. Sponsored by
IFIP; paper submissions due by Aug. 5, 1996.
Contact: Miroslav Novak, +44 181 547 2000 (voice),
+44 181 547 7562 or 7419 (fax)
Email: novak@kingston.ac.uk
Apr. 22-
24 - CHICAGO, IL - DCI Internet Expo; the world's largest Internet,
Web and email conference and exposition; comprehensive program
will cover Web-enabled marketing, best practices for e-commerce
and application development; San Jose Convention Center; also
will be held February 18-20 at the San Jose Convention Center;
email: ExpoReg@dciexpo.com
URL: http://www.dciexpo.com
June 2-
4 - American Society for Information Science 1997 Mid-Year Conference;
gathering will focus on privacy and security issues online;
Scottsdale Arizona; paper submissions due Nov. 1, 1996.
Contacts:
Gregory B. Newby, Co-Chair GSLIS/UIUC
Tel: (217) 244-7365; Email: gbnewby@uiuc.edu
Mark H. Needleman, Co chair UCOP
Tel: (510) 987-0530; Email: mhn@stubbs.ucop.edu
Karla Petersen, Panel Sessions
Tel: (312) 508-2657; Email: kpeter1@luc.edu
Richard Hill, Executive Director, ASIS
Tel: (301) 495-0900; Email: rhill@cni.org
URL: http://www.asis.org
June 14-
19 + CALGARY, CANADA
ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 97--World Conference on Educational
Multimedia and Hypermedia and World Conference on Educational
Telecommunications are jointly held international conferences,
organized by the Association for the Advancement of Computing
in Education (AACE). These annual conferences serve as multi-
disciplinary forums for the discussion and dissemination of
information on the research, development, and applications on all
topics related to multimedia/hypermedia and distance education.
We invite you to attend ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 97 and submit proposals
for papers, panels, roundtables, tutorials, workshops,
demonstrations/posters, and SIG discussions. Proposals may be
submitted in either hard copy (send 5 copies or fax 1 copy)
or in electronic form. Electronic proposals in the form of
URL addresses or ASCII files (uncoded) are preferred.
Submission Deadline: Oct. 25, 1996; Send to:
Program Chairs
ED-MEDIA 97/AACE
P.O. Box 2966
Charlottesville, VA 22902, USA
E-mail: AACE@virginia.edu; Phone: 804-973-3987; Fax: 804-978-7449
URL: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia
June 19-
20 - WASHINGTON, DC - CyberPayments '97
Conference will investigate issues of online commerce including
electronic cash and checks, credit cards, encryption systems
and security products; Sheraton Washington Hotel, Washington, DC
For more information contact:
email: vinceiaboni@msn.com
tel: +1 216 464 2618 x228
+1 800 529 7375
July 13-
17 - ACUTA 26th Annual Conference; Atlanta, Georgia.
Contact: +1 606 278 3338 (voice)
Sep. 7 -
11 + LANCASTER, UK - ECSCW'97, the Fifth European Conference on
Computer Supported Cooperative Work; deadline for paper
submissions is January 13, 1997; papers must contain an abstract
of not more than 100 words and not exceed 16 pages in length; full
formatting instructions are available from
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/papers/
queries: ecscw97-papers@comp.lancs.ac.uk
for more information:
snail mail: ECSCW'97 Conference Office
Computing Department
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YR UK
URL: http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/
email: ecscw97@comp.lancs.ac.uk
Sep. 12-
14 SAN DIEGO - Association of Online Professionals Annual
Conference; sysop trade association's yearly gathering to
discuss issues of relevance to the industry
URL: http://www.aop.org/confrnc.html
Oct. 28-
31 - EDUCOM '97; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
Contact: +1 202 872 4200 (voice)
Email: conf@educom.edu
Dec. 1 - Computer Security Day (started by Washington DC chapter of the
Assoc. for Computing Machinery, to "draw attention to computer
security during the holdiay season when it might otherwise become
lax."
------------------------------
Subject: Quote of the Day
-------------------------
"At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount
of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more
satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in
some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these
taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed
jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If
anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and
conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming
special privileges which should not be granted."
-- British comedian & satirist Eric Idle (of Monty Python's Flying Circus)
Find yourself wondering if your privacy and freedom of speech are safe
when bills to censor the Internet are swimming about in a sea of of
surveillance legislation and anti-terrorism hysteria? Worried that in
the rush to make us secure from ourselves that our government
representatives may deprive us of our essential civil liberties?
Concerned that legislative efforts nominally to "protect children" will
actually censor all communications down to only content suitable for
the playground? Alarmed by commercial and religious organizations abusing
the judicial and legislative processes to stifle satire, dissent and
criticism?
Join EFF!
http://www.eff.org/join (or send any message to info@eff.org).
Even if you don't live in the U.S., the anti-Internet hysteria will soon
be visiting a legislative body near you. If it hasn't already.
------------------------------
Subject: What YOU Can Do
------------------------
* The Communications Decency Act & Other Censorship Legislation
The Communications Decency Act and similar legislation pose serious
threats to freedom of expression online, and to the livelihoods of system
operators. The legislation also undermines several crucial privacy
protections. The CDA is likely to be found unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court. But, bowing to pressure from theocratic organizations,
Congress is likely to introduce and attempt to pass a slightly modified
version. Let your legislators know you will not stand for censorship,
nor for the wasting of millions of tax dollars on years of Supreme Court
litigation over laws that should never have even been proposed much less
passed in a democracy.
Business/industry persons concerned should alert their corporate govt.
affairs office and/or legal counsel about such censorship measures,
TODAY, while there is still time to plan.
Join in the Blue Ribbon Campaign - see http://www.eff.org/blueribbon.html
Support the EFF Cyberspace Legal Defense Fund:
http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/cyberlegal_fund_eff.announce
If you do not have full internet access (e.g. WWW), send your request
for information to ask@eff.org.
IMPORTANT! KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR LOCAL LEGISLATURE. All kinds of wacky
censorious legislation is turning up at the US state and non-US
national levels. Don't let it sneak by you - or by the online activism
community. Without locals on the look out, it's very difficult for the
Net civil liberties community to keep track of what's happening locally
as well as globally.
* Unconstitutional Restrictions on Encryption
In an effort to evade a federal judge's finding that software is
protected expression on the First Amendment, the Administration is
playing a regulatory shellgame, scrapping old State Dept. crypto regs for
"new" Commerce Dept. regs that are as bad, and in some cases worse. The
Commerce Dept. is seeking input from the people on these regulations.
Don't miss this opportunity to provide feedback to government in this
vital area.
The full text of the new regulations can be found at:
http://www.eff.org/pub/Privacy/ITAR_export/961230_commerce.regs
Have a look at the regs, and make your voice heard. The Commerce Dept.
is soliciting public feedback on these regulations, and needs to hear
from a lot of people what the problems are. Written comments (six copies)
should be sent to: Nancy Crowe, Regulatory Policy Division, Bureau of
Export Administration, Department of Commerce, 14th Street and
Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Room 2705, Washington, D.C.
20230 USA. DEADLINE: February 13, 1997.
The EFF-sponsored Bernstein case is making major headway in getting rid of
the unconstitutional export restrictions against encryption software and
publications. However, the case is only in its first phase. It will
probably have to go all the way to the Supreme Court, and takes resources.
Please support EFF's Cyberspace Legal Defense Fund
(http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/cyberlegal_fund_eff.announce), and/or
become a member of EFF (http://www.eff.org/join).
* Find Out Who Your Congresspersons Are
Writing letters to, faxing, and phoning your representatives in Congress
is one very important strategy of activism, and an essential way of
making sure YOUR voice is heard on vital issues.
If you are having difficulty determining who your US legislators are,
try contacting your local League of Women Voters, who maintain a great
deal of legislator information, or consult the free ZIPPER service
that matches Zip Codes to Congressional districts with about 85%
accuracy at:
http://www.stardot.com/~lukeseem/zip.html
Computer Currents Interactive has provided Congress contact info, sorted
by who voted for and against the Communications Decency Act:
http://www.currents.net/congress.html (NB: Some of these folks have,
fortunately, been voted out of office.)
* Join EFF!
You *know* privacy, freedom of speech and ability to make your voice heard
in government are important. You have probably participated in our online
campaigns and forums. Have you become a member of EFF yet? The best way to
protect your online rights is to be fully informed and to make your
opinions heard. EFF members are informed and are making a difference. Join
EFF today!
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End of EFFector Online v09 #16 Digest
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