The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization. The Center's mission is to develop and advocate public policies that advance constitutional civil liberties and democratic values in new computer and communications technologies.
CDT POLICY POST 2/9/95
MESSAGE:
The Interactive Working Group (a coalition of public interest organizations, members of the computer and communications industry, and associations representing librarians and the press, chaired by the Center For Democracy and Technology) today sent a letter to Senators Pressler, Exon, and the Senate Commerce Committee. The letter expresses serious concerns about S. 314 (the "Communications Decency Act of 1995") from the standpoint of the First Amendment and the viability of the entire communications industry. Because of these and other concerns, the coalition asked Senator Pressler and Exon not to incorporate S. 314 into Senate telecommunications reform legislation which is expected to be introduced later this month.
The letter and a list of signatories are attached below.
S. 314 would expand current law restricting indecency and harassment on telephone services to all telecommunications providers and expand criminal liability to all content carried by all forms of telecommunications networks. The bill would amend Section 223 of the Communications Act (47 U.S.C. 223), which requires carriers to take steps to prevent minors from gaining access to indecent audiotext and criminalizes harassment accomplished over interstate telephone lines.
If enacted, S. 314 would compel service providers to severely restrict your online activities. Your access to email, discussion lists, usenet, the world wide web, gopher, and ftp archives would be substantially reduced or cut off entirely. The bill would also force providers to closely monitor and pre-screen your electronic mail, and refuse to transmit any message or other content which may be considered to be indecent.
This bill poses a significant threat to freedom of speech and the free flow of information in cyberspace. The bill also raises fundamental questions about the right of government to control content on communications networks, as well as the locus of liability for content carried in these new communications media.
March 2, 1995
Chairman Larry Pressler
Senate Commerce Committee
United States Senate
Washington, DC
Senator James Exon
United States Senate
528 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC
Dear Chairman Pressler and Senator Exon:
We write regarding the Communications Decency Act of 1995 (S. 314), introduced recently by Senator James Exon and Senator Slade Gorton. We request that such legislation not be considered as part of the fast track telecommunications reform measure now before the Commerce Committee. The undersigned members of the computer and communications industry, the press, and the public interest community believe that this legislation raises fundamental questions regarding the involvement of government in content regulation in new interactive media.
Developing means for detecting and holding wrong-doers responsible for illegal activity, and permitting parents to control access by their children to adult material while still preserving our constitutional liberties, are important goals shared by many in our society. However, the choice of methods for achieving these goals raises serious free speech and censorship problems. Our commitment is to work with you and your colleagues to resolve these issues in ways which will enable individual and parental choice, without impairing the free flow of information or stifling development of emerging technology through bureaucratic regulation.
In recognition of the seriousness of these issues, the undersigned organizations have formed a working group to identify legal and regulatory options that maximize parental control, individual accountability, and the free flow of information in new communication technologies. We are encouraged that new interactive communications technologies -- including online services and interactive television offered by cable, telephone companies, and others in the public sector -- already offer technological means to give consumers choice over the content that they receive and enable parents to control access to controversial material. Many more such features are in development. Market signals already indicate to those of us who are building the Information Superhighway that users want choice of programming and control over the materials to which their children are exposed. Information providers in the public and private sector are working to meet these needs.
We plan to devote intensive effort toward developing comprehensive solutions to the problems raised by S. 314. Desirable solutions will take advantage of the empowering potential of new technology for increased user control over programming and information content. However, we must emphasize that we strongly disagree with the approach embodied in this legislation that would in effect require those who merely provide the means of transmitting messages to censor the content of such materials, as well as become liable for the criminal actions of others based solely on the content of the messages transmitted. Applying the regulatory models developed for today's mass media to the interactive media of tomorrow, will only serve to thwart the development of new media.
In the coming year, we hope to have the opportunity to work diligently with you and other policy makers to assure that the empowering potential of interactive media is achieved, and to arrive at comprehensive, forward looking solutions to the issues before us without jeopardizing fundamental First Amendment values.
Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union
America Online, Inc.
Association of Research Libraries
American Society of Newspaper Editors
American Association of Law Librarians
American Library Association
Apple Computer
Business Software Alliance
Cavanagh Associates
Center for Democracy and Technology
Compuserve Incorporated
Consumer Federation of America
Cox Enterprises, Inc
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Messaging Association
Information Technology Industry Council
Interactive Services Association
Media Access Project
Newspaper Association of America
National Newspaper Association
National Retail Federation
People for the American Way Action Fund
Recreational Software Advisory Council
SmithKline Beecham
Software Publishers Association
Targetbase Marketing
The Internet Company
Time Warner
cc: Members, Senate Commerce Committee
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON S. 314 AND WHAT YOU CAN DO
HELP STOP S.314 Send a letter or call your Senator! For information on how you can help, send a message to vtw@vtw.org.
DOCUMENTS
CDT's analysis of S. 314 and the text of the bill can be obtained at the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW) archive:
WWW URL: gopher://gopher.panix.com/11/vtw/exon
Gopher command : gopher -p 1/vtw/exon gopher.panix.com
You can also obtain information by sending a message to (s314-info@cdt.org)
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest organization. The Center's mission is to develop and advocate public policies that advance constitutional civil liberties and democratic values in new computer and communications technologies.
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