------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____ _____ _______
/ ____| __ \__ __| ____ ___ ____ __
| | | | | | | | / __ \____ / (_)______ __ / __ \____ _____/ /_
| | | | | | | | / /_/ / __ \/ / / ___/ / / / / /_/ / __ \/ ___/ __/
| |____| |__| | | | / ____/ /_/ / / / /__/ /_/ / / ____/ /_/ (__ ) /_
\_____|_____/ |_| /_/ \____/_/_/\___/\__, / /_/ \____/____/\__/
The Center for Democracy and Technology /____/ Volume 4, Number 25
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CDT POLICY POST Volume 4, Number 25 October 7, 1998
CONTENTS:
(1) House and Senate Each Pass Censorship Legislation, Protections for
Children's Privacy and Internet Tax Freedom Act Held Hostage
(2) ACT NOW TO FIGHT INTERNET CENSORSHIP!
(3) Commerce Department and Justice Department Express Concerns Over
Internet Censorship Bill
(4) Subscription Information
(5) About CDT
** This document may be redistributed freely with this banner intact **
Excerpts may be re-posted with permission of
_____________________________________________________________________________
(1) House and Senate Each Pass Censorship Legislation, Protections for
Children's Privacy and Internet Tax Freedom Act Held Hostage
In a flurry of activity at the close of the session, the House passed and
the Senate is poised to pass several significant bills affecting the
future of privacy and free speech on the Internet.
The House and Senate can each now take up the bills reported by the other
chamber, providing one last chance for the Internet community to weigh in.
SENATE ACTIVITY:
Three bills were attached as amendments to the "Internet Tax Freedom Act
(ITFA)" (S.442), which passed through the Senate today.
* Censorship: "Communications Decency Act (CDA) II" (S. 1482), sponsored
by Senator Coats
By a vote of 98 to 1, the Senate attached a new version of Senator Coats'
"Communications Decency Act (CDA) II" (S. 1482) to the ITFA. The new bill
restricts "harmful to minors" speech online, but lacks the civil and
criminal penalties contained in earlier versions of both the Coats and
Oxley bills. Instead, it denies the tax relief in the ITFA to those who do
not comply. Senator Leahy was the lone dissenting vote. Senator Burns
spoke out against the amendment.
* Kids Privacy: "Childrens' Online Privacy Protection Act" (S. 2326),
sponsored by Senators Bryan, Burns and McCain
Requires parental consent for the collection of personally identifiable
information from children 12 and under. The bill allows kids to seek and
receive information via email without parental consent as long as the
information is only used for the single purpose of answering a child's
inquiry. CDT supports this amendment.
* Digital Signatures: "Paperwork Elimination Act" (S. 2107), sponsored by
Senator Abraham
Creates a framework for government acceptance of digital signatures. It
includes forward-looking privacy language to prevent the disclosure of
personal
information disclosed in the use of digital signatures to communicate with the
federal government.
HOUSE ACTIVITY:
* Censorship: "Child Online Protection Act (CDA-II)" (HR 3783), sponsored
by Rep. Oxley
The House passed a bill that married the "harmful to minors" CDA-II
provisions with the protections for children's privacy contained in the
"Childrens' Online Privacy Protection Act" (S. 2326) (HR 4667). It has
been sent over to the Senate for action. While CDT supports the privacy
language we oppose HR 3783 and want the privacy language to move on its own.
* Roving Wiretaps: Intelligence Authorization Conference Report (HR 3496)
In a closed-door manuever, controversial "roving wiretap" provisions were
added to a major Intelligence authorization bill and passed by the House
this afternoon. Current wiretapping law allows tapping of a particular
person's phones. The provisions would dramatically expand current authority
by allowing taps on any phone used by, or "proximate" to, the person being
tapped -- no matter whose phone it is. Such a broad law invites abuse.
In the last Congress, the full House of Representatives rejected these
provisions after an open and vigorous debate. This week, behind closed
doors, a conference committee added the provisions to the important
Intelligence Authorization Conference Report, almost certain to pass the
Congress. CDT is particularly concerned that such an expansion of federal
authority should take place without a public debate.
________________________________________________________________________________
(2) ACT NOW TO FIGHT INTERNET CENSORSHIP
The next 24 hours will be crucial to the future of free speech on the
Internet. Contact your Representative to urge him/her to vote against
unconstitutional and ineffective censorship legislation.
For information on how to contact your member of Congress, please visit
CDT's Digital Democracy page at http://www.cdt.org/action for the latest
grassroots lobbying resources.
________________________________________________________________________________
(3) Commerce Department and Justice Department Express Concerns Over
Internet Censorship Bill
In a letter to Representative Bliley, Chairman of the House Commerce
Committee, the Justice Department expressed the Administration's concerns
over Representative Oxley's Children Online Protection Act. The letter
detailed three areas of concern:
* The bill would divert resources from important child protection activities --
Successful prosecutions of child pornographers would be sapped in order to
investigate and prosecute crimes under the new bill.
* The bill "would likely be challenged on constitutional grounds" -- The
bill uses content-based restrictions which were found to be unconstitutional
under ACLU v. Reno. The Department suggests that "in light of the difficult
constitutional issues," Congress should wait until a study is completed to
make its legislative recommendations.
* The scope of the bill is too broad -- Prosecutions under the bill would
be burdensome due to numerous ambiguities. The letter identifies
ten such ambiguities in the bill.
A letter was also sent to Representative Oxley from the Commerce Department
in regard to the study called for by HR 3783. The Commerce Department urged
that "Congress should refrain from imposing new access restrictions until the
Commission's (as called for by the bill) recommendations can be considered by
the Congress and Administration" and asked that civil libertarians, the child
advocacy community and law enforcement representatives be included in the
Commission.
________________________________________________________________________________
(4) SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Be sure you are up to date on the latest public policy issues affecting
civil liberties online and how they will affect you! Subscribe to the CDT
Policy Post news distribution list. CDT Policy Posts, the regular news
publication of the Center For Democracy and Technology, are received by
Internet users, industry leaders, policymakers and activists, and have
become the leading source for information about critical free speech and
privacy issues affecting the Internet and other interactive communications
media.
To subscribe to CDT's Policy Post list, send mail to
majordomo@cdt.org
in the BODY of the message (leave the SUBJECT LINE BLANK), type
subscribe policy-posts
If you ever wish to remove yourself from the list, send mail to the above
address with NOTHING IN THE SUBJECT LINE AND a BODY TEXT of:
unsubscribe policy-posts
________________________________________________________________________________
(5)ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest
organization based in Washington, DC. The Center's mission is to develop
and advocate public policies that advance democratic values and
constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications
technologies.
Contacting us:
General information: info@cdt.org
World Wide Web: http://www.cdt.org/
Snail Mail: The Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 Eye Street NW * Suite 1100 * Washington, DC 20006
(v) +1.202.637.9800 * (f) +1.202.637.0968
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Policy Post 4.25 10/07/98
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
