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Information about organizations and individual signatories:
- The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization dedicated to developing and implementing public policies to advance civil liberties and democratic values on the Internet. From its inception in January 1995, the Center has played a leading role in policy debates on free expression on the Internet. We view the Commission's NOI through the experience of the legislative process that resulted in Congress' first attempt to regulate content on the Internet ‚ the unconstitutional Communications Decency Act (CDA). As the coordinator of the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CEIC), CDT joined with the American Library Association, and others, to rally civil liberties organizations, the library and publishing communities, Internet service providers, and individual users of the Internet to challenge the CDA.
- People For the American Way ("People For") is a nonpartisan, citizens organization with more than 300,000 members nationwide, established to promote and protect civil and constitutional rights. People For has been actively involved in efforts to increase voter registration and citizen participation in the political process and is interested in protecting the integrity of our participatory democracy in a manner consistent with First Amendment values and principles.
- The ACLU is one of the nation's premier defenders of First Amendment Rights of Free Speech and Association. The ACLU has a long interest in the effect of the campaign finance laws on speech and has litigated numerous cases on the subject. The ACLU has also championed the free speech rights of Internet users and brought the landmark case of Reno v. ACLU.
- The Free Congress Foundation a non-partisan research and education foundation dedicated to conservative governance, traditional values, and institutional reform. Issue priorities include judicial activism, technology policy, and cultural conservatism. The Center for Technology Policy is a project of the Free Congress Foundation, a non-profit research and education foundation. The Center's focus is on technology policy in the area of privacy and our Constitutional rights, specifically addressing national ID, medical databases, financial databases, the Internet, encryption and surveillance issues.
- The American Policy Center is a privately funded, nonprofit, tax-exempt grassroots action and education foundation dedicated to the promotion of free enterprise and limited government regulations over commerce and individuals.
- The George Washington University's Democracy Online Project promotes the development of online politics in a manner which upholds democratic principles and values. It regards the FEC's regulation of campaigns as a crucial indicator of how well the U.S. electoral process, which is being transformed by the rise of online media, accommodates such essentials of democratic politics as free speech, universal access, government accountability, public deliberation, and social tolerance. Accordingly, the Project will continue to study and comment on the FEC's activities with respect to the Internet.
- The California Voter Foundation (CVF) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization advancing new technologies to improve democracy. Since 1994, CVF has
published nonpartisan guides on the Internet to help California voters make
more informed election choices. We do not take positions on any ballot
issues, and we include all candidates -- major and minor party alike -- in
our voter information resources. CVF also advocates for "digital sunlight"
by promoting electronic filing and Internet disclosure of campaign finance
data.
- Minnesota E-Democracy is a nonpartisan citizen-based project, whose mission is to improve participation in democracy in Minnesota through the use of information networks.
- H.A.R.T.land, Hunting, Access, Recreation, Trespass is a very small property rights group in SE Minnesota.
- mindshare Internet Campaigns LLC is an online campaign strategies firm based in Washington DC. Mindshare specializes in helping non-profits, trade associations, and coalitions harness the unique power of the Internet to advance public policy objectives. Before starting mindshare Internet Campaigns in 1997, co-founders Jonah Seiger and Shabbir Safdar were leaders in the fight to defeat the Communications Decency Act. Both are recognized experts on the subject of the role of the Internet in the democratic process.
- PoliticsOnline provides online fundraising and Internet tools for politics.
- Robert K. Arena, Jr., Principal in Presage, Inc. (http://www.presageinc.com), was Director of Internet Strategy for Dole for President and Dole/Kemp '96. In 1997, he was responsible for Internet strategy for Governor Christie Whitman's reelection campaign. In 1998, he was responsible for Governor Pataki's 1998 reelection Internet strategy. Since then, he's been a consultant to the Republican National Committee and the Markle Foundation's Web White and Blue project.
- Tavel & Stewart is a public interest law firm, bringing individuals, "a whole new boutique of wonderful First Amendment litigation." [J. Scalia]