======================================================================== CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE EXON/GORTON COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT (SEE THE LIST OF CAMPAIGN COALITION MEMBERS AT THE END) Update: -The Latest News: The Senate voted to attach the Communications Decency Act to the Telecom Reform bill. Leahy's alternative was not attached to the Telecom Reform bill. -What You Can Do Now CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT June 14, 1995 PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL June 25, 1995 REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS Distributed by the Voters Telecommunications Watch (vtw@vtw.org) ________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS Background The Latest News What You Can Do Now For More Information List Of Participating Organizations ________________________________________________________________________ BACKGROUND The Communications Decency Act (sponsored by Sen. Exon and Gorton) would criminalize many forms of expression on online systems. Many believe it to be unconstitutional, and a fight to oppose it has been waged since its introduction. It was recently attached to the fast-tracked Telecommunications Deregulation bill, which is moving quickly through Congress. ________________________________________________________________________ THE LATEST NEWS Right up until the last minute, callers reported weary Senatorial staffers continued to report a deluge of incoming calls, almost all against the Exon/Coats bill and supporting the Leahy alternative. The Senate debated the Exon/Coats/Gorton Communications Decency Act and the Leahy alternative today (June 14, 1995) starting at about 3:30pm EST for 90 minutes. The debate was opened by Senator Exon who read a prayer to protect against computer pornography. Senators Exon (D-NE) and Coats (R-IN) spoke in favor of their position. Senator Gorton (R-WA) was mysteriously absent from the debate. Exon referred those that signed the petition to prevent his censorship bill as "selfish". Exon presented letters from many groups in support of his bill, including the Christian Coalition, the Family Research Council, the National Law Center for Families. He also stated that 75% of computer owners have refused the join the Internet because the obscene material they feared on the Internet. Senators Byrd (D-WV) and Heflin (D-AL) cosponsored the Exon bill at the last minute. Senators Leahy (D-VT) and Feingold (D-WI) spoke passionately about the First Amendment and the Internet. Feingold warned against the dangers of chilling free speech. Leahy brought out the monster petition in support of his alternative (it looks pretty impressive on television) and proceeded to try to debunk the myths Exon promulgated about the Internet. He also trumpeted the success of the Internet, and pointed out it wouldn't have been nearly as successful if the US government had tried to micro-manage it. Both Exon and Leahy then gave back extra debating time and went to a vote on the bill. The Exon bill was successfully attached to the Telecomm Reform bill (84-16). The Leahy alternative was not attached to the Telecom Reform bill. Questions and answers: Q: What does this mean? A: It means we lost this round. The unconstitutional Exon Communications Decency Act was attached to the Telecomm Reform bill. Q: What's the next step? A: Next, we need to ensure that a House equivalent to the Exon Communications Decency Act is not attached to the House Telecomm Reform bill. Q: Where can I find more information about the bill? A: Check below. ________________________________________________________________________ WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW -- U.S. and non-U.S. citizens 1. Familiarize yourself with the version of the bill that passed, and the transcript of the Senate debate. (directions to obtain these are below) 2. Check the voting list below. It wouldn't hurt to send a nice letter, email, or fax to the Senators that voted to defeat the Communications Decency Act. Hateful mail to Senators who did not vote your way is not only *bad form*, but likely to become illegal soon anyway, under the Communications Decency Act. In other words, take some time to cool off. 3. If you don't receive Coalition alerts reliably through mail or news, join the mailing list by sending mail to listproc@vtw.org with "subscribe vtw-announce Firstname Lastname". We'll have to fight this battle in the House soon and you should be informed. 4. Relax, it's not the end of the world. We still have this battle to fight in the House of Representatives and then in the conference committee. This is a setback, but we haven't lost yet. ________________________________________________________________________ RESULTS OF THE SENATE VOTE Senators who voted to defeat the Communications Decency Act (A polite letter to congratulate them for defending your free speech rights would be appropriate.) D ST Name (Party) Phone Fax = == ================== ============== ============== D CT Lieberman, Joseph I. 1-202-224-4041 1-202-224-9750 D DE Biden Jr., Joseph R. 1-202-224-5042 1-202-224-0139 D IL Simon, Paul 1-202-224-2152 1-202-224-0868 senator@simon.senate.gov D IL Moseley-Braun, Carol 1-202-224-2854 1-202-224-2626 D MA Kennedy, Edward M. 1-202-224-4543 1-202-224-2417 senator@kennedy.senate.gov D MI Levin, Carl 1-202-224-6221 na D MN Wellstone, Paul 1-202-224-5641 1-202-224-8438 D NM Bingaman, Jeff 1-202-224-5521 na Senator_Bingaman@bingaman.senate.gov D NY Moynihan, Daniel P. 1-202-224-4451 na D OH Glenn, John 1-202-224-3353 1-202-224-7983 R RI Chafee, John H. 1-202-224-2921 na D VA Robb, Charles S. 1-202-224-4024 1-202-224-8689 Senator_Robb@robb.senate.gov vascr@CapAccess.org D VT Leahy, Patrick J. 1-202-224-4242 1-202-224-3595 senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov R VT Jeffords, James M. 1-202-224-5141 na D WA Murray, Patty 1-202-224-2621 1-202-224-0238 D WI Feingold, Russell 1-202-224-5323 na russell_feingold@feingold.senate.gov Senators who voted to support the (CDA) Communications Decency Act (They voted for the CDA and to curtail your free speech rights. Writing them an impolite and nasty letter would be a bad idea, and may soon be illegal under the CDA anyway. Take some time to cool down.) D ST Name (Party) Phone Fax = == ================== ============== ============== R AK Murkowski, Frank H. 1-202-224-6665 1-202-224-5301 R AK Stevens, Ted 1-202-224-3004 1-202-224-1044 D AL Heflin, Howell T. 1-202-224-4124 1-202-224-3149 R AL Shelby, Richard C. 1-202-224-5744 1-202-224-3416 D AR Bumpers, Dale 1-202-224-4843 1-202-224-6435 D AR Pryor, David 1-202-224-2353 1-202-224-8261 R AZ Kyl, Jon 1-202-224-4521 1-202-228-1239 R AZ McCain, John 1-202-224-2235 1-602-952-8702 D CA Boxer, Barbara 1-202-224-3553 na D CA Feinstein, Dianne 1-202-224-3841 1-202-228-3954 R CO Campbell, Ben N. 1-202-224-5852 1-202-225-0228 R CO Brown, Henry 1-202-224-5941 1-202-224-6471 D CT Dodd, Christopher J. 1-202-224-2823 na R DE Roth Jr. William V. 1-202-224-2441 1-202-224-2805 D FL Graham, Robert 1-202-224-3041 1-202-224-2237 R FL Mack, Connie 1-202-224-5274 1-202-224-8022 D GA Nunn, Samuel 1-202-224-3521 1-202-224-0072 R GA Coverdell, Paul 1-202-224-3643 1-202-228-3783 D HI Akaka, Daniel K. 1-202-224-6361 1-202-224-2126 D HI Inouye, Daniel K. 1-202-224-3934 1-202-224-6747 D IA Harkin, Thomas 1-202-224-3254 1-202-224-7431 R IA Grassley, Charles E. 1-202-224-3744 1-202-224-6020 R ID Craig, Larry E. 1-202-224-2752 1-202-224-2573 R ID Kempthorne, Dirk 1-202-224-6142 1-202-224-5893 R IN Coats, Daniel R. 1-202-224-5623 1-202-224-8964 R IN Lugar, Richard G. 1-202-224-4814 1-202-224-7877 R KS Dole, Robert 1-202-224-6521 1-202-224-8952 R KS Kassebaum, Nancy L. 1-202-224-4774 1-202-224-3514 D KY Ford, Wendell H. 1-202-224-4343 1-202-224-0046 R KY McConnell, Mitch 1-202-224-2541 1-202-224-2499 D LA Breaux, John B. 1-202-224-4623 na D LA Johnston, J. Bennett 1-202-224-5824 1-202-224-2952 D MA Kerry, John F. 1-202-224-2742 1-202-224-8525 D MD Mikulski, Barbara A. 1-202-224-4654 1-202-224-8858 D MD Sarbanes, Paul S. 1-202-224-4524 1-202-224-1651 R ME Snowe, Olympia 1-202-224-5344 1-202-224-6853 R ME Cohen, William S. 1-202-224-2523 1-202-224-2693 R MI Abraham, Spencer 1-202-224-4822 1-202-224-8834 R MN Grams, Rod 1-202-224-3244 na R MO Bond, Christopher S. 1-202-224-5721 1-202-224-8149 R MO Ashcroft, John 1-202-224-6154 na R MS Cochran, Thad 1-202-224-5054 1-202-224-3576 R MS Lott, Trent 1-202-224-6253 1-202-224-2262 D MT Baucus, Max 1-202-224-2651 na R MT Burns, Conrad R. 1-202-224-2644 1-202-224-8594 R NC Faircloth, D. M. 1-202-224-3154 1-202-224-7406 R NC Helms, Jesse 1-202-224-6342 1-202-224-7588 D ND Conrad, Kent 1-202-224-2043 1-202-224-7776 D ND Dorgan, Byron L. 1-202-224-2551 1-202-224-1193 D NE Kerrey, Bob 1-202-224-6551 1-202-224-7645 D NE Exon, J. J. 1-202-224-4224 1-202-224-5213 R NH Gregg, Judd 1-202-224-3324 1-202-224-4952 R NH Smith, Robert 1-202-224-2841 1-202-224-1353 D NJ Bradley, William 1-202-224-3224 1-202-224-8567 D NJ Lautenberg, Frank R. 1-202-224-4744 1-202-224-9707 R NM Domenici, Pete V. 1-202-224-6621 1-202-224-7371 D NV Bryan, Richard H. 1-202-224-6244 1-202-224-1867 D NV Reid, Harry 1-202-224-3542 1-202-224-7327 R NY D'Amato, Alfonse M. 1-202-224-6542 1-202-224-5871 R OH Dewine, Michael 1-202-224-2315 1-202-224-6519 R OK Inhofe, James 1-202-224-4721 R OK Nickles, Donald 1-202-224-5754 1-202-224-6008 R OR Hatfield, Mark O. 1-202-224-3753 1-202-224-0276 R OR Packwood, Robert 1-202-224-5244 1-202-228-3576 R PA Santorum, Rick 1-202-224-6324 na R PA Specter, Arlen 1-202-224-4254 1-717-782-4920 D RI Pell, Claiborne 1-202-224-4642 1-202-224-4680 D SC Hollings, Ernest F. 1-202-224-6121 1-202-224-4293 R SC Thurmond, Strom 1-202-224-5972 1-202-224-1300 D SD Daschle, Thomas A. 1-202-224-2321 1-202-224-2047 R SD Pressler, Larry 1-202-224-5842 1-202-224-1259* R TN Thompson, Fred 1-202-224-4944 1-202-228-3679 R TN Frist, Bill 1-202-224-3344 1-202-224-8062 R TX Hutchison, Kay Bailey 1-202-224-5922 1-202-224-0776 R TX Gramm, Phil 1-202-224-2934 1-202-228-2856 R UT Bennett, Robert 1-202-224-5444 1-202-224-6717 R UT Hatch, Orrin G. 1-202-224-5251 1-202-224-6331 R VA Warner, John W. 1-202-224-2023 1-202-224-6295 R WA Gorton, Slade 1-202-224-3441 1-202-224-9393 D WI Kohl, Herbert H. 1-202-224-5653 1-202-224-9787 D WV Byrd, Robert C. 1-202-224-3954 1-202-224-4025 D WV Rockefeller, John D. 1-202-224-6472 na R WY Simpson, Alan K. 1-202-224-3424 1-202-224-1315 R WY Thomas, Craig 1-202-224-6441 1-202-224-3230 ________________________________________________________________________ FOR MORE INFORMATION We will be archiving the version of the Communications Decency Act that passed, the roll call vote that went with it, and the transcript of the Senate debate. We will make these available through the methods below as soon as they are available through the Government Printing Office (this usually takes about 24 hours). Please try to use the Web or Gopher sites first before using our email server. Web Sites URL:http://www.panix.com/vtw/exon/ URL:http://epic.org/ URL:http://www.eff.org/pub/Alerts/ URL:http://www.cdt.org/cda.html FTP Archives URL:ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/policy/freespeech/00-INDEX.FREESPEECH URL:ftp://ftp.eff.org/pub/Alerts/ Gopher Archives: URL:gopher://gopher.panix.com/11/vtw/exon URL:gopher://gopher.eff.org/11/Alerts Email: vtw@vtw.org (put "send help" in the subject line) cda-info@cdt.org (General CDA information) cda-stat@cdt.org (Current status of the CDA) ________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS In order to use the net more effectively, several organizations have joined forces on a single Congressional net campaign to stop the Communications Decency Act. American Civil Liberties Union * American Communication Association * American Council for the Arts * Arts & Technology Society * Association of Alternative Newsweeklies * biancaTroll productions * Californians Against Censorship Together * Center For Democracy And Technology * Centre for Democratic Communications * Center for Public Representation * Citizen's Voice - New Zealand * Computer Communicators Association * Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility * Cross Connection * Cyber-Rights Campaign * CyberQueer Lounge * Dutch Digital Citizens' Movement * Electronic Frontier Canada * Electronic Frontier Foundation * Electronic Frontier Foundation - Austin * Electronic Frontiers Australia * Electronic Frontiers Houston * Electronic Frontiers New Hampshire * Electronic Privacy Information Center * Feminists For Free Expression * First Amendment Teach-In * Florida Coalition Against Censorship * Friendly Anti-Censorship Taskforce for Students * Hands Off! The Net * Human Rights Watch * Inland Book Company * Inner Circle Technologies, Inc. * Inst. for Global Communications * Internet On-Ramp, Inc. * The Libertarian Party * Marijuana Policy Project * Metropolitan Data Networks Ltd. * MindVox * National Bicycle Greenway * National Coalition Against Censorship * National Public Telecomputing Network * National Writers Union * Oregon Coast RISC * Panix Public Access Internet * People for the American Way * Rock Out Censorship * Society for Electronic Access * The Thing International BBS Network * The WELL * Voters Telecommunications Watch (Note: All 'Electronic Frontier' organizations are independent entities, not EFF chapters or divisions.) ________________________________________________________________________ End Alert ========================================================================