remmers
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CIEC Files Brief with Supreme Court in CDA Appeal [approx. 220 lines]
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Feb 21 22:47 UTC 1997 |
Here's the latest news on the Communications Decency Act's journey
to the Supreme Court. As required, I'm posting the entire message.
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Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition Update No. 17
February 20, 1997
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http://www.cdt.org/ciec/
ciec-info@cdt.org
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CIEC UPDATES are intended for members of the Citizens Internet
Empowerment Coalition. CIEC Updates are written and edited by the
Center for Democracy and Technology (http://www.cdt.org). This
document may be reposted as long as it remains in its entirety.
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** 56,000 Netizens Vs. U.S. Department of Justice. **
* The Fight To Save Free Speech Online *
Contents:
o CIEC Plaintiffs File Supreme Court Briefs in CDA Appeal
o How to Remove Yourself From This List
o More Information on CIEC and the Center for Democracy and Technology
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CITIZENS INTERNET EMPOWERMENT COALITION FILES BRIEF WITH SUPREME COURT
IN CDA APPEAL
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC) today filed its brief
before the United States Supreme Court in the legal challenge to the
Communications Decency Act (CDA), a law imposing broad content regulations
on the Internet.
The full text of the brief, along with detailed background on the case, can
be found at http://www.cdt.org/ciec/.
The CIEC plaintiffs urged the Supreme Court to agree with a lower court
ruling that the CDA violates the First Amendment by imposing restrictive,
TV-broadcast style content regulations on an inherently democratic medium.
Among other things, the CIEC argues:
* The Internet is a unique communications medium that deserves free
speech protection at least as broad as that enjoyed by print medium.
* Individual users and parents -- not the government -- should decide
what material is appropriate for their children, and;
* Simple, inexpensive user empowerment technology is the only effective
and constitutional way of limiting the access of minors to objectionable
material on the Internet.
The Communications Decency Act was ruled unconstitutional by a special
panel of three federal judges in Philadelphia in June of 1996.
Plaintiffs in the CIEC include the American Library Association, civil
liberties groups, America Online, CompuServe, Prodigy, Microsoft, Apple,
the Recording Industry Association of America, the American Society of
Newspaper Editors, the Newspaper Association of America, WIRED Magazine,
and over 56,000 individual Internet users. The lead plaintiff in the case
is the American Library Association (a full list is attached below).
The CIEC law suit, also known as ALA v. DOJ, was consolidated with a
similar case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and 20 other
plaintiffs, known as ACLU v. Reno. The cases will be argued together before
the Supreme Court on Wednesday March 19 at 10:00 am ET. The Supreme
Court's decision is expected in late June or early July.
The Government filed its brief with the Supreme Court on January 20, 1997.
The full text of that document, along with amicus briefs filed by
conservative "pro-family" groups and Members of Congress who supported the
CDA can be found online at http://www.cdt.org/ciec/
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WHAT YOU CAN DO
It's not to late to become a part of this landmark case! Internet users who
support the free flow of information online and believe that individual
users and parents, NOT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, are the best and most
appropriate judges of what material is appropriate for themselves and their
children can JOIN THE CITIZENS INTERNET EMPOWERMENT COALITION.
It's easy and it's free. Help us fight for the future of the Internet as a
viable means of free expression, education, and commerce. Visit:
http://www.cdt.org/ciec/join_ciec.html
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BACKGROUND ON THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
The Communications Decency Act, enacted in February 1996, made it a crime
punishable by up to $250,000 and 2 years in prison to "display" or "make
available" any "indecent" or "patently offensive" material on a public
forum online.
Because the Internet is a global medium with no centralized point of
control, and because every user of the Internet is a publisher with the
capacity to reach millions of people, broad government content regulations
pose a serious threat to the free flow of information online and the First
Amendment rights of all Americans.
Judge Steward Dalzell, in his opinion declaring the Communications Decency
Act unconstitutional in June, noted that the Internet is a unique
communications medium that allows users tremendous control over the
Information they receive. Dalzell stated:
"If the goal of our First Amendment jurisprudence is the 'individual
dignity and choice' that arises from 'putting the decision as to what
views shall be voiced largely into the hands of each of us', then we
should be especially vigilant in preventing content-based regulation
of a medium that every minute allows individual citizens actually to
make those decisions. Any content-based regulation of the Internet,
no matter how benign the purpose, would burn the global village to
roast the pig."
While supporters argue that the law is designed to protect children from
so-called "pornography" on the Internet, 2 separate Federal Courts have
agreed that they law goes far beyond that and would ban otherwise
constitutionally protected materials. Under the CDA, classic fiction such
as the "Catcher in the Rye" or "Ulysses", AIDS and Sex education materials,
rap lyrics, the "7-dirty words" and other material which, while offensive
to some, enjoy full First Amendment protection in print, would be illegal
if posted on a public forum on the Internet.
The outcome of this legal challenge will have far reaching implications. At
stake is nothing less than the future of the First Amendment in the
information age.
Please continue to visit the CIEC web page for the latest news and
information on the case (http://www.cdt.org/ciec)
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CITIZENS INTERNET EMPOWERMENT COALITION MEMBERSHIP
The 27 plaintiffs in the case include: American Library Association, Inc.;
America Online, Inc.; American Booksellers Association, Inc.; American
Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; American Society of Newspaper
Editors; Apple Computer, Inc.; Association of American Publishers, Inc.;
Association of Publishers, Editors and Writers; Citizens Internet
Empowerment Coalition; Commercial Internet eXchange; CompuServe
Incorporated.; Families Against Internet Censorship; Freedom to Read
Foundation, Inc.; Health Sciences Libraries Consortium; HotWired Ventures
LLC; Interactive Digital Software Association; Interactive Services
Association; Magazine Publishers of America, Inc.; Microsoft Corporation;
Microsoft Network; National Press Photographers Association; NETCOM On-Line
Communication Services, Inc.; Newspaper Association of America; Opnet,
Inc.; Prodigy Services Company; Wired Ventures, Ltd.; and, the Society of
Professional Journalists Ltd., and over 56,000 Individual Internet Users
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HOW TO REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THIS LIST
As CIEC members, you have been invited to join this list in order to
receive news updates and other information relevant to the CIEC challenge
to the Communications Decency Act.
If you ever want to remove yourself from this list, send email to
ciec-members-request@cdt.org
with 'unsubscribe ciec-members' in the SUBJECT LINE (w/o the 'quotes').
Leave the body of your message blank.
Back issues of the CIEC
Trial Bulletin -- http://www.cdt.org/ciec/bulletins/index.html
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information on the CIEC challenge, including detailed background
information on the case and other relevant materials:
* World Wide Web -- http://www.cdt.org/ciec/
* General Information about CIEC -- ciec-info@cdt.org
* Copy of the Original Complaint -- ciec-docs@cdt.org
* Specific Questions Regarding the
Coalition, including Press Inquiries -- ciec@cdt.org
* General information about the
Center for Democracy and Technology -- info@cdt.org
--
end ciec-update.17
02/20/97
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srw
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response 6 of 9:
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Mar 18 07:15 UTC 1997 |
______________________________________________________________________________
____ ___ _____ ____ _ _ _
/ ___|_ _| ____/ ___| / \ | | ___ _ __| |_ Join CIEC lead attorney
| | | || _|| | / _ \ | |/ _ \ '__| __| Bruce Ennis LIVE ONLINE
| |___ | || |__| |___ / ___ \| | __/ | | |_ after he argues the case
\____|___|_____\____| /_/ \_\_|\___|_| \__| before the Supreme Court!
______________________________________________________________________________
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition -- http://www.ciec.org
______________________________________________________________________________
** SPECIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMNT **
JOIN BRUCE ENNIS - FRESH FROM FIGHTING THE CDA AT THE SUPREME COURT - LIVE
ONLINE WEDNESDAY MARCH 19TH 1997 AT 6:00 PM EST (3:00 PM PACIFIC)
March 17, 1997
Please distribute widely with this banner intact. Please post only in
appropriate forums. Do not distribute after March 19, 1997
______________________________________________________________________________
_
SPECIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
On March 19th, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in
the legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act -- a law which
imposes broad content regulations on the Internet. The outcome of this
case will have a profound impact on the future of the Internet and the fate
of the First Amendment in the Information Age. A decision is expected in
June.
Curious how the Supreme Court justices reacted to the arguments? Have
questions abut the case and its implications? Join Bruce Ennis, lead
attorney for the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), who will
have just finished arguing the case before the Court on behalf of both the
ACLU and CIEC plaintiffs, for a special online debriefing and discussion.
DETAILS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
This special event is presented by the Citizens Internet Empowerment
Coalition, HotWired, and Progressive Networks. It will combine a live
interview with Bruce Ennis, cybercast via RealAudio, with a simultaneous
interactive chat forum where participants can ask questions and discuss the
case.
DATE: Wednesday March 19, 1997
TIME: 6:00 pm Eastern time, 3:00 pm Pacific
Audio feeds and links to the chat discussion will be available from the
following sites:
* Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition - http://www.ciec.org/
* HotWired - http://www.hotwired.com/
* Progressive Networks's WebActive - http://www.webactive.com/
You will need a RealAudio (available free at http://www.realaudio.com/), a
Java enabled browser, or a telnet application on your computer in order to
particpate. Please visit the URL's above for more details.
BACKGROUND ON THE CDA AND THE LAW SUIT
The Communications Decency Act was signed into law as part of the
Telecommunications Reform Act on February 8th 1996. The law makes it a
crime to "display" "indecent" or "patently offensive" material in a public
forum on the Internet. Opponents argue that the law is overly restrictive
and threatens to severely restrict the free flow of information on the
Internet, and that individual users and parents, not the federal
government, are the best judges of material is appropriate for themselves
and their children.
Two lawsuits were filed to challenge the constitutionality of the CDA in a
Philadelphia federal court in February 1996.
The cases have been brought, respectively, by The Citizens Internet
Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), comprised of the American Library
Association. civil liberties groups, Internet Service Providers, Commercial
Online Service Providers, Newspaper, Magazine and Book Publishers, and over
56,000 individual Internet users. The ACLU, along with a coalition of civil
liberties groups, advocacy groups, online content providers, and others
filed the initial case on the day the CDA was signed into law.
The ACLU and CIEC cases will be argued together before the Supreme Court on
March 19, 1997 by CIEC lead attorney Bruce Ennis. A decision is expected
in June.
Detailed information on the legal challenges, as well as information about
the CDA, is available at the following web sites:
* Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition - http://www.ciec.org/
* The ACLU - http://www.aclu.org/
The outcome of this legal battle will have far reaching implications. At
stake is nothing less than the future of the First Amendment in the
information age.
______________________________________________________________________________
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srw
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response 8 of 9:
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Mar 21 06:33 UTC 1997 |
______________________________________________________________________________
____ ___ _____ ____ _ _ _
/ ___|_ _| ____/ ___| / \ | | ___ _ __| |_ US Supreme Court Hears
| | | || _|| | / _ \ | |/ _ \ '__| __| Oral Arguments in the fight
| |___ | || |__| |___ / ___ \| | __/ | | |_ for free speech online.
\____|___|_____\____| /_/ \_\_|\___|_| \__|
______________________________________________________________________________
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition -- http://www.ciec.org
______________________________________________________________________________
Please distribute widely with this banner intact. Please post only in
appropriate forums. Do not distribute after April 25, 1997
March 20, 1997
In This Issue:
- US Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in the CDA Challenge.
- Audio Transcripts of Online Interview with CIEC Lead Attorney
- The CEIC Online Campaign Continues - 1.5 million hits in a week!
______________________________________________________________________________
SUPREME COURT HEARS ORAL ARGUMENTS IN THE CDA CASE
On Wednesday March 19th, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the
challenge to the Communications Decency Act, a case which will determine
the future of the Internet and the fate of the First Amendment in the
Information Age. A decision is expected in late June or early July.
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition statement on the arguments is
attached below.
Bruce Ennis, CIEC lead attorney, who argued the case on behalf of both the
ACLU and CIEC Plaintiffs, discussed the case and the oral arguments at a
special online event on March 19th. The event, moderated by Wired
Magazine's Todd Lappin, was sponsored by CIEC, HotWired, and Progressive
Networks.
Audio transcripts are available online at http://www.ciec.org/events/.
It's not too late to join the CIEC Freedom Network to help announce the
latest news and information about the case and the decision when it is
handed down later this summer. Visit http://www.ciec.org/action/ for
details.
Detailed background on the case, court transcripts, and other relevant
information can be found at http://www.ciec.org/.
________________________________________________________________________
CIEC Statement on the Supreme Court Arguments
BRUCE ENNIS AND COALITION LEADERS ENCOURAGED BY SUPREME COURT ORAL
ARGUMENTS IN FIRST AMENDMENT CHALLENGE
WASHINGTON, D.C - March 19, 1997. - Today the United States Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in the First Amendment challenge to the Communications
Decency Act (CDA), a law passed by Congress in 1996. Challengers who are
members of the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition -- a broad
coalition of Internet users, publishers and service providers -- say the
statute would ban speech protected by the First Amendment and subject
Internet users to far greater restrictions than exist in any other medium.
Bruce J. Ennis, lead attorney for the coalition who argued the case today
said that he felt that the case got a thorough and thoughtful hearing from
the Court. "The Court seems to understand that the Internet is a unique
medium and cannot be subject to the restrictions on speech which apply in
mass media such as radio and television," Ennis said after the argument was
completed.
Judith Krug of the American Library Association, lead plaintiff in the
case, noted that the Justices "paid special attention to the threat that
the CDA would pose to libraries around the country seeking to use the
Internet to provide greater public access to information."
In questions to both Mr. Ennis and the Justice Department attorney
defending the statute, the Justices probed the effectiveness of this
statute as compared to software tools which empower parents to filter out
inappropriate Internet sites whenever their children surf the web.
"If the goal is to protect children, then parental empowerment technology
together with education provides the means. This law would only lull
parents into a false sense of security, into feeling that children were
protected when they are not. We know that at least 40% of the content that
may be inappropriate for children is outside the US, and beyond the reach
of US law," said Bill Burrington, Assistant General Counsel of America
Online, a plaintiff in the case and co-organizer of the CIEC coalition.
With a decision expected in late spring or early summer, coalition members
expect that the issue will be back before the US Congress shortly. Jerry
Berman, Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology and
coordinator of the Citizen's Internet Empowerment Coalition said after the
argument that, "the Court focused on the critical question of how to
protect children effectively on the global Internet while extending full
First Amendment protection of the tens of millions of Americans who rely on
the Internet today. Congress failed to reconcile these important goals
when in passed this law."
Last June, a three-judge federal panel in Philadelphia unanimously held key
sections of the CDA to be unconstitutional. The government appealed the
decision last fall.
Appellees in the case include 27 plaintiffs organized as the Citizens
Internet Empowerment Coalition and led by the American Library Association,
plus 19 other plaintiffs in an ACLU suit. The two groups of plaintiffs were
consolidated by the lower court for trial.
Among the plaintiffs are representatives of libraries, book and magazine
publishers, public interest groups, newspapers, record and motion picture
producers, journalists and advertisers, and the on-line industry. All these
groups fear that on-line posting of legitimate material --from information
on breast cancer to nude drawings from the Louvre Museum -- could make them
subject to prosecution and jail time.
Plaintiffs in the case include: American Library Association, Inc.; America
Online, Inc.; American Booksellers Association, Inc.; American Booksellers
Foundation for Free Expression; American Society of Newspaper Editors;
Apple Computer, Inc.; Association of American Publishers, Inc.; Association
of Publishers, Editors and Writers; Citizens Internet Empowerment
Coalition; Commercial Internet eXchange; CompuServe Incorporated.; Families
Against Internet Censorship; Freedom to Read Foundation, Inc.; Health
Sciences Libraries Consortium; HotWired Ventures LLC; Interactive Digital
Software Association; Interactive Services Association; Magazine Publishers
of America, Inc.; Microsoft Corporation; Microsoft Network; National Press
Photographers Association; NETCOM On-Line Communication Services, Inc.;
Newspaper Association of America; Opnet, Inc.; Prodigy Services Company;
Wired Ventures, Ltd.; and, the Society of Professional Journalists Ltd.
Among those filing amicus briefs with the High Court are The U.S. Chamber
of Commerce, the American Association of University Professors, the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the National Association
of Broadcasters, ABC Inc., CBS Inc. and NBC.
All legal documents related to the CIEC case can be found at
http://www.ciec.org.
________________________________________________________________________
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
It's not too late to join the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition
Freedom Network campaign. Follow the instructions below. You will join a
historic effort to announce the latest news and information about the case,
including the Supreme Court decision when it's handed down in late June or
early July 1997.
The campaign, designed to help educate the public about the case, has been
a resounding success so far.
* Between March 12 and March 19th, people surfing the Net saw the CIEC
Freedom Network icon approximately 1.5 Million times.
* More than 10,000 individual Web sites have joined the effort to
educate the public about the importance of this case.
* An average of 180,000 individual Internet users see the CIEC Freedom
Network icon each day!
If You Maintain A World Wide Web Page:
1. Add the following link in a prominent location on your site:
<a href="http://www.ciec.org">
<img src="http://www.ciec.org/images/countdown.gif" alt="Countdown to
a Decision in the fight for free speech online by the US Supreme
Court"></a>
<br clear=all><br>
2. IMPORTANT -> Let us know you have joined the campaign:
Drop us a note at <feedback@ciec.org> and let us know you have
added the link to your site. We will keep a running tally of the
number of participating sites.
If You Don't Maintain A World Wide Web Page:
1. Forward this Alert to your friends (until April 25, 1997).
2. Visit the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition page
(http://www.ciec.org) to keep up to date on the latest news about the
case and information on how you can join the fight to preserve the
future of the Internet as a viable means of free expression,
education and commerce.
________________________________________________________________________
HOW DOES THIS CAMPAIGN WORK?
After you have added the link (above) to your page, an animated image
will be displayed on your site linking to the CIEC web site.
The image will be updated on a regular basis to reflect the latest news and
information about the case, and will announce the decision when it's handed
down by the Court in June or July. The update will occur at our server --
you will not have to do anything.
By clicking on the icon, visitors to your page will jump directly to the
Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition site which contains the latest news
and information on the case, court documents, along with information on how
they can join the fight.
The "Countdown to the Supreme Court" campaign is similar to the "question
mark/fireworks" campaign last June announcing the decision in the
Philadelphia case. Both campaigns were organized by the Center for
Democracy and Technology http://www.cdt.org and the Voters
Telecommunications Watch http://www.vtw.org.
Very special thanks to PANIX Internet (http://www.panix.com/) webhost for
www.ciec.org, for handling the extrodinary number of hits.
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