response 122 of 316:

Jun 23 17:14 UTC 1999

I'm comfortable with the press release as given in resp:115 .
Thanks for all the work you put into it, Mark.

response 124 of 316:

Jun 23 19:55 UTC 1999

I got a call from Mike Steinberg a little bit ago.  He had one suggested 
change - "laws against pornogrpahy" to "laws against child pornography", which
is I believe what Mary had originally written.  (I messed it up.)  Otherwise,
he said it looked fine.  Steve Gibbard told me to put the quotes in the past
tense, which I did.  (Shows you how long it's been since I read the newspaper
- I though quotes should be in the present tense.)  Misti fixed one run-on
sentence.  So I think it's ready to go.

We didn't explicitly decide who to send the release to, but I think the Ann
Arbor News is the place to start.  Maybe the Detroit papers too?  What do
people think?

response 126 of 316:

Jun 23 20:03 UTC 1999

Re #124: Thanks Mark.  In addition to the papers you mentioned, how about
the Ann Arbor Observer.

response 128 of 316:

Jun 23 20:53 UTC 1999

Sorry I haven't been very involved in this [what with me being a Board
member].  I would like to say that I'm happy with the way things are going,
and the press release is great.

response 130 of 316:

Jun 23 21:37 UTC 1999

Here's the wording I sent out, for completeness's sake.  I put it in Word and
made the titles a bigger font, but otherwise it was just like this.

------------------

PRESS RELEASE
                                        Cyberspace Communications, Inc.
                                        P.O. Box 4432, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
                                        Contact: Mary Remmers (734) 665-5388
                                                 mary@cyberspace.org


June 23rd, 1999, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cyberspace Communications Joins ACLU to Block Censorship Law

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN -- Cyberspace Communications, Inc., an Ann Arbor-based 
non-profit corporation that operates the online community "Grex" 
(www.cyberspace.org), has joined a suit to block the implementation of 
Michigan Public Act 33 of 1999 (The Child Online Protection Act), which makes 
it illegal to transmit "sexually explicit" material to minors.  The Act is 
scheduled to go into effect on August 1st, 1999.  Other plaintiffs in the suit 
include the American Civil Liberties Association, Art on the Net, Web Del Sol, 
and the AIDS Partnership of Michigan. 

Grex is an open-access online community, with a charitable mission and an all-
volunteer staff, which hosts electronic discussions.  It opposes the new law 
because the law is too broad (it would criminalize transmission over the 
Internet of many scenes which are shown on broadcast television), and it 
erodes the First Amendment right to free speech.  It would also require that 
all discussion sites on the Internet validate the identities of all 
participants and censor any material which is visible to minors and of a 
"sexually explicit" nature.  Validation and censorship would stifle a lot of 
healthy discussion, beyond what the law is meant to cover.  And small "grass 
roots" organizations such as Grex, which cannot afford to pay validators or 
censors, would be forced to shut down. 

THE LAW IS TOO BROAD

"It is an understandable desire to want to protect children from what some
people see as unhealthy influences," said Mary Remmers, spokesperson for 
Cyberspace Communications.  "We have existing laws about child pornography and 
obscenity to do that.  This law, however, is broad enough that 'sexually 
explicit' material may include discussions of rape, AIDS, safe sex, 
pornography laws, prostitution, and other topics which people are entitled to 
discuss openly and frankly.  The law encompasses even clinical discussions of 
sexual issues, not just material designed to shock and titillate." 

"It would be bad enough if this were the only material affected, but a law to
outlaw one kind of speech inevitably affects other kinds.  People afraid of
saying the wrong thing will avoid getting close to a topic that might get them
in trouble.  The result is a widespread 'chilling effect' on free speech."

ENFORCING THE LAW WOULD REQUIRE VALIDATION AND CENSORSHIP

"In order to avoid prosecution under this act, Grex would have to authenticate 
all users and censor sexually explicit material," said John Remmers, president 
of Cyberspace Communications.  In cyberspace, unlike in person, it is 
impossible to tell who is a minor and who is not.  To comply with the law, 
open-access discussion systems would be required to collect ID from every 
participant, and then to censor areas which are accessible to minors. 

"One of the ways Grex fosters lively debate is by encouraging any and all to
participate and share their point-of-view," said Mary Remmers.  "Insisting 
participants first register, then wait for an ID check, then submit their 
comments to moderators who would filter for content, would clearly limit 
participation and stifle discussion."

"It's well-established legally that free speech isn't really free unless it 
can be made anonymously," said Mark Conger, a Cyberspace Communications board 
member.  It is against Grex policy to censor content or to insist that people 
identify themselves.  "We have found time and again that the best answer to 
speech you don't agree with is to rebut it, not to censor it." 

VALIDATION AND CENSORSHIP ARE NOT FEASIBLE

Even if censorship were an acceptable solution, it would not be feasible for 
an organization the size of Grex.  Grex is a "grass roots" institution run 
entirely by volunteers.  Its 1998 income was approximately $8200, which came 
almost entirely from donations.  (The IRS has designated Cyberspace 
Communications a 501(c)3 charitable institution, so donations are tax-
deductible.)  Almost all of that money goes to pay utility bills to keep the 
system running.  Grex has no money to pay censors or validators, and yet it 
has 29,000 users who post about 200 long messages and 5000 short ones every 
day.  It would be logistically impossible to get volunteers to do the work of 
censoring that material and validating the 200 people who create accounts 
daily.

Putting organizations like Grex out of business has long-range implications 
for free speech.  "One of the great advantages of the Internet is that an 
organization like Grex with a shoestring budget can be home to a community of 
thousands of people," said Mary Remmers.  "If only large organizations with 
lots of resources could afford to host discussion forums, then all discussion 
would be limited by the biases and agendas of those organizations.  Pressure 
from advertisers and shareholders might influence their censorship decisions.  
Under those conditions, speech is no longer free." 

---------------------------------------

Cyberspace Communications is a 501(c)3 charitable institution founded in Ann 
Arbor, Michigan in 1991.  Its mission is to run the online system Grex (which 
means "group" in Latin) in order to foster free speech and community, and give 
Internet access to people who cannot afford to pay for it.  Grex hosts forums 
on such topics as music, the arts, cooking, writing, consumer information, 
finance, small businesses, philosophy, living with disabilities, men's and 
women's issues, and games.  Anyone with a computer and modem or access to the 
Internet can use Grex for free, anonymously if they wish.  Funding comes 
almost entirely from donations, which are tax-deductible.  Grex gets no money 
from advertising.  Because Internet bandwidth is limited, users are not 
allowed to store pictures on Grex. 

For more information on Grex, visit http://www.cyberspace.org.

response 132 of 316:

Jun 23 21:59 UTC 1999

Sorry if this is too late - it may in fact be moot:

Other plaintiffs in the suit include the American Civil Liberties Association

Is this in error, saying "association" instead of "union" (ACLU), or is there
in fact a difference between the two?

response 134 of 316:

Jun 23 23:37 UTC 1999

I received calls today from Liz Cobb, at the Ann Arbor News, and
Santiago Espanzo, at The Detroit News.  Both wanted more information
on our organization, and how Grex fit it with Cyberspace Communications.
The phone calls went well and Mr. Espanzo, especially, seemed familiar
with Internet conferencing systems.  

I've incorporated the suggestions folks offered regarding the
question and answer document.  Thanks for the feedback.  I sent this
document off to Mr. Steinberg for his okay, and he answered "Looks great",
and offered no changes.  

Thanks, Mark, for all your work on the press release and to seeing
that it got checked and "posted".  Did you ever get to sleep last 
night? ;-)

response 136 of 316:

Jun 24 00:00 UTC 1999

Yes, I got to sleep.  :)  Oops about the ACLU.  That's what I get for changing
things at the last moment.  Hopefully the reporters will figure it out.

response 138 of 316:

Jun 24 00:18 UTC 1999

You might want to send a copy to Ann Arbor's Cable Access TV Station, 
they do a bi-weekly "newsmagazine" show, and are always looking for 
"news"

response 140 of 316:

Jun 24 01:22 UTC 1999

OK, I sent it to CTN (with attention to their FYI program), and to the
Associated Press's office in Detroit.

response 142 of 316:

Jun 24 05:02 UTC 1999

The Detroit Free Press has an article that is disappointing, to say the least.

http://www.freep.com/news/mich/qweb24.htm

response 144 of 316:

Jun 24 07:42 UTC 1999

I HTMLized the press release; it's at 
  http://www.cyberspace.org/~aruba/grexpr.htm
My HTML is pretty primitive, so I just did the basics.  I've asked the
webmasters to put a link to the press release on our home page, if they can
squeeze it in.  I figure it's possible reporters might get our address from
the ACLU, and they might come to us and want the press release.  I'll send
mail to the ACLU guys with the URL so they can refer to it if they want.

(I don't think we need to keep a link on our homepage for more than about a
week.)