ACLU/EPIC: First Amendment Pledge Campaign

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 14:04:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
To: fight-censorship@vorlon.mit.edu
Subject: ACLU/EPIC: First Amendment Pledge Campaign



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 1997 16:50:00 -0400
From: Dave Banisar <banisar@epic.org>
To: press <info@epic.org>
Subject: Press Release: First Amendment Pledge Campaign


                          JOINT PRESS RELEASE:
                     American Civil Liberties Union
                Electronic Privacy Information Center

               ACLU, EPIC Call on Congress and Clinton to
                   "Take the First Amendment Pledge"


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 16, 1997

Contact:

Emily Whitfield, ACLU Nat'l Office
(212) 549-2566
emilyaclu@aol.com

David Sobel, EPIC
(202) 544-9240
sobel@epic.org

NEW YORK -- As the nation awaits a Supreme Court decision on the
future of free speech on the Internet, the American Civil Liberties
Union and the Electronic Privacy Information Center today launched
www.firstamendment.org, a website dedicated to upholding the First
Amendment in cyberspace.

The groups called on President Clinton and members of Congress to be
among the first to "Take the First Amendment Pledge" and cease any
further attempts to draft legislation to censor the Internet in the
event the Supreme Court upholds a lower court decision striking down
government regulation of the Internet as unconstitutional.

"In our view there is no such thing as a 'Constitution-proof' law
criminalizing so-called indecency in cyberspace," said Chris Hansen,
ACLU Senior Staff Attorney and lead counsel in Reno v. ACLU.

The launch of the website comes as Clinton Administration officials
have begun publicly discussing a shift in policy on Internet
regulation, saying that "industry self-regulation" -- not laws
criminalizing certain Internet communications -- is the solution to
shielding minors from online "indecency."

Hansen added that if the Administration had indeed adopted such a
policy, it is obligated to announce it to the Court before they rule
in the case. "If the report in this morning's New York Times is
indeed true, it would appear that the Clinton Administration is
preparing to take the 'Pledge,'" Hansen said.

Reno v. ACLU challenges censorship provisions of the Communications
Decency Act aimed at protecting minors by criminalizing so-called
"indecency" on the Internet. The ACLU, along with EPIC and 18 other
plaintiffs, filed a challenge to the law the day it was enacted. A
ruling on the case could come as soon as Thursday, June 19, the next
scheduled day for release of Supreme Court decisions.

"Attempts to censor the Net will not end with the Supreme Court
decision ," said David Sobel, legal counsel for EPIC and co- counsel
in Reno v. ACLU. "Proponents of Internet content regulation have
already indicated their desire to take a 'second bite of the apple'
if the Communications Decency Act is struck down."

In anticipation of such new attempts at online censorship, visitors
to www.firstamendment.org are invited to "Take the First Amendment
Pledge," which reads: "I pledge to support free speech and free
expression for all Americans and to urge Congress to uphold the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution and pass no law
abridging our freedom of speech."

Online users can capture the "First Amendment Pledge" GIF (graphic
image file) for placement on their own website. Other features
planned for the site include an "action alert" that informs users of
legislative threats to the First Amendment and allows them to
instantly e-mail or fax their member of Congress, and an online
"postcard" that can be e-mailed to friends, relatives and elected
officials, urging them to "Take the Pledge."

The ACLU is a nationwide, non-partisan organization dedicated to
defending and preserving the Bill of Rights for all individuals
through litigation, legislation and public education. The ACLU can
be found online at www.aclu.org and through America Online at
keyword: ACLU.

EPIC is a non-profit, education and research organization based in
Washington, D.C. EPIC examines civil liberties and privacy issues
that arise in new electronic media. It maintains a website at
www.epic.org.


..

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In <Pine.GSO.3.95.970616140435.25992G-100000@well.com>, on 06/16/97 
   at 02:04 PM, Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> said:

>                          JOINT PRESS RELEASE:
>                     American Civil Liberties Union
>                Electronic Privacy Information Center

>               ACLU, EPIC Call on Congress and Clinton to
>                   "Take the First Amendment Pledge"

The sad thing is that we need them to do it a second time. They already
made this pledge once before, it's called the oath of office.

If the ingore it after the first time why should they honor it a second
time?

- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
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On Mon, 16 Jun 1997, William H. Geiger III wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> 
> In <Pine.GSO.3.95.970616140435.25992G-100000@well.com>, on 06/16/97 
>    at 02:04 PM, Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> said:
> 
> >                          JOINT PRESS RELEASE:
> >                     American Civil Liberties Union
> >                Electronic Privacy Information Center
> 
> >               ACLU, EPIC Call on Congress and Clinton to
> >                   "Take the First Amendment Pledge"
> 
> The sad thing is that we need them to do it a second time. They already
> made this pledge once before, it's called the oath of office.
> 
> If the ingore it after the first time why should they honor it a second
> time?
> 

Bravo!

Couldn't have said it better myself.  What do they do with 
presidents who violate their oath of office?   

Would anyone notice?

Jim Burnes

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In <Pine.LNX.3.95.970616160646.10982A-100000@westsec.denver.ssds.com>, on
06/16/97 
   at 05:07 PM, Jim Burnes <jim.burnes@ssds.com> said:



>On Mon, 16 Jun 1997, William H. Geiger III wrote:

>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> 
>> In <Pine.GSO.3.95.970616140435.25992G-100000@well.com>, on 06/16/97 
>>    at 02:04 PM, Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> said:
>> 
>> >                          JOINT PRESS RELEASE:
>> >                     American Civil Liberties Union
>> >                Electronic Privacy Information Center
>> 
>> >               ACLU, EPIC Call on Congress and Clinton to
>> >                   "Take the First Amendment Pledge"
>> 
>> The sad thing is that we need them to do it a second time. They already
>> made this pledge once before, it's called the oath of office.
>> 
>> If the ingore it after the first time why should they honor it a second
>> time?
>> 

>Bravo!

>Couldn't have said it better myself.  What do they do with 
>presidents who violate their oath of office?   

>Would anyone notice?

IMHO I think that we need a trial, similar to the Nuremberg Trials after
WWII, for the politicians in DC for "High Crimes Against the Constitution
of the United States".

It could even be hyped as a "jobs" program for DC, just think of all the
gallows that would need to be built. <EG>

- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
- ---------------------------------------------------------------

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On Mon, 16 Jun 1997, William H. Geiger III wrote:

> IMHO I think that we need a trial, similar to the Nuremberg Trials after
> WWII, for the politicians in DC for "High Crimes Against the Constitution
> of the United States".
> 
> It could even be hyped as a "jobs" program for DC, just think of all the
> gallows that would need to be built. <EG>

It would certainly bring new meaning to the term "well hung politician".
(And one I could live with...)

alano@teleport.com | "Those who are without history are doomed to retype it."

On Mon, 16 Jun 1997, William H. Geiger III wrote:

[...]

> IMHO I think that we need a trial, similar to the Nuremberg Trials after
> WWII, for the politicians in DC for "High Crimes Against the Constitution
> of the United States".

I don't think it would be a trial,  more likly to be a House committee
doing this.  Infact we need to give this thing a name,  well Crimes
against the constitution is realy an un-american activity.  I know we
could call it the "House committee on UnAmerican Activities".

Please excuse my spelling as I suffer from agraphia see the url in my header. 
Never trust a country with more peaple then sheep.  Buy easter bilbies.
Save the ABC Is $0.08 per day too much to pay?  ex-net.scum and prouud     
I'm sorry but I just don't consider 'because its yukky' a convinceing argument

At 2:38 PM -0700 6/16/97, William H. Geiger III wrote:

>>               ACLU, EPIC Call on Congress and Clinton to
>>                   "Take the First Amendment Pledge"
>
>The sad thing is that we need them to do it a second time. They already
>made this pledge once before, it's called the oath of office.
>
>If the ingore it after the first time why should they honor it a second
>time?

Indeed, it looks to be just press release jive.

If they "take the pledge" on the First, why not the Second? And all the others?

In any case, they can all take this "pledge" with a clear conscience--not
that I expect many to respond to a PR stunt like this--and say "I do."
After all, their arguments for things like the CDA are not based on
overturning the First Amendment: what they will always claim is that the
law is one of the many "exceptions" to the First Amendment. (There are
many...I presume I don't have to make a list here, do I?)

And will EPIC then withdraw its support of Pro-CODE, which says that
certain forms of speech when used in furtherance of a crime, or to hide a
crime, are criminal?  Would EPIC support a law which said that Spanish is
legal to speak or write in the U.S., unless it is used to further or hide a
crime? How about Pig Latin? How about Rot13? How about whispering? How
about RSA?

So, EPIC, why don't _you_ take the First Amendment Pledge and then
immediately withdraw all support for Pro-CODE so long as it contains this
pernicious language criminalizing certain modes of speech?

I didn't think so.

--Tim May

There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."