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Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition Update No. 16
December 6, 1996
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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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** 55,000 Netizens Vs. U.S. Department of Justice. **
* The Fight To Save Free Speech Online *
Contents:
o Supreme Court Agrees to Hear CDA Challenge
o What You Can Do - Join the CIEC!
o How to Remove Yourself From This List
o More Information on CIEC and the Center for Democracy and Technology
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SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR LANDMARK CASE TO DETERMINE FUTURE OF FREE
SPEECH IN CYBERSAPCE
The United States Supreme Court today agreed to hear the government's
appeal of a landmark legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act.
The case, which will determine the future of freedom of speech in
cyberspace, is expected to be heard in late March or early April. A special
panel of federal judges in Philadelphia ruled the CDA unconstitutional in
June.
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), which brought a
successful challenge to the CDA earlier this year, looks forward to the
case being heard by the Supreme Court.
"The lower court ruled unequivocally, based on a solid factual record, that
the CDA was unconstitutional, and we believe the Supreme Court will agree
with them upon review." said Jerry Berman, Executive Director of the Center
for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and one of the organizers of the CIEC.
"This case will determine the future of free expression in the information
age, and is the most important first amendment case before the court in
recent memory," Berman added.
The CIEC is a broad coalition of groups concerned about the future of the
Internet, including on-line service and Internet service providers,
libraries, book, magazine, newspaper and music publishers, software
companies, public interest organizations, and more than 55,000 individual
Internet users. The lead plaintiff in the case is the American Library
Association.
The Philadelphia court ruled the CDA unconstitutional in June, agreeing
with the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition's arguments that:
* 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 a very effective and
constitutional way of limiting the access of minors to inappropriate
material on the Internet.
The CIEC challenge, also known as ALA v DOJ, was consolidated with a
separate lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and 20 other
plaintiffs, ACLU v. Reno. The cases were argued together before the
three-judge federal panel in Philadelphia last spring, and the legal teams
continue to work together as co-plaintiffs in the Supreme Court phase.
The Communications Decency Act (CDA), passed by Congress in February 1996
for the first time imposed far reaching broadcast-style content regulations
on the Internet.
The full text of the Philadelphia ruling and other information on the case
can be found on the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition Web Page
(http://www.cdt.org/ciec/).
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, Inc.;
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, Inc..; and, the Society of
Professional Journalists Ltd.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO -- JOIN THE CITIZENS INTERNET EMPOWERMENT COALITION
If you use the Internet to send email, post to usenet newsgroups, maintain
your own world wide web page, or participate in online discussion forums,
you could face serious prison time and huge fines under the CDA if someone,
somewhere, considers the material you put online to be "indecent" or
"patently offensive".
Since February of 1996, more than 55,000 individual Internet Users have joined
the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition. The large number of
individual Internet users is intended to illustrate to the Court, the
press, and the public that each and every Internet user is a publisher and
cold be liable under the CDA.
If you haven't done so already, please take a moment to become a part of
this landmark case:
Visit the CIEC web site for details -- http://www.cdt.org/ciec/
It's fast, it's free, and it will help us preserve the future of the
Internet as a viable means of free expression, education, and commerce.
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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.
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For More Information
For more information on the CIEC challenge, including the text of the
original complaint filed in early '96 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
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end ciec-update.16
12/06/96
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