BEC.SHAPIN@USC-ECL.ARPA (Ted Shapin) (11/14/85)
BBSLAW03.MSG
FROM:
Chip Berlet
Secretary, National Lawyers Guild Civil Liberties Committee
Re: Federal Legislation Affecting Computer Bulletin Boards
#3 in a series
A PETITION FOR BBS RIGHTS
If you agree with the wording, print and circulate
the following petition:
* * * * * * * *
We, the undersigned, support the following principles:
NO LEGISLATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION. Congress and state
legislatures should delay passage of any BBS legislation until
BBS users and SYSOPS have a chance to discuss the legal issues
and make their opinions known in a series of Congressional and
state-level hearings.
PUNISH PERPETRATORS NOT COMMUNICATORS. If any legislation is
needed it should focus on criminal penalties for persons placing
illegal messages on BBS's.
DUE PROCESS OF LAW. SYSOPS should be guaranteed that their
homes, equipment, data and electronic communications be given the
same Constitutional protections from unreasonable search and
seizure enjoyed by all other Americans.
PROTECT DIGITAL COMMUNICATION. All Americans who choose to
communicate using computerized "digital" typed messages should
expect those communications be covered by all current laws
applying to spoken and written communication. This includes laws
relating to expectation of privacy, due process, freedom of
speech, freedom of association, freedom from unreasonable search
and seizure.
RECOGNIZE DIVERSITY. No law that singles out BBS's as one
single form of communication can possibly apply to the wide
diversity of usages for BBS systems. Message posting, private
mail, public forums, publishing, attorney/client conferencing,
contract negotiations, games, educational centers, consulting
services, private and public conferences are just a few of the
current uses for BBS's.
Name Address ZIP
-----------------------------------------------------------
Please send completed petitions to National Association of
Bulletin Board System Operators (NABBSO), c/o Paul Bernstein,
#509A, 600 N. McCLurg Court, Chicago, IL 60611.
* * * * * * * *
LOBBYING and LEGISLATION
Steps in the process:
Prevent legislation from being filed.
Delay Committee hearings.
Testify at hearings.
Promote publicity.
Form coalitions with other interests.
Introduce conflicting bill to cause debate and delay.
Lobby Committee members to kill or amend bill.
Lobby Full Congress to kill or amend bill.
Lobby President to veto bill.
Fight in courts to challenge validity of law.
I think with the current President and Supreme Court we can
write off the last two tactics as pointless.
In this situation it might also be wise to pressure the ACLU
to direct its staff to help us. Until Bills are actually
introduced, this may be the best first step. But maybe
telling people to target the introducing legislators or Committee
members might be the best course. Or both. It's always guesswork
before the Bill is introduced.
Remember, however, the best time to affect legislation is
BEFORE it is introduced, when only the legislative staffs and
"experts" are having input into the wording. We should try
to squeeze ourselves into that process, but the Washington, D.C.
crowd always resents outsiders like plain citizens intervening
in their little tea party....
COALITIONS
Oddly enough, the telecommunications industry might be our
best allies. At the Chicago conference some industry people
wondered what will happen to phone companies or The Source,
or E-Mail services.
Media - always sensitive to First Amendment issues.
Use your imagination.
ONE TACTICAL SUGGESTION
My argument is that SOMEONE has to be legally liable for
illegal messages. Not the SYSOP, but the perpetrator, who I
think it wise to refer as an "illegal electronic graffiti
artist." Frankly, ain't no law yet that protects the owner of a
supermarket bulletin board who leaves posted an illegal message
after being notified of its existence. Argument, legal types?
LETTERS, WE SHOULD SEND LETTERS
The Judiciary Committees of the House and Senate will most
likely be considering the legislation that involves BBS's and
telecommunications.
The most effective letters come from constituents, Check the
lists below for Judiciary committee members from your state.
Express your views in a short letter. Ask for copies of pending
legislation.
U.S. Senate
The Honorable (Name of Senator)
Senate of the United States
Washington, D.C. 20510
Senate Judiciary Committee (as of 1984)
Republicans: Chairman - Strom Thurmond (SC), Charles M. Mathias,
Jr. (MD), Paul Laxalt (NV), Orrin G. Hatch (UT), Robert Dole
(KS), Alan K. Simpson (WY), John P. East (NC), Charles E.
Grassley (IA), Jeremiah Denton (AL), Arlen Spector (PA)
Democrats: Joseph R. Biden Jr. (DE), Edward M. Kennedy (MA),
Robert C. Byrd (WV), Howard M. Metzenbaum (OH), Dennis DeConcini
(AZ), Patrick J. Leahy (VT), Max Baucus (MT), Howell Heflin (AL)
House of Representatives
The Honorable (Name of Representative)
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
House Judiciary Committee (as of 1984)
Democrats: Chairman - Peter W. Rodino, Jr. (NJ), Jack Brooks (TX),
Robert W. Kastenmeier (WI), Don Edwards (CA), John Conyers, Jr.
(MI), John F. Seiberling (OH), Romano L. Mazzoli (KY), William J.
Hughes (NJ), Sam B. Hall, Jr. (TX), Michael Lynn Synar (OK),
Patricia Schroeder (CO), Dan Glickman (KS), Barney Frank (MA),
George W. Crockett, Jr. (MI), Charles E. Schumer (NY), Bruce A.
Morrison (CT), Edward F. Fieghan (OH), Lawrence J. Smith (FL),
Howard Berman (CA)
Republicans: Hamilton Fish, Jr. (NY), Carlos J. Moorehead (CA),
Henry J. Hyde (IL), Thomas N. Kindness (OH), Harold S. Sawyer
(MI), Daniel E. Lungren (CA), F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (WI),
Bill McCollum (FL), E. Clay Shaw (FL), George W. Gekas (PA),
Micahel DeWine (OH)
THE BBSLAWXX.MSG MESSAGES
In Chicago we are setting up a small committee to brainstorm
some ideas on how to deal with the federal legislation expected
soon. We are now testing a BBS for news updates, text of
legislation, & messages. When it is online, we will distribute
the phone number.
Protocols for messages from the Chicago folks will be:
BBSLAWxx.MSG for periodic messages to the general
public.
BBSLAWxx.SOP for messages to SYSOPS and Key Contacts.
BBSLAWxx.CMT for the "committee"
Please do not rewrite these files, they are bulletins, save
comments for other file names or Boards. The Chicago board, lets
call it BBSLAW, will also have discussions.
WHO AM I?
Some poeple want to know who I am and my interest in this
matter. OK so who am I? Chip Berlet, nice to meet you. I edit
the Public Eye Magazine which is affiliated with the National
Lawyers Guild Civil Liberties Committee. I'm the national
secretary of that Committee, but not a lawyer. As a paralegal
investigator, I've worked on civil liberties lawsuits for ten
years, including a three-year stint working on the ACLU
government surveillance case against the Chicago Police "Red
Squad."
I wear a lot of hats, but try to keep them seperate ... not
always with success.
I spent five years in Washington D.C. - half of that time
writing about federal legislation (emphasis on higher education),
the other half lobbying and doing publicity & organizing for
educational groups.
As a journalist, I write a monthly computers & law
feature for the "Chicago Lawyer" newspaper. For the past several
months I've been writing about computer privacy issues. Because
of that (and my BBS user hobby) I was hired to write a research
paper on BBS's and the law. What I found out scared me - there
is NO law that covers BBS's as currently adjudicated. That means
any legal right for BBS depends on success in the first cases to
hit the courts, and drafting relevant legislation as soon as
possible.
See ya later...
-30-
-------abc@BRL.ARPA (Brint Cooper) (11/21/85)
I find it ironic that the same mentality ?) that would hold a Bulletin Board guilty of a crime committed by one of its users argues, on the other hand, that "guns don't kill people; people kill people!" Brint
info-law@ucbvax.UUCP (11/26/85)
> I find it ironic that the same mentality ?) that would hold > a Bulletin Board guilty of a crime committed by one of its > users argues, on the other hand, that "guns don't kill people; > people kill people!" > If one lends a loaded gun to an acquaintance, and s/he starts to shoot randomly at people on the street, one is under an obligation not to provide reloads of ammunition. Afterall, 'guns don't kill people; bullets do!' --- Barry Buchbinder (608)221-5000 Agrigenetics Corp.; 5649 E. Buckeye Rd.; Madison WI 53716 USA {seismo!uwvax!|decvax|ihnp4}!nicmad!agrigene!buchbind