This posting is maintained for historical purposes only.

JOIN HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHER INTERNET USERS IN

* 48 HOURS OF PROTEST *

AFTER PRESIDENT CLINTON SIGNS THE BILL
THAT WILL CENSOR THE INTERNET

Update: - Congress passed the net censorship language on 2/1/96.

-What You Can Do Now: Help demonstrate the extent of the impact of the Internet Censorship legislation. Join Hundreds of thousands of Internet Users in an International protest for 48 hours after Clinton Signs the bill.

CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL
COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT
Feb 3, 1996 (expires Feb 29, 1996)

PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT

This alert and coalition coordinated by the Voters Telecommunications Watch (vtw@vtw.org)

CONTENTS
The Latest News
What You Can Do Now
For More Information

THE LATEST NEWS

Last week Congress approved sweeping restrictions on online speech and conduct, imposing fines of $250,000 and jail sentences of 2 years for anyone who makes "indecent" material available in a public forum online.

This legislation threatens the very existence of the Internet as a viable means of free expression, education, and political discourse.

Despite loud objections from civil liberties groups and the public, the measure is part of a massive telecommunications bill that President Clinton has already pledged to sign. Although you should feel free to continue to express your objections directly to the President, there are other ways to express our outrage for this legislation. The President is expected to sign this bill into law during the week of Feb 5-9, 1996.

For 48 hours after Clinton signs the Telecommunications Reform bill into law, join hundreds of thousands of Internet users everywhere to show the far reaching impact this bill will have on all Internet users. TURN YOUR WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES BLACK with white lettering to demonstrate that the Internet will not accept this kind of second class treatment from the United States Government.

WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW

1. For 48 hours after Clinton signs the net censorship language in the Telecomm bill into law, TURN YOUR WORLD WIDE WEB PAGES BLACK with white lettering. To know when the bill is signed, check these sources:



   Newsgroups: alt.society.civil-disob
   Email:vtw-announce@vtw.org (watch for mail on this list)
   WWW:http://www.vtw.org/
   Finger:vtw@panix.com

You can also just watch CNN; they'll announce the signing of the bill.

To turn your pages black with white lettering, simply add the following tag to your World Wide Web pages:

<BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#FFFFFF" link="0099ff" vlink="#00ff99">

Put this right after your <head></head> tags, and before any </body> tags. To explain to people who may be confused by the color change, temporarily add the following link to your page:

<a href="http://www.vtw.org/speech/"> My World Wide Web Pages are black for 48 hours to protest second-class treatment from the US Government for free speech. Read about it at this WWW page.</a>

The Center for Democracy and Technology has also agreed to mirror a similar page at URL:http://www.cdt.org/speech.html

Also, urge your Internet Provider and any Internet WWW pages you frequent to turn their pages black. Send us interesting sites that comply to vtw@vtw.org.



  E-Mail:   vtw@vtw.org
  Subject: ZTV.COM is turning their pages black!

  I'm the head of the ZTV Website and I've decided to 
  turn our pages black.  Thought you'd like to know.

2. Don't forget to send Clinton a message, contact him at:

	Email:president@whitehouse.gov
	Telephone:202-456-1111
	Fax:202-456-2461

Sample communique:

<ring ring> You're about to sign a bill into law that imposes a terrible set of speech restrictions on the Internet that belong in the broadcast medium, not the interactive one.

I'm turning my World Wide Web pages BLACK for 48 hours after you sign the bill as a symbol of protest to show how many people will be affected by this bill.

PRAY that he will VETO the bill.

3. Make a commitment become involved! There will be several court cases coming up to challenge the Internet censorship legislation, as well as an election that will put every single member of the House, and 1/3rd of the Senate (most of whom voted for this legislation) onto the ballot.

Don't let them get away with this. Make this a campaign issue, and keep an eye out for legal defense funds for those challenging these laws in court.

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