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_________________________________________________________________________
EFFector Vol. 10, No. 04 Mar. 17, 1997 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
IN THIS ISSUE:
CDA Demonstration, Supreme Court Battle and Follow-up Live Chat
Summary of eTRUST Market Survey Results
Newsnybbles
Internet Taxation Issue Heats Up: "No New Taxes"!
Web Link Lawsuits Raise Serious Questions
Upcoming Events
Quote of the Day
What YOU Can Do
Administrivia
* See http://www.eff.org/hot.html for more information
on current EFF activities and online activism alerts! *
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: CDA Demonstration, Supreme Court Battle and Follow-up Live Chat
------------------------------------------------------------------------
____ ___ _____ ____ _ _ _
/ ___|_ _| ____/ ___| / \ | | ___ _ __| |_ Join CIEC lead attorney
| | | || _|| | / _ \ | |/ _ \ '__| __| Bruce Ennis LIVE ONLINE
| |___ | || |__| |___ / ___ \| | __/ | | |_ after he argues the case
\____|___|_____\____| /_/ \_\_|\___|_| \__| before the Supreme Court!
______________________________________________________________________________
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition -- http://www.ciec.org
______________________________________________________________________________
** SPECIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMNT **
JOIN BRUCE ENNIS - FRESH FROM FIGHTING THE CDA AT THE SUPREME COURT - LIVE
ONLINE WEDNESDAY MARCH 19TH 1997 AT 6:00 PM EST (3:00 PM PACIFIC)
March 17, 1997
Please distribute widely with this banner intact. Please post only in
appropriate forums. Do not distribute after March 19, 1997
_______________________________________________________________________________
SPECIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT
On March 19th, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in
the legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act -- a law which
imposes broad content regulations on the Internet. The outcome of this
case will have a profound impact on the future of the Internet and the fate
of the First Amendment in the Information Age. A decision is expected in
June.
Curious how the Supreme Court justices reacted to the arguments? Have
questions abut the case and its implications? Join Bruce Ennis, lead
attorney for the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), who will
have just finished arguing the case before the Court on behalf of both the
ACLU and CIEC plaintiffs, for a special online debriefing and discussion.
DETAILS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
This special event is presented by the Citizens Internet Empowerment
Coalition, HotWired, and Progressive Networks. It will combine a live
interview with Bruce Ennis, cybercast via RealAudio, with a simultaneous
interactive chat forum where participants can ask questions and discuss the
case.
DATE: Wednesday March 19, 1997
TIME: 6:00 pm Eastern time, 3:00 pm Pacific
Audio feeds and links to the chat discussion will be available from the
following sites:
* Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition - http://www.ciec.org/
* HotWired - http://www.hotwired.com/
* Progressive Networks's WebActive - http://www.webactive.com/
You will need a RealAudio (available free at http://www.realaudio.com/), a
Java enabled browser, or a telnet application on your computer in order to
particpate. Please visit the URL's above for more details.
BACKGROUND ON THE CDA AND THE LAW SUIT
The Communications Decency Act was signed into law as part of the
Telecommunications Reform Act on February 8th 1996. The law makes it a
crime to "display" "indecent" or "patently offensive" material in a public
forum on the Internet. Opponents argue that the law is overly restrictive
and threatens to severely restrict the free flow of information on the
Internet, and that individual users and parents, not the federal
government, are the best judges of material is appropriate for themselves
and their children.
Two lawsuits were filed to challenge the constitutionality of the CDA in a
Philadelphia federal court in February 1996.
The cases have been brought, respectively, by The Citizens Internet
Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), comprised of the American Library
Association. civil liberties groups, Internet Service Providers, Commercial
Online Service Providers, Newspaper, Magazine and Book Publishers, and over
56,000 individual Internet users. The ACLU, along with a coalition of civil
liberties groups, advocacy groups, online content providers, and others
filed the initial case on the day the CDA was signed into law.
The ACLU and CIEC cases will be argued together before the Supreme Court on
March 19, 1997 by CIEC lead attorney Bruce Ennis. A decision is expected
in June.
Detailed information on the legal challenges, as well as information about
the CDA, is available at the following web sites:
* Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition - http://www.ciec.org/
* The ACLU - http://www.aclu.org/
The outcome of this legal battle will have far reaching implications. At
stake is nothing less than the future of the First Amendment in the
information age.
********************************************************
JOIN THE FIGHT FOR FREE SPEECH ONLINE
WEDESDAY MARCH 19TH IN WASHINGTON DC
As you know, the US Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the legal
challenge to the Communications Decency Act on Wednesday March 19th at
10:00 am. The outcome of this case will have a profound impact on the
future of the Internet and the fate of the First Amendment in the
Information age.
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR FREE SPEECH ONLINE --
JOIN THE DEMONSTRATION ON THE STEPS
Internet users and other interested citizens are organizing a
demonstration
against the CDA on the steps of the Supreme Court beginning at 8:30 am on
Wednesday March 19th. If you are in the DC area and are concerned about
protecting free expression on the Net, please join us.
TIME: 8:30 am - 12:00 noon
DATE: Wednesday, March 19th, 1997
LOCATION: The Steps of the US Supreme Court
1st & East Capitol Streets, NE, Washington, DC
Signs will be available, just bring yourself and your friends.
For more information on the case and events on the 19th, including a
planed
online interview with Bruce Ennis, CIEC lead attorney who will argue the
case on behalf of both the CIEC and ACLU plaintiffs, please visit the
Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC) web page at
http://www.ciec.org.
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact Jonah
Seiger .
------------------------------
Subject: Summary of eTRUST Market Survey Results
------------------------------------------------
See http://www.etrust.org for more information.
The information below is based on a PowerPoint interactive presentation,
which may be available from the eTRUST site shortly.
eTRUST INTERNET PRIVACY STUDY
Summary of Market Survey Results
March 12, 1997
prepared for eTRUST by
The Boston Consulting Group
Two Embarcadero Center
San Francisco, California 94111
tel. 415-732-8000
PROLOGUE
The following pages are a partial summary of the results of a project
conducted by The Boston Consulting Group, Inc. on behalf of eTRUST –
not-for-profit organization co-founded by CommerceNet and the Electronic
Frontier Foundation
The focus of the project was to investigate consumer and business attitudes
regarding privacy of personal information online. A further objective was
to develop a business model for a privacy assurance entity that would create
and enforce guidelines for disclosure of privacy policies and the handling
of personal information online
The BCG project team consisted of:
Michael Kleeman – Vice President
Andy Blackburn – Manager
Theanne Thomson – Consultant
PRIVACY IS A MAJOR CONCERN ON THE INTERNET
To a Greater Extent Than in the Physical World
PRIVACY IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF CONSUMER TRUST
Trust Spans Issues of Privacy, Security and Authentication
SCOPE OF eTRUST INTERNET PRIVACY STUDY
SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS
Consumer and Merchant Perspectives on Privacy
Consumers express strong concerns regarding privacy over the Internet;
interested in limiting and controlling spread of their information;
see privacy and security as interrelated and overlapping issues;
generally less willing to disclose more sensitive personal information to
businesses they are not familiar with.
Consumers also recognize that they have only crude control over
dissemination of their personal information primarily through opting-out
or disguising their identity; usually based on a subjective assessment of
trust.
Consumers indicate they would increase the depth and breadth of their
Internet activity in response to a privacy disclosure and assurance program.
Assurance of non-dissemination of personal information would have a
significant impact, increasing consumer willingness to participate in
e-commerce by a factor of 2 to 3.
Disclosure of privacy practices alone would have a more limited impact,
increasing consumer willingness to participate by approximately 50%
The combined positive impact on e-commerce could reach $6B by 2000.
Merchants also express interest in a privacy assurance program, however,
they are less certain about specific benefits to their businesses.
Smaller companies seeking trusted brand recognition see highest value.
Larger companies want a proven, credible program before signing on.
CONSUMERS PRIVACY CONCERNS ARE LIMITING INTERNET ACTIVITY AND THE GROWTH OF
E-COMMERCE
PRIVACY IS A CONSISTENT, SIGNIFICANT CONCERN FOR INTERNET
CONSUMERS
PRIVACY IS AN ISSUE ACROSS ALL AGES AND INCOMES
A LARGE PROPORTION OF CONSUMERS SEE SECURITY AND PRIVACY AS OVERLAPPING ISSUES
CONSUMERS INDICATE PRIVACY ASSURANCE HAS GREATER VALUE THAN DISCLOSURE ALONE
Consumers were asked under what conditions they would be willing to
disclose various types of information over the Internet:
* would give today;
* would give if privacy policies disclosed — e.g., including if
information is shared with third party;
* would give if privacy policies disclosed and privacy was assured —
e.g., no information given to third party.
With no privacy disclosure, consumers are less likely to disclose key
financial information (credit card number, Social Security number, bank and
stock information) than basic demographic or registration information over
the Internet.
CONSUMERS INDICATE PRIVACY ASSURANCE HAS GREATER VALUE THAN DISCLOSURE ALONE
Privacy disclosure increases consumer willingness to give information.
If a site discloses its privacy practices, up to 18% of respondents would
give information that they otherwise wouldn'’t discloes.
Assurance of non-dissemination of personal information has a much more
significant impact if a site assures non-dissemination of personal
information; up to 45% of respondents would give more sensitive
information they otherwise wouldn'’ tdisclose.
Reflects strong consumer desire to control the spread of their
information.
CONSUMER WILLINGNESS TO DISCLOSE VARIES WITH TYPE OF INFORMATION AND KIND
OF BUSINESS
CONSUMERS ARE LESS WILLING TO DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION TO UNFAMILIAR
COMPANIES
MOST WEB SITES TODAY REPRESENT SMALLER, LESS WELL KNOWN COMPANIES
DISCLOSURE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES INCREASES CONSUMER COMFORT IN GIVING
INFORMATION
Levels the playing field for companies with low brand recognition.
PRIVACY ASSURANCE IS LIKELY TO BOLSTER E-COMMERCE
Consumers want to know that their information will be treated responsibly.
PRIVACY ASSURANCE COULD HAVE UP TO A $6 BILLION IMPACT ON E-COMMERCE BY 2000
If privacy programs are adopted by commerce sites
MERCHANTS SURVEYED EXPRESS INTEREST IN AN INTERNET PRIVACY ASSURANCE PROGRAM
But level of interest varies with size of firm.
Most merchants interviewed express interest in a privacy assurance program
Small businesses seeking stronger brand recognition and credibility
expressed higher interest (62%) than larger businesses with strong existing
brands outside the Internet (47%).
Majority of merchants perceive the primary benefit of privacy assurance to
be promoting electronic commerce in general
A subset believe privacy will have a direct economic impact on their
businesses.
Smaller businesses project higher impact than larger businesses (30%
increase in customers versus 15% increase).
Large businesses want proven credibility before signing on worry about
diluting their brand.
SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANIES HAVE THE GREATEST INTEREST IN PRIVACY
ASSURANCE
PRIVACY ASSURANCE PERCEIVED PRIMARILY AS OFFERING BROAD SOCIAL BENEFITS
Businesses also foresee some direct economic benefits.
SUMMARY
Consumers are concerned about controlling the privacy of their personal
information on the Internet.
Privacy concerns generate multiple negative effects on e-commerce:
* low rates of consumer participation;
* falsification of personal information given online;
* potential for government intervention.
Consumers would welcome Internet privacy assurance,
indicating that they would modify their behavior accordingly.
Online businesses would also support a privacy assurance entity with
varying levels of enthusiasm:
* Promote the good of e-commerce;
* Potential benefit to their business.
An independent privacy assurance entity could generate significant benefits
for e-commerce as well as for consumers and online businesses:
* Increased consumer trust and confidence in online businesses;
* Higher accuracy of consumer information provided online;
* Increased consumer online activity, valued at up to $6 billion by 2000.
------------------------------
Subject: NewsNybbles
--------------------
* Internet Taxation Issue Heats Up: "No New Taxes"!
In the wake of White House Sr. Policy Advisor Ira Magaziner's global
e-commerce report, positioning in the US Administration against the
creation of new Internet taxes, 3 bills have been introduced to make such
a policy the law of the land. The new action also comes on the heel of
widespread opposition to imposition of special "access fee" tariffs on
Internet service providers (to be paid to local phone companies).
Of the new bills, first out of the gate on March 6 was the Tax-Free
Internet Act (TFIA) of Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL). Weldon's legislation
specifically exempts Internet and other online services from federal
taxes, and even forbids the use of federal funds to develop Internet
taxation proposals. The bill number is HR995.
More recently, a bicameral bill, the Internet Tax Freedom Act of 1997
(ITFA) has been introduced in the House by Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) and Rep.
Rick White (R-WA), and in the Senate by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). Though
there is a Republic majority involved (not surprisings, given that this is
a taxation issue), the effort is bi-partisan, and all three sponsors are
members of Congressional Internet Caucus. ITFA, the bill number and full
text of which is not available at e-press time, places a moratorium on
state and local taxes on the Internet or interactive services (sales and
user taxes still apply) establishes a task force made up of local, state
and federal representatives that will issue a finding within 18 months
after enactment of the legislation, directing the federal government on
how to deal with the taxation issue; and prohibits the Federal
Communication Commission (FCC) from setting rates for Internet services,
according to a Press release from White's office. The summary is
consistent with an short analysis of the legislation issued by Rep.
Wyden's office. The bill also calls for the White House to seek agreements
with other countries to keep the Net free from taxes and tariffs.
All of these efforts are in marked contrast the majority of US state and
local action regarding taxation and the Internet, which has to date
been almost invariably aimed at imposing some kind of taxation.
EFF has to agree with the sponsors of ITFA, noting that the existence of
over 30,000 taxation jurisdictions within the US alone makes for an
intractable problem if any and all such jurisdictions can impose taxes
upon online transactions.
More information on these bills can be found at:
http://www.eff.org/pub/GII_NII/Taxation/
* Web Link Lawsuits Raise Serious Questions
Comments of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
on Web Content Linkage Lawsuits
Mar. 17, 1996.
In an action similar to a (settled) legal threat over "inlining" of
copyrighted comic strip graphics in a third party web page, a host of
publishing companies have filed suit in New York City federal district
court against a company called TotalNews. TotalNews uses the experimental
"frames" extension to Web code to point their site's visitors to various
news sources around the Web. CNN, Washington Post, Dow Jones, Times
Mirror and Reuters, who have filed the suit, allege that TotalNews'
practice of displaying the content of the various companies' news sites
within a "frame" with TotalNew's banner ads, is a violation of the
companies' rights.
It is not at all clear that such a practice is infringing in any way,
under copyright law. The intermediary site, TotalNews, does not actually
make any copy of content from CNN, et al, but rather simply instructs the
user's Web browser to obtain the content direct from CNN, et al., and to
display that content within an ad-bearing from provided by TotalNews.
There is essentially a conflict between two theoretical approaches to
copyright: one that says claims of infringement should be interpreted
based on what *functionally* is occurring (that is, on whether
it *functions* just like a traditional infringment) and another that says
the issue of infringement turns on what is technically true about the
facts -- e.g., whether an actual, unlicensed copy was made by the
defendant. Each alternative is "reasonable" (in that they are both
consistent with most prior cases), and yet "unreasonable" in that either
may result in rulings that have negative consequence for Internet users.
As with many other areas of the law, now probably is just not the time to
settle these issues governmentally, as the technology is moving too
rapidly for any branch of government to keep up.
Because the law of course does not recognize any distinction between HTML
code making use of Netscape & Microsoft proprietary "frames"
capabilities, and that which does not, it will be very difficult for a
judge to issue a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs that will not seriously
harm the public interest by restricting much or all Web linkage.
The plaintiffs allege more than simply copyright infringment in the
TotalNews case, also claiming the practice infringes trademarks,
constitutes misappropriation, and trademark dilution. Some of these claims
may have merits, depending upon the facts discovered in this case. EFF
does not address most of these claims. But, the underlying premise that
because TotalNews is not providing its own content and is simply pointing
to others' content, is untenable. Under such logic, any directory of
pointers to other sources of information could be criminalized.
There is of course no guarantee that the court will carry this case very
far, much less fail to fully understand what is at stake and
therefore issue harmful but precedent-setting rulings. The danger is there
however, and is a grave one due to the very complicated nature of Web
protocols, and due to how poorly these facts map onto aging copyright law.
EFF calls on the participants in this dispute to please keep the interests
of the public in mind. In particular, it is the position of EFF that:
1) There are technical and industry-standards methods, as well as
legalistic means, of dealing with the problem of linkage of material in
such a way as to obscure the original source.
2) Sites using such links in a deliberately misleading manner should be
critized and exposed as plagiarists (and possibly trademark infringers
in some cases). Whether there is any copyright issue here that can be
defended without serious harm to the public interest is highly
questionable.
3) Technical solutions can solve this problem in a far less dangerous
manner than lawsuits, e.g. by working with the issuers of draft standards
to ensure that they work better and hamper others' rights as little as
possible if at all, and/or by protecting one's own content from random
outside linkage by usage of visitor registrations or subscriptions using
login IDs and passwords.
4) When dealing with new and rapidly-changing technology, disputes of this
nature are best settled by carefully considered arbitration or bilateral
compromise, in private, rather than in the judicial system, where
decisions can have long-lasting precedence and disastrous fallout.
5) If any such case should proceed in the courts, all parties to the suit
should go to great lengths to educate the court about the Internet and the
Web, and how they operate, in sufficient technical detail that judge and
jury understand the mechanism by which content is referenced and copied,
from whom, to whom.
EFF recognizes that intentionally plagiaristic abuse of inlining and
frames within web pages is a valid issue of concern. However, this would
not appear to be the modus operandi of TotalNews, which serves as an
index of and jumping-off point to online news sources, much the way Yahoo
or HotBot provide links to other sites. The only difference (barring
actual trademark infringement of which we are unaware) would appear to be
presentation. The presentation issues are principally an artifact of the
technology, and it may be incumbent upon the WWW standards community to
seek solutions to what must be viewed by intellectual property holders as
a form of security hole, even if others find it to be a useful feature.
EFF does not presume to offer a magic bullet solution to the problems.
Perhaps frames are simply too troublesome and should be abandoned. Maybe
content providers must yield and acknowledge others' right to build
directories that frame the target content. The real answer probably lies
in the middle, perhaps in the creation of a framing/inlining permissions
protocol, or in the adoption of password protections by content providers.
Incidentally, EFF would like to observe that this kind of dispute, which
grows beyond its bounds and poses risks to the health of the Net and to
the rights of all users, is a powerful argument against willy-nilly,
widespread, public alpha-testing of experimental extensions to accepted
standards. It may be that such extensions, like unstable software, should
be tested and reviewed in more private, controlled circumstances.
It may be a good idea to include in this process review by attorneys
and policy analysts with an eye to ferreting out and fixing legal
difficulties that may arise, before public release and implementation
cause crises of this sort.
It is incumbent upon the participants in this medium to create industry
practices and new forms of netiquette that allow one to make full
responsible use of new technologies while still repsecting copyright and
tradmark holders. Courts cannot do this for us.
------------------------------
Subject: Upcoming Events
------------------------
This schedule lists EFF events, and those we feel might be of interest to
our members. EFF events (those sponsored by us or featuring an EFF speaker)
are marked with a "*" instead of a "-" after the date. Simlarly, government
events (such as deadlines for comments on reports or testimony submission,
or conferences at which government representatives are speaking) are marked
with "!" in place of the "-" ("!?" means a govt. speaker may appear, but
we don't know for certain yet.) And likewise, "+" in place of "-"
indicates a non-USA event. If it's a foreign EFF event with govt. people,
it'll be "*!+" instead of "-". You get the idea. To let us know about an
event, please send details to Dennis Derryberry, dennis@eff.org, with a
subject line containing "CALENDAR:" followed by the name of the event.
The latest version of the full EFF calendar is available from:
ftp: ftp.eff.org, /pub/EFF/calendar.eff
gopher: gopher.eff.org, 1/EFF, calendar.eff
http://www.eff.org/pub/EFF/calendar.eff
See also our new Now-Up-to-Date HTML calendar at:
http://events.eff.org
1997
Mar. 24 ! Deadline for reply comments on FCC inquiry into technological
hurdles for Net growth
URL: http://www.fcc.gov/isp.html
Apr. 1 + PARIS, FRANCE - 1st INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON COMPUTATIONAL
SEMIOTICS; Paper submission deadline; conference to be held May
26-27, 1997; send four copies of an abstract (approximately 500
words) in english to:
Irene Ludman - IWCS'97
Pele Universitaire Leonard de Vinci
92916 PARIS-LA DEFENSE-CEDEX, FRANCE
Phone: (33) 01 41 16 73 05
Fax : (33) 01 41 16 73 35
Email : irene.ludmann@devinci.fr
URL: http://www.devinci.fr/home/actua.htm
Apr. 1-
2 - WASHINGTON, DC - Virtual Diplomacy: The Global Communications
Revolution And International Conflict Management; Omni Shoreham
Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington, D.C.; an international
conference to explore how information and communication
technologies are affecting the sovereignty of nations and shaping
global affairs; conference registration ranges from $75 for
students to $150 for on-site registration;
URL: http://www.usip.org/virtual_dipl.html
E-mail: virtual_diplomacy@usip.org
Apr. 1-
3 *- SAN FRANCISCO - Spring '97 VON Conference: "Telecommunications
and Streaming Media on the Net"; This conference has three
major tracks: Net Broadcasting, Regulatory Issues and Internet
Telephony; featured speakers include EFF Board Member David
Farber and EFF Emeritus Board Member Rob Glaser;
Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, CA
URL: http://www.pulver.com/von97
Apr. 7- BONN, GERMANY - first Annual Conference of the G7 Project "A
9 + Global Marketplace for SMEs"; conference aims to raise the
interest of SMEs in the fast growing market of electronic
commerce and stimulate the debate in the industry and
policy-making on electronic commerce. A series of major
announcements, political as well as business related, are already
projected for the event; for more information contact:
Ms Sandra Herms
D3 Group
Oxfordstr. 2
53111 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49-228-9853888
Fax: +49-228-9853889
Email: g7@empirica.de
URL: http://www.g7ec.de/
Apr. 8-
11 - FRACTAL 97: Fractals in the Natural & Applied Sciences 4th
International Working Conference; Denver Colorado. Sponsored by
IFIP; paper submissions due by Aug. 5, 1996.
Contact: Miroslav Novak, +44 181 547 2000 (voice),
+44 181 547 7562 or 7419 (fax)
Email: novak@kingston.ac.uk
Apr. 9-
10 - WASHINGTON, DC - Networking '97: Exploring the Continued
Evolution of Internet Technology for Research and Education;
sponsored by CNI, CRA, Educom, & FARNET; Sheraton City Centre,
Washington, DC; registration cut-off date for both the
conference and the hotel is March 7; register via the Internet:
URL: http://www.educom.edu/web/nttf/net97.html
If you would like to register by mail but have not received the
brochure or if you need more information, contact Krystal
Bullers by email or call 202-872-4200
Apr. 22-
24 - CHICAGO, IL - DCI Internet Expo; the world's largest Internet,
Web and email conference and exposition; comprehensive program
will cover Web-enabled marketing, best practices for e-commerce
and application development; San Jose Convention Center; also
will be held February 18-20 at the San Jose Convention Center;
email: ExpoReg@dciexpo.com
URL: http://www.dciexpo.com
June 2-
4 - American Society for Information Science 1997 Mid-Year Conference;
gathering will focus on privacy and security issues online;
Scottsdale Arizona; paper submissions due Nov. 1, 1996.
Contacts:
Gregory B. Newby, Co-Chair GSLIS/UIUC
Tel: (217) 244-7365; Email: gbnewby@uiuc.edu
Mark H. Needleman, Co chair UCOP
Tel: (510) 987-0530; Email: mhn@stubbs.ucop.edu
Karla Petersen, Panel Sessions
Tel: (312) 508-2657; Email: kpeter1@luc.edu
Richard Hill, Executive Director, ASIS
Tel: (301) 495-0900; Email: rhill@cni.org
URL: http://www.asis.org
June 14-
19 + CALGARY, CANADA
ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 97--World Conference on Educational
Multimedia and Hypermedia and World Conference on Educational
Telecommunications are jointly held international conferences,
organized by the Association for the Advancement of Computing
in Education (AACE). These annual conferences serve as multi-
disciplinary forums for the discussion and dissemination of
information on the research, development, and applications on all
topics related to multimedia/hypermedia and distance education.
We invite you to attend ED-MEDIA/ED-TELECOM 97 and submit proposals
for papers, panels, roundtables, tutorials, workshops,
demonstrations/posters, and SIG discussions. Proposals may be
submitted in either hard copy (send 5 copies or fax 1 copy)
or in electronic form. Electronic proposals in the form of
URL addresses or ASCII files (uncoded) are preferred.
Submission Deadline: Oct. 25, 1996; Send to:
Program Chairs
ED-MEDIA 97/AACE
P.O. Box 2966
Charlottesville, VA 22902, USA
E-mail: AACE@virginia.edu; Phone: 804-973-3987; Fax: 804-978-7449
URL: http://www.aace.org/conf/edmedia
June 19-
20 - WASHINGTON, DC - CyberPayments '97
Conference will investigate issues of online commerce including
electronic cash and checks, credit cards, encryption systems
and security products; Sheraton Washington Hotel, Washington, DC
For more information contact:
email: vinceiaboni@msn.com
tel: +1 216 464 2618 x228
+1 800 529 7375
June 20-
21 + GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - International Symposium on Technology and
Society 1997 (ISTAS'97): Technology and Society at a Time of
Sweeping Change; University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland
ISTAS '97 aims to tackle questions of how advancements in
technology are affecting the social and natural landscape;
ISTAS '97 Secretariat
Conference Services Department
The Institution of Electrical Engineers
Savoy Place
London WC2R 0BL
UK
Tel: + 44(0)171 344 5469/8425
Fax: +44 (0)171 240 8830
E-mail: ISTAS@iee.org.uk
URL: http://www.iee.org.uk/LSboard/Conf/call_for/istas97.htm
June 22-
25 + TORONTO - GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE '97; given the vital role of
knowledge in economic and social development, and the
opportunities and challenges posed by new information
and communication technologies, how can developing countries,
and particularly the world's poor, access and harness knowledge
for development, so as to promote empowerment, enable life-long
learning, and reduce poverty?
URL: http://www.bvx.ca/ict/gk97.htm
Conference Secretariat
The World Bank Economic Development Institute
1818 H Street, NW, M7-075
Washington, DC 20433 USA
Tel: 202-473-6442
Fax: 202-676-0858
E-mail: GlobalKnowledge@worldbank.org
Alain Brousseau
Phone: (819) 997-6849
Fax: (819) 953-6356
E-mail: alain_brousseau@acdi-cida.gc.ca
July 13-
17 - ACUTA 26th Annual Conference; Atlanta, Georgia.
Contact: +1 606 278 3338 (voice)
Aug. 24 + NAGOYA, JAPAN - IJCAI-97 Workshop on AI in Digital Libraries:
Moving From Chaos to (More) Order; Nagoya Congress Center,
Nagoya, Japan;
URL: http://www.dlib.com/people/innes/aiindl/cfp.html
Sep. 7 -
11 + LANCASTER, UK - ECSCW'97, the Fifth European Conference on
Computer Supported Cooperative Work; deadline for paper
submissions is January 13, 1997; papers must contain an abstract
of not more than 100 words and not exceed 16 pages in length; full
formatting instructions are available from
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/papers/
queries: ecscw97-papers@comp.lancs.ac.uk
for more information:
snail mail: ECSCW'97 Conference Office
Computing Department
Lancaster University
Lancaster LA1 4YR UK
URL: http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/computing/research/cseg/ecscw97/
email: ecscw97@comp.lancs.ac.uk
Sep. 12-
14 SAN DIEGO - Association of Online Professionals Annual
Conference; sysop trade association's yearly gathering to
discuss issues of relevance to the industry
URL: http://www.aop.org/confrnc.html
Sep. 25-
27 + PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA - RUFIS'97: Role of Universities in the
Future Information Society; Czech Technical University, Prague,
Czechoslovakia; to obtain a registration form, please, send an
empty e-mail message to:
rufis-call@mail.vc.cvut.cz
Karel Kveton
UNESCO International Centre for Scientific Computing
Czech Technical University - Prague
Computing Centre
Zikova 4, 166 35 Prague 6
Phone: + 42 2 2431 0369, fax: + 42 2 311 7529
e-mail: kveton@vc.cvut.cz
URL: http://www.cvut.cz/RUFIS97
Oct. 7-
10 + BEIJING, CHINA - '97 China Database: Electronic Publications
& Software Exhibition; Beijing International Convention Center
Contact: Mr. Cheng Bin and Ms. Hu Yongning
Beijing Evertrust Exposition Co. Ltd.
15 Fuxing Road, Beijing, China
Post code: 100038
Tel: +86-10-68514007
Fax: +86-10-68537092
URL: http: // www.sti.ac. cn/Exhibition/ invi.htm
E-mail: expo@istic.sti.ac.cn
Oct. 28-
31 - EDUCOM '97; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
Contact: +1 202 872 4200 (voice)
Email: conf@educom.edu
Dec. 1 - Computer Security Day (started by Washington DC chapter of the
Assoc. for Computing Machinery, to "draw attention to computer
security during the holdiay season when it might otherwise become
lax."
1998
----
July 12-
16 - ACUTA 27th Annual Conference; San Diego, California.
Contact: +1 606 278 3338 (voice)
Oct. 13-
16 - EDUCOM '98; Orlando, Florida.
Contact: +1 202 872 4200 (voice)
Email: conf@educom.edu
Dec. 1 - Computer Security Day (started by Washington DC chapter of the
Assoc. for Computing Machinery, to "draw attention to computer
security during the holdiay season when it might otherwise become
lax."
------------------------------
Subject: Quote of the Day
-------------------------
"All bad precedents begin with justifiable measures."
- Julius Caesar
Find yourself wondering if your privacy and freedom of speech are safe
when bills to censor the Internet are swimming about in a sea of of
surveillance legislation and anti-terrorism hysteria? Worried that in
the rush to make us secure from ourselves that our government
representatives may deprive us of our essential civil liberties?
Concerned that legislative efforts nominally to "protect children" will
actually censor all communications down to only content suitable for
the playground? Alarmed by commercial and religious organizations abusing
the judicial and legislative processes to stifle satire, dissent and
criticism?
Join EFF!
http://www.eff.org/join (or send any message to info@eff.org).
Even if you don't live in the U.S., the anti-Internet hysteria will soon
be visiting a legislative body near you. If it hasn't already.
------------------------------
Subject: What YOU Can Do
------------------------
* Keep an eye on your local legislature/parliament!
All kinds of wacky censorious legislation is turning up at the US state
and non-US national levels. Don't let it sneak by you - or by the
online activism community. Without locals on the look out, it's very
difficult for the Net civil liberties community to keep track of what's
happening locally as well as globally.
* Inform your corporate government affairs person or staff counsel
if you have one. Keep them up to speed on developments you learn of,
and let your company's management know if you spot an issue that warrants
your company's involvement.
* Find out who your congresspersons are
Writing letters to, faxing, and phoning your representatives in Congress
is one very important strategy of activism, and an essential way of
making sure YOUR voice is heard on vital issues.
If you are having difficulty determining who your US legislators are,
try contacting your local League of Women Voters, who maintain a great
deal of legislator information, or consult the free ZIPPER service
that matches Zip Codes to Congressional districts with about 85%
accuracy at:
http://www.stardot.com/~lukeseem/zip.html
Computer Currents Interactive has provided Congress contact info, sorted
by who voted for and against the Communications Decency Act:
http://www.currents.net/congress.html (NB: Some of these folks have,
fortunately, been voted out of office.)
We are not presently aware of servers that provide contact info for non-US
legislators.
* Join EFF!
You *know* privacy, freedom of speech and ability to make your voice heard
in government are important. You have probably participated in our online
campaigns and forums. Have you become a member of EFF yet? The best way to
protect your online rights is to be fully informed and to make your
opinions heard. EFF members are informed and are making a difference. Join
EFF today!
For EFF membership info, send queries to membership@eff.org, or send any
message to info@eff.org for basic EFF info, and a membership form.
------------------------------
Administrivia
=============
EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
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------------------------------
End of EFFector Online v10 #04 Digest
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$$