From kammerer at aa.net Mon Apr 3 09:12:14 2000 From: kammerer at aa.net (Kent Kammerer) Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 09:12:14 -0700 Subject: No subject Message-ID: <200004031612.JAA19532@slave1.aa.net> To Subject: Next SNC meeting! SNC SEATTLE NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION 731 NORTH 87TH SEATTLE WA. 98103 1-206-784-7217 VOICE/FAX Is there any truth to the somewhat harsh phrase that has entered the American lexicon? It goes - "we have elected the best officials money can buy". In Seattle's last election 125,252 voters elected a city council whose candidates spent close to a million dollars in their campaign for individual jobs that pay around $80,000. That represents over $6.00 per. vote. Candidates have spent amounts that represent up to 3 times their salary just to get elected. This phenomena certainly stimulates one's curiosity. Trying to keep election financing open and visible to the public is the role of the election and ethics commission. Substantial changes in election rules and guidelines are being proposed for next year. Hear about these proposals from elections and ethics director this next Saturday at the SNC. We meet at 9:00 AM. at the Greenhouse Cafe, 2205 7th. Av. See you there. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Sun Apr 9 09:18:22 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 09:18:22 -0700 Subject: SCN: Microsoft Message-ID: <38F04ADE.8118.AC0F0C7@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================== Microsoft: Judgment Day by Eben Moglen Eben Moglen, professor of law and legal history at Columbia University Law School, serves without fee as general counsel of the Free Software Foundation. (The Nation)---Despite all the palaver, the denouement came quickly. Microsoft's decision to walk away from Judge Richard Posner's mediation efforts and to stake its future on overturning Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson's legal conclusions immediately resulted in the release of a judgment no one is going to overturn. Bill Gates, who as a child probably didn't play well with others, has elected to knock over all the blocks rather than share. Judge Jackson, for his part, has brought the Microsoft Era to a certain and devastating end. The fate of Microsoft is now sealed. Whatever remedy Judge Jackson may eventually decide to impose, Microsoft will be distracted, eroded and dismembered by the avalanche of private antitrust litigation that Judge Jackson's findings of fact and conclusions of law make possible. The most difficult burden for most antitrust plaintiffs is that of proving that their adversary possesses monopoly power in the relevant market; the second most difficult is that of proving that their adversary's actions constituted an attempt to achieve or maintain that monopoly power by forbidden means. Now any firm that believes that Microsoft has deprived it of fair opportunities to compete in the market for PC software need not prove either of those matters. Jackson's judgment means that the facts he found last November are unassailable by Microsoft in other litigation, the effect of what lawyers call "collateral estoppel." In order to recover antitrust damages, which under the Sherman Antitrust Act are triple their provable monetary losses, firms need only prove that Microsoft's conduct--as a proven monopolist that maintained its monopoly by illegal means--caused them monetary harm. Microsoft faces at least a decade of litigation with all the market participants it has threatened, knee-capped or destroyed. Gates's e-mail, that reservoir of documented commercial knavery unprecedented in the history of American antitrust litigation, will be in constant demand. The litigation will constrain Microsoft, opening opportunities for new competitors to emerge free of the hitherto omnipresent concern with Microsoft's probable response to each and every attempt to create new protocols and possibilities for the Net. By the evening of April 3, mere hours after release of the judgment, the nature of the Microsoft response was clear. The right of appeal, the company said, would result in Microsoft's exoneration. But that is unlikely--even if the case goes all the way to the Supreme Court. Judge Jackson's legal conclusions are painstakingly related to his factual findings, which no appellate court will disturb unless they are "clearly erroneous," a standard that is unlikely to be met in the mind of even the most skeptical appellate judge. Jackson's application of antitrust doctrine in his opinion, which accepted most but not all of the plaintiffs' legal theories, was deliberately orthodox, not experimental or innovative in any respect. And despite the pending appeal, the collateral-estoppel effect begins immediately, as will the flood of private litigation. Gates also declared that Jackson's opinion "turns on its head the reality that consumers know"--that Windows made computers more accessible to people throughout society. But antitrust is not only about consumers' welfare. As I wrote in these pages [see Moglen, "Antitrust and American Democracy," November 30, 1998], antitrust is also, and primarily, about protecting democracy from overconcentrations of private economic power. Gates's invocation of "what consumers know" distorts antitrust law to lose this point. How PCs work in the era of the Internet is an essentially political question. If Microsoft had wanted to give desktop icons to the Democratic and Republican parties but not to the Greens, no seller of a "Green PC," designed to appeal to the socially conscious buyer, could have added a Green Party icon without Microsoft's permission. Monopolization of the PC operating system by a single commercial entity determined uncounted political and social questions by default, in ways that consumers never had a chance to understand. This power to control the environment of the PC, in which more and more of us spend increasing proportions of our lives, conveys a power to shape, at a level so ubiquitous as to be barely noticeable to the average user, the nature of the public discourse. Which Internet medium can everyone get to with one click? Which points of view are considered appropriate for everyone's computer to represent? Throughout the era of the Microsoft monopoly, those decisions were made by a single private power, ceding it more undivided leverage over our collective symbolic environment than anyone in our society. For this reason, the destruction of that monopoly is far more important to the politics of our age than destruction of the petroleum or tobacco trusts was in the era of Theodore Roosevelt. Microsoft will no doubt argue that this increase in diversity will somehow destroy the benefit to consumers of an environment of widespread technical compatibility. This argument is a fallacy. Consumers will not have less good software to use once the Microsoft we know has perished. The culture of the Net will be in all ways healthier, and the politics of the information society will have lost its single most undemocratic feature. Copyright 2000 The Nation Company, L.P. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Tue Apr 11 20:05:33 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 20:05:33 -0700 Subject: SCN: Spam Message-ID: <38F3858D.8650.2A02FC0@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================= Spammers get aggressive: Readers report threats and e-mail bomb attacks by Ed Foster (InfoWorld)---As if it's not bad enough that readers are getting more spam than ever, it appears that spammers are becoming more aggressive and even downright belligerent in asserting their right to send junk e-mail however and to whomever they please. Judging by the unsolicited commercial e-mail forwarded to me by readers, the volume of spam -- porn site come-ons, get-rich buncos, bulk-e-mail tool promotions -- just keeps increasing. But the tone is also getting harsher as hard-core spammers seem bent on intimidating people into accepting their messages by using such tactics as threats of retaliation to those who report them to ISPs, claims of legal sanction for their activities, and mail-bomb attacks on anti-spam activists. "I've been running the rounds lately with a particularly obnoxious spammer who apparently dials directly into my ISP's server with a PPP [Point to Point Protocol] connection and mail-bombs every address he has," wrote one reader. "What's particularly aggravating is that all the messages contain a line about how to remove yourself from a mailing list (which you never, ever signed up for) by visiting a Web site that apparently doesn't exist all the time and smells suspiciously like a site trying to accumulate a large database of suckers to sell to the highest bidder." I can sympathize, having recently been subjected to a 24-hour mail- bomb attack on one of my e-mail addresses. I assumed I was targeted because of what I write about spammers, but the trail of the perpetrator also led to a very suspicious Web site that asked for a great deal of information from anyone who wanted to report a spammer from their domain. So it's quite possible I was just another random victim, which is even worse than being attacked for anti- spam activities. There's no question, however, that spammers are more aggressive against those who actively resist them. Many are citing the long- dead "Murkowski" amendment (usually called S. 1618), which failed to pass Congress last year, as giving them the legal right to send unsolicited commercial e-mail. Some spammers even claim that any attempt to report them to the abuse address of their ISP either will violate the spammers' civil rights or will result in the spam recipient's own account being closed. The proliferation of "spam-friendly" ISPs is also presenting obstacles to those who try to get spammer accounts closed. After making it clear that virtually any abuse report will be considered an unwarranted flame attack, one self-proclaimed "bulk-e-mail-friendly ISP" declared, "We send all flamers, hackers, and people using vulgar language to the FBI and Interpol on a monthly basis." A reader who complained to a domain abuse address about spam he'd received from them got back a response with the subject line "Who Cares." "Your complaint has been received," the response read. "We are happy to hear from you but, frankly we don't give a damn about how you feel about spammers. Stop wasting your time trying to stop the dissemination of information in a free marketplace. ... Please, understand that until there are laws that strictly prohibit bulk electronic mailing, I will continue to solicit business using this medium." Another variation on this theme is pseudo-ISPs that say they aren't responsible for monitoring their customers for spam abuse and who instead ask the abused recipient to register with some opt-out list. Of course, such global opt-out lists are invariably address-collecting scams themselves, and registering with them only gets you on more bulk e-mail lists. (It's one of the ironies of the bulk e-mail business that so many of the lists the spammers sell to one another are compiled from opt-out and remove requests, virtually guaranteeing that the list buyers are getting few real prospects for their money.) Some even encourage those who want to get off spamming lists to throw themselves at the mercy of the spammers. After pointing a spam recipient to some phony opt-out lists, one spam-friendly ISP added, "contact one of the many bulk e-mail companies and ask them to put you on a global remove list." For good measure, the ISP added they couldn't do anything about the specific message because it contained invalid headers, which spam almost always does. Spammers are adopting plenty of aggression tactics. Several I've seen recently demand that recipients who wish to be removed from the list call a 900 number. Readers report they're getting more junk e-mail than ever from list-hosting services where the spam message is disguised as an invitation to join a list. And several recent spam attacks have been traced to e-mail accounts that were hijacked after rightful owners fell victim to a Trojan horse that got their log-ins and passwords. Why are the spammers becoming so much more aggressive? Perhaps it's because they figure they can do what they want now that so many big corporations are themselves resorting to unsolicited commercial e-mail, a theory we'll explore more next time. Copyright © 2000 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From xx031 at scn.org Fri Apr 14 11:32:50 2000 From: xx031 at scn.org (Volunteers) Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 11:32:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: Non-profits need your help battling viruses-- Join NPower'VirusVaccination Day May 20th! Message-ID: You can help community organizations safeguard against computer viruses by volunteering for NPower's second annual day of service, Virus Vaccination Day. NPower is a non-profit organization dedicated to putting technology know-how in the hands of Puget Sound non-profits. When: Saturday, May 20th from 8am to 1pm Where: You can assist non-profits in your community (King, Pierce, or Snohomish County) How: Register to volunteer at http://www.npower.org/event/VirusVaccination/main.htm Why: Less than a third of the computers at non-profits in our area have current virus protection software installed. Four hours of your time and energy can save groups providing critical services to our community, the frustration, loss of time and expense virus infections can cause. Who: If you care about the technological health of non-profits in our community and can follow written step-by-step instructions installing software from a CD, you can help non-profits inoculate themselves against malicious viruses. NPower needs hundreds of volunteers to assist agencies May 20th! SIGN-UP TODAY and pass this along to anyone else who might be interested in lending a hand! Thanks, Jaime > Jaime Greene, Director of Community Resources > NPower - "Putting Technology Know-How in the Hands of Non-Profits" > 1080 West Ewing Place, Suite 300 > Seattle, WA 98119 > T: 206/286-8880 ext. 13 F: 206/286-8881 > Jaime Greene at jaime at NPower.org > On the Web at www.NPower.org > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Tue Apr 18 21:18:49 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 21:18:49 -0700 Subject: SCN: Kids and the web Message-ID: <38FCD139.3290.6E1EC8@localhost> x-no-archive: yes =========================== Librarian, Long an Internet Booster, Sees Clouds on Web Horizon by Pamela Mendels (NY Times)---For years, Karen G. Schneider, a librarian in the suburbs of Albany, N.Y., has been known as a fighter for free speech online. She was the author of one of the early books about filtering, a critical examination for librarians of various software programs used to shield children from objectionable content online. She has long been vocal in decrying legislative and political efforts to curb an unencumbered exchange of information in cyberspace. And among those who follow the growing presence of the Internet in people's lives, she has often been asked to weigh in, be it in court or in print. So it was not surprising that the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group advocating civil liberties online, recently selected Schneider to accept an award recognizing "librarians everywhere" for their efforts to preserve the public's right to free speech on the Internet. "Librarians have played a very important role in protecting intellectual freedom and privacy online," Schneider said in a telephone interview this week. "We've done it formally as a profession. And we have been champions for people who don't often have champions -- poor people who use libraries because they have no other access to the Internet." What is perhaps more surprising about Schneider, an Internet enthusiast since she first logged on to a computer bulletin board at her library graduate school program in 1991, is that she sees clouds on the Internet horizon other than threats of censorship. For one thing, she said, she worries about the mass commercialization of the Web and the effect it is having on young people, who now increasingly encounter advertising and promotion from a variety of media in schools, once a kind of safe-haven from consumerism. "It's funny that people are concerned about being exposed to a naked body on the Internet, but they're not concerned about the ramifications of being exposed to this onslaught of commercialism from an early age and its impact on the value systems of children," she said. Schneider has a related concern. She is worried that young people who are perfectly adept at using technology are often clumsy at something perhaps more important: evaluating the quality of the information the technology feeds them. "Show them a list of the presidents out of order on a Web site. Then show them the correct listing in a book," said Schneider, who regularly spends time with children and teenagers at the Shenendehowa Public Library, where she is in charge of technology. "They'll believe the computer." Schneider expresses a concern that is increasingly common among librarians and educators, said Julie A. Walker, executive director of the American Association of School Librarians. Walker said that the Internet has entered modern life in general, and schools in particular, so quickly in recent years that administrators, teachers and others have not had the time to think through what young people need to learn about the new medium in order to use it wisely. "Schools are trying, but this has come on so fast," she said, adding later: "The medium is well ahead of the skills we are able to give kids at this point." One indication of that may come from Samuel E. Ebersole, chairman of the department of mass communications at the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo. Last year Ebersole completed a study in which he took at look at students and their Internet use at 10 Colorado middle and high schools. One thing he examined was the type of Web sites students viewed in their school libraries and computer labs. The students reported that they were using the computer predominately for learning and research. But when Ebersole had two librarians scrutinize a random sampling of the sites the students viewed, the librarians rated only 27 percent of them as suitable for academic research. Ebersole does not believe that the students were necessarily goofing off. Rather he believes that many students are ignorant about both how to conduct an effective search online and how to distinguish between reputable information and questionable information. "For kids to be successful in using the Web for academic research in schools, they probably are going to need more help than they are getting," he said. "I suspect they need more guidance, more hand- holding, more attention." Jean Amour Polly, a former librarian and now author of an annually updated family guide to cyberspace, hopes to address the problem in the next version of her book. "I'm collecting more sites about media literacy, how to surf and sift though all the stuff," she said. "A lot of kids don't know it." What all this adds up to, Schneider said, is a pressing need for teachers, librarians and other caring adults to redouble efforts to teach students how to use the Internet for education -- not just entertainment and consumerism. "There has to be an ongoing educational effort. It has to begin at home and continue at school," Schneider said. "We all have the tendency to want to just put a kid in front of a computer and then do something else. But there has to be that involvement." Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From douglas Wed Apr 19 12:33:40 2000 From: douglas (Doug Schuler) Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 12:33:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: DIAC-2000 Volunteer Meeting Message-ID: <200004191933.MAA15501@scn.org> In about a month we're hosting the "Shaping the Network Society" symposium -- -- the seventh in CPSR's "Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing" (DIAC) series. Two announcements... 1. We have now confirmed that we will be hosting a special panel Sunday afternoon (4 - 6 PM) at the symposium. Shaping the Network Society: What Next? (tentative title) Gary Chapman, 21st Century Project, LBJ School of Public Affairs, U Texas Bill Joy, Chief Scientist, Sun Microsystems Howard Rheingold, Author Moderated by Coralee Whitcomb, CPSR President 2. WE -- STILL -- NEED YOU! On Thusday April 20 at 7 PM at the Speakeasy we're having our next volunteer meeting. We need people to do publicity, web work, proceedings, registration, local arrangements, and many other exciting jobs. Hope to see you there! -- Doug PS. If you can't make it but would like to help please contact Ti Locke, lockt at kcts.org. ************************************************ * Shaping the Network Society * * An International Symposium * * May 20 - 23, 2000 * * Seattle, Washington US * * http://www.scn.org/cpsr/diac-00 * ************************************************ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From jw4 at scn.org Thu Apr 20 23:48:46 2000 From: jw4 at scn.org (Joel Ware IV) Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 23:48:46 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: URGENT! More on King County Open Access (fwd) Message-ID: As your WAISP rep, I am passing on this urgent call to action -- now is the time to call on your County Council members for Open Access. THANKS. Joel Ware, IV jw4 at scn.org Volunteer Coordinator, Member of Governance, HR, Ops, Board, ExComm ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 16:31:34 -0700 From: Gary Gardner--Executive Director To: exec-director at waisp.org Subject: URGENT! More on King County Open Access I met with our Pacific Northwest Open Access coalition partners today to discuss the pending King County Ordinance on Open Access. The council's Utilities and Technology Committee chair, David Irons, held a press conference and "hearing" today (no public testimony allowed) to talk about and introduce the ordinance. In a nut-shell, the ordinance is a sham and we are urging council members to reject it. It would clearly and explicitly give ATT a monopoly over cable Internet Access in the county. The ONLY party at the table with the council negotiators was ATT. Not surprisingly it's a pretty sweet deal for them. The only thing new is that ATT offered some money and expertise for technology programs (i.e. to sell the County ATT products and services), and to paint a couple of schools and give them some new computers. What's worse is we were asked in a letter on April 3rd, signed by 10 members of the Council (not surprisingly the chair of the committee, Mr. Irons, did NOT sign the request - as it appears he was "busy" negotiating with ATT) to try and reach a compromise with ATT. In good faith we asked ATT to meet, and to date have not heard back! Surprise! Now we know why. I'm hopeful that the Council will feel some pressure to rework the ordinance, and we will be providing some specific suggestions to them. If you'd like a copy of the proposed ordinance, and copies of the letter sent by ATT "accepting" the ordinance and the "conditions" please let me know and I'll email it to you. Meanwhile, we need to start pressuring the Council to reject the ordinance as drafted, and to provide for meaningful and true open access. Councilmember Irons specifically said he was worried about a "lawsuit" by ATT. This is clearly against long standing King County tradition NOT to back down with the threat of a lawsuit, especially when the citizens of the county would benefit by taking a strong stance. We've also been meeting and talking with reporters this afternoon, and there should be coverage in tomorrow's Seattle and Tacoma papers -- watch for it. Here's how you can help - ESPECIALLY if you are located in King County: 1) Attend and testify at the next Utility and Technology Committee hearing, this Friday, April 21st at 2pm in the Council Chambers in the King County Courthouse - 5th and James downtown Seattle. 2) E-mail the members of the Council with your concerns and urge them to not cave in to ATT's threats of a lawsuit, and to mandate Open Access NOW. E-mail addresses for the Council are below. 3) To the extent you feel comfortable, ask your CUSTOMERS to do likewise so that they too can choose to connect to you via Cable. This battle is going to be won or lost in the next few weeks. It is imperative that you act today. Email and web site for the King County Council Members: http://www.metrokc.gov Maggi Fimia maggi.fimia at metrokc.gov Cynthia Sullivan cynthia.sullivan at metrokc.gov Dwight Pelz dwight.pelz at metrokc.gov Louise Miller louise.miller at metrokc.gov Larry Phillips larry.phillips at metrokc.gov Rob McKenna rob.mckenna at metrokc.gov Pete von Reichbauer pet.vonreichbauer at metrokc.gov Greg Nickels greg.nickels at metrokc.gov Kent Pullen kent.pullen at metrokc.gov Larry Gossett larry.gossett at metrokc.gov Jane Hague jane.hague at metrokc.gov David Irons david.irons at metrokc.gov Chris Vance chris.vance at metrokc.gov * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From steve at advocate.net Fri Apr 21 07:42:39 2000 From: steve at advocate.net (Steve) Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 07:42:39 -0700 Subject: SCN: CDA Message-ID: <3900066F.2344.1ADCCE@localhost> x-no-archive: yes ======================== Suit Against Anonymous Pest Revives Online Speech Law by Carl S. Kaplan (NY Times)---A little-known federal law restricting indecent speech online that many lawyers thought was essentially dead has come back to life in Federal District Court in Manhattan, to the chagrin of some civil libertarians. The law, an attempt to refurbish for the Internet age some older statutes banning harassing phone calls, outlaws the use of a telecommunications device, like a computer modem, to transmit comments that are "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy or indecent" when the intent is "to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass another person." It is a small surviving part -- section 223(a)(1)(A) -- of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. Two other better-known CDA provisions, which would have banned the online transmission of indecent speech to minors, were struck down by the United States Supreme Court as violations of the First Amendment in a landmark decision in 1997. Earlier this month, in what may be the first lawsuit of its kind, lawyers for an Internet company invoked the remaining part of the act in a suit against a persistent pest. In papers filed on April 11, New York-based About.com said that an unknown person had been invading many of the company's chat rooms since November 1999, including the alcoholism, dating and rodeo rooms -- and, while impersonating the identities of regular chatters, had flooded the rooms with "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy and indecent messages through interstate communications with the intent to annoy, abuse, threaten and harass other people." Because the company does not know the visitor's name, it sued the unknown computer user who left behind a specific set of IP addresses, the electronic footprints left on a Web server by any visitor to a site. These can often be traced back to an Internet service provider. A lawyer for the company, Gerald E. Singleton, said in an interview that he would soon issue subpoenas to various ISPs around the country in an effort to trace the defendant and unmask him. By filing a federal lawsuit, a lawyer gains the right to issue as many subpoenas as necessary to gather information about a defendant, without having to ask the court's permission. Although the complaint did not include any specific comments made by the defendant, Singleton characterized them as " lewd, very threatening sexual remarks" that "go way over the line." "The remarks are sexual and threatening, and many of them are obscene," Singleton said. The grounds of the lawsuit are that the comments are "harassing, annoying and threatening," he said. Many lawyers thought the portion of the CDA law cited in About.com's lawsuit was effectively buried in 1998. At that time, a special panel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco dismissed a constitutional challenge to the law by the operators of Annoy.com, a site that allows users to anonymously send blistering e-mail messages to politicians. Annoy.com had argued that the government may not ban "indecent" speech, period, even if accompanied by an intent to "annoy." Instead of striking down the law as unconstitutional, in a 2-1 decision, the three-judge panel saved the law by rendering it meaningless. The court adopted a statutory interpretation of the law that read it as banning just obscene speech, which, unlike indecent speech, is not protected by the First Amendment. The court's legal ruling technically applies only in the federal district in which the case was heard. A year later the United States Supreme Court issued a one-sentence ruling upholding the lower court's action in dismissing Annoy.com's complaint. But the Supreme Court did not say whether the district court's interpretation of the law was correct. As a matter of policy -- not law -- the narrow view of the online speech statute was adopted by the Justice Department. A 1998 memorandum sent to United States attorneys advised them that the statute should be applied only to obscene communications. Chris Hansen, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union who specializes in Internet speech, said that he had qualms about the apparent rebirth of the online speech law and its use as a means to unmask an anonymous speaker. "The private use of the law is particularly troubling to me," he said. "If you reject the district court's view and take a more expansive view, an awful lot of people could be rushing into federal court to stop all kinds of speech they find annoying." Hansen added that if the defendant in the About.com case posted obscene or threatening comments, company officials should have called the police. "Obscenity and legitimate threats are punishable," he said. But non-obscene, disturbing or annoying speech is protected by the Constitution, he said. Clinton D. Fein, president of ApolloMedia Corp., the San Francisco- based company that runs Annoy.com and that originally challenged the online speech law, said that is a "terrible thing" for a company to run to federal court and rely "on a bad law" to silence and unmask someone. The About.com case is part of a growing trend of lawsuits that are filed in response to material placed anonymously on the Internet, lawyers said. Many suits of this type are filed by corporations alleging defamation against unknown speakers on financial bulletin boards. "The real objective of these suits is to obtain the identity of the wrongdoer," said Ian C. Ballon, a lawyer in Palo Alto, Calif., who specializes in Internet law. "Many people act with impunity on the Internet because they are able to do so pseudonymously. Once they are unmasked and identified they tend to back down." Ballon acknowledges that one possible problem with these unmasking efforts is that the legal basis for the underlying lawsuit may never be challenged, because in many cases the unknown defendant is not notified of the suit. Subpoenas will be issued by the lawyers, subpoenas will be served on ISPs, and many ISPs will disclose a subscriber's identity without giving notice to the subscriber that they are doing so. "By the time anyone cares to look at the merits, the plaintiff's objectives will have been met," Ballon said. For these reasons, Hansen of the ACLU said that his organization favors two protections for anonymous chatters. Any complaint filed in court against an unknown Internet defendant should include specifics of the allegedly objectionable postings, he said. Also, a judge should not allow a lawyer to issue subpoenas in these cases without requiring that the defendant, once identified by the ISP, be given an opportunity to enter court to seek to protect his anonymity. "The right to anonymous speech should not be breached so easily," Hansen said. For his part, About.com's Singleton said that he employed the controversial speech law in his case because it seemed to fit the actions of the defendant. "My interest is simply to pursue the identity of this person in the most economical fashion," he said. Although the federal speech law is a criminal statute, Singleton said that he believes private parties have a right to bring lawsuits under it. He also said that About.com tried in vain to erect an electronic gate to keep out the unknown defendant. "We'd block him, and then he would come back in under a different name," he said, adding later: "He's still invading our rooms." Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From douglas Fri Apr 21 13:12:47 2000 From: douglas (Doug Schuler) Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 13:12:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: Register before May 1st! Message-ID: <200004212012.NAA29800@scn.org> Please help us by forwarding to interested people. We really think you'll enjoy this! -- Doug ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Please forward to interested colleagues and lists. Thank you! ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last announcement before the May 1st early registration cut-off! Save money! Register now. The registration form is located at http://www.scn.org/cpsr/diac-00/regform.html Don't miss this exciting and historic symposium! We hope to see you in Seattle this May! There is more to digital communication than e-commerce!!! SHAPING THE NETWORK SOCIETY The Future of the Public Sphere in Cyberspace A Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Symposium http://www.scn.org/cpsr/diac-00 May 20 - May 23, 2000 University of Washington HUB Seattle, Washington, USA Cyberspace is likely to become the dominant medium through which people create and share information and ideas in the future. How these conversations about the environment, culture, leisure, and political decisions, are conducted is everybody's business. Please join Bill Joy, Nancy Kranich, Howard Rheingold, Veran Matic, Gary Chapman, Natasha Bulashova, Cees Hamelink, Geert Lovink, Lodis Rhodes, Marleen Stikker and many others to address these critical issues. What directions and implications does cyberspace foretell for community, democracy, education, culture and the environment? This symposium is the seventh in CPSR's "Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing" (DIAC) symposium series. This symposium tackles important public interest issues related to computing and communications that are often neglected by policy makers and the news media. The objective of DIAC-2000 is to integrate many perspectives, conversations, and people from around the world. What is the public sphere in cyberspace? What should it be? How can people use it? What experiments, projects, and policies should we initiate? We need stories, theories, and ideas that can help us discuss, reflect, and take action! Social and environmental activists, educators, technologists, government officials, artists, journalists, researchers, and citizens are coming from all over the world to participate in this important event. Prominent researchers and activists from Europe who are working on issues from human rights to cultural policy will also present their work. A research thread also runs through the symposium: Over 40 researchers will present their findings on how academia and the civic sector can work together and learn from each other. Although we are still shaping up the agenda we are expecting the following eminent participants in addition to those listed above. + Oliver Boyd-Barrett, World Communication Trends, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California + Fiorella de Cindio; Milano Rete Civiche; Milan, Italy + Penny Goldsmith; Poverty Network; Vancouver, Canada + Susana Finquelievich; Buenos Aires, Argentina + Partha Pratim Sarker; Bytes for All; Dhaka, Bangladesh + Ron Sims, King County (Washington) Executive + Judy Sparrow; National Telecommunications and Information Agency; Washington, DC. + Nicol Turner; Mapping Community Assets; Net Consulting Group, Chicago There will also be 30 interactive workshops covering a variety of topics including setting up your own community network, community asset mapping, open source jounalism and many others. On Monday and Tuesday (May 22 and 23) we will host a variety of focused meetings on emerging topics such as "Selling Out/Buying In: A Presentation and Fishbowl Discussion about the Future of Culture in Seattle's New E-conomy", a Seattle Art Museum/Open Studio Workshop, co-sponsored by the Seattle Arts Commission. Time and Place. On-site registration opens at 8:00 AM on May 20 and 9:00 on May 21. The program begins at 9:00 AM on May 20 and 9:30 on May 21. The program ends at 5:00 PM on May 20 and 6:00 PM on May 21. The main events will take place in the HUB Auditorium at the University of Washington. DIAC-2000 promises to be one of the most timely and significant conferences on cyberspace themes ever. We expect an exciting dialogue between artists, educators, librarians, researchers, government officials, journalists, and other community members. Mark your calendars to attend and help us make "Shaping the Network Society: The Future of the Public Sphere in Cyberspace" as important and inspiring as possible. DIAC-2000 is sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility DIAC-2000 is co-sponsored by the Daniel Evans School of Public Affairs (UW), the Association For Community Networks, Friends and Partners, the Seattle Art Museum / Open Studio, and the Seattle Community Network Association. We'd like to thank the Rockefeller Family Foundation and the Morino Institute for their support. Need more information? Contact Doug Schuler, douglas at cpsr.org, 206.634.0752. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From bm234 at scn.org Sat Apr 22 20:35:25 2000 From: bm234 at scn.org (Charles Hirschman Sr.) Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 20:35:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: bytes Message-ID: Any one for an answer. My only use of scn is email. What don't understand is why you have been shrinking my use of it. I thinl orginally it was one million bytes. Since then every time yyou advise me to eliminate some of them the numbers have been reduced. I think it was 900,000 then 850,oo and now 800.00. As you know I have complied with your demands--and sometimes I have eliminated them before your request. From allen at scn.org Sun Apr 23 00:13:13 2000 From: allen at scn.org (allen) Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 00:13:13 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: bytes In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Actually it is at least 967 KB. I suspect you may have a lot of stuff that you may not even be aware of. Over a bit of time, using PINE folders can accumulate lots of bytes of disk space. It is a good idea to frequently either delete things or download them to your home PC. Also, FYI (for your information) whenever you start a msg in PINE and the process is aborted...either by cancelling or by session terminated ...the msg is saved in a "dead letter" file in your work directory. You know...one way you could deal with this problem is to get a free-mail account somewhere else and have your mail forwarded there...frequently SCN users do this because they want services we cannot afford to offer and want to keep a constant e-mail address. Of course, if you do not have access to PPP services this will not work. I will forward this to the SCN Help Desk...which would have been the best place to send this query in the first place...Perhaps someone else may have a more complete answer than I have given. Also, please feel free to get back to me personally if you have any questions about any info in this msg. thanks for using SCN allen On Sat, 22 Apr 2000, Charles Hirschman Sr. wrote: > Any one for an answer. > My only use of scn is email. What don't understand is why you have been > shrinking my use of it. I thinl orginally it was one million bytes. Since > then every time yyou advise me to eliminate some of them the numbers have > been reduced. I think it was 900,000 then 850,oo and now 800.00. As you > know I have complied with your demands--and sometimes I have eliminated > them before your request. > > > > > > > > > > > >From jo at seattleu.edu Tue May 26 09:02:12 1998 > Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 15:14:13 -0700 (PDT) > From: Josephine Hirschman > To: "Charles Hirschman Sr." > Subject: Re:No Carrier? > > Dear Bud, > > Yes I would totally believe your trouble at getting this message > out. I have had lots of trouble this afternoon too. I think it is a high > traffic time. Keep those messages coming and maybe next time it will be > easier. Thanks for the coke and the corn. I will cook the latter for > dinner this evening which I am assuming you will come and eat. > > Jo > > > On Sat, 23 May 1998, Charles Hirschman Sr. wrote: > > > ouwould'nt :d'nt believce what I've gone thru > > to Jo & charles; you would'nt believe what I've gone thru to write this > > message. ^X > > > > ^C > > > > > > > > NO CARRIER > > > > > > > > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * > . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: > majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: > unsubscribe scn > ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== > * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From bn328 at scn.org Tue Apr 25 13:05:20 2000 From: bn328 at scn.org (SCN User) Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 13:05:20 -0700 (PDT) Subject: No subject Message-ID: From bn328 at scn.org Tue Apr 25 08:35:26 2000 From: bn328 at scn.org (SCN User) Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000 08:35:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: No subject Message-ID: >From hlevinsn at andromeda.rutgers.edu Fri Apr 21 17:13:16 2000 Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 20:23:33 -0400 (EDT) From: Hank Levinson To: bn328 at scn.org Subject: Thank you! Dear Tom, Thank you for identifying yourself; there are so many nuts on the net that I was kind of formal; please excuse me. I'm 61 and increasingly more crotchety. But I'm still hanging in there. I brace my hands agains something when I solder; it stops the tremor. I will drive to San Francisco end of Sept. to see Tom Turley and attend the Vintage Computer Festival in Santa Clara, 10/2,3. I will also look for land in AZ just West of Tucson, Milly and I wish to live out there. She has already retired from the NYC Public Schools and I am on terminal leave of absence from Rutgers pending retirement, When I go back East, I'll stop off at Gallup, NM to visit my friend Steve Buggie. I recently repaired his eprom burner and want to show him some ways it can be used to burn larger eproms than it is supposed to. I have recorded your new email address in my (Apple) address book. Let's keep in touch. Best regards from your friend, Hank Please be sure to quote messages when you reply. All payments should be Money Orders (unless prior arrangements are made). I repair/sell (used) hardware and software for Apple II, Mac, and IBM. REPLY TO appletreasures at iname.com (Tom Kelly) Please be sure to quote messages when you reply. All payments should be Money Orders (unless prior arrangements are made). I repair/sell (used) hardware and software for Apple II, Mac, and IBM. REPLY TO appletreasures at iname.com (Tom Kelly) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From bn890 at scn.org Fri Apr 28 17:26:30 2000 From: bn890 at scn.org (Irene Mogol) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 17:26:30 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: Question on photos Message-ID: Does anyone know how to get pictures in the system to transmit. My cousin in New Jersey is tearing out what precious little of his hair trying to send me some photos. If anyone can help please contact me or Cousin Sid at: sbachman at frontiernet.net Thanx, Irene and Her Ever Grateful Family * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From allen at scn.org Fri Apr 28 22:14:21 2000 From: allen at scn.org (allen) Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 22:14:21 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: Question on photos In-Reply-To: Message-ID: he needs to attach it to an e-mail msg as a file. You will receive the msg in Pine and it will tell you there is an attachment...you choose the view option ...Pine will say it cannot read the file...and offer you the option to download it to your PC...which you choose. Once the file is on your PC...Win95 automatically will open up a viewer for the file. If it doesn't, you can select an appropriate viewer...IE or Netscape work well for most graphics files. Or...hey!!! you could try something radical...like connecting to him via a different program...like ICQ...or MIRC...both work very will for transferring files. I will try to remember to bring disks with those programs on Sunday. They are both programs which allow you to communicate in RealTime to other people on the Internet. OK...you don't get to hear a voice...you have to type...darn!!! OTOH...it is free! and it easy to send files. Perhaps you both would be interested? CYA allen On Fri, 28 Apr 2000, Irene Mogol wrote: > Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 17:26:30 -0700 (PDT) > From: Irene Mogol > To: em-trng at scn.org, scn at scn.org > Cc: Sidney Bachman > Subject: SCN: Question on photos > > Does anyone know how to get pictures in the system to transmit. > My cousin in New Jersey is tearing out what precious little of his hair > trying to send me some photos. > If anyone can help please contact me or Cousin Sid at: > sbachman at frontiernet.net > Thanx, > Irene and Her Ever Grateful Family > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * > . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: > majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: > unsubscribe scn > ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== > * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From bn890 at scn.org Sat Apr 29 11:29:43 2000 From: bn890 at scn.org (Irene Mogol) Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 11:29:43 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: Re: EMT: Question on photos In-Reply-To: Message-ID: The question on photos is coming from Sid, dont know what system he is using, so ask him because it is a total mystery to me. Also, when I finally receive the pix it will be on my Juno Thanx, everyone * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From starsrus at scn.org Sat Apr 29 13:09:38 2000 From: starsrus at scn.org (Kenneth Applegate) Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 13:09:38 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SCN: Re: EMT: Question on photos In-Reply-To: Message-ID: On Sat, 29 Apr 2000, Irene Mogol wrote: > The question on photos is coming from Sid, dont know what system he is > using, so ask him because it is a total mystery to me. Also, when I > finally receive the pix it will be on my Juno > Thanx, everyone You might check whether Juno allows large attachments. I know that Hotmail doesn't. If you ar running through Juno, then yes, what Allen described is essentially correct - if attachments are OK, you will be able to get the files downloaded to your PC in one step, and they may be displayed automatically. However, if you can't go by that route, the one I described using Pine email on SCN, although klunkier, will work. Ken A. > > > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * > . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: > majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: > unsubscribe scn > ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== > * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * > Ken Applegate How do you identify astronomers from Seattle? By the windshield wipers on their telescopes! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * * From jeffallen at spotbuy.com Sat Apr 29 22:29:25 2000 From: jeffallen at spotbuy.com (jeffallen at spotbuy.com) Date: Sat, 29 Apr 2000 22:29:25 Subject: SCN: Would you like to save 30% on your phone bills and... Message-ID: <482.467461.494031@spotbuy.com> To be removed from this mailing list immediately press reply and enter REMOVE on the subject line. Would you like some information on saving 30% on your Phone bills each month and how to get up to 8% back each month on your Utilities including phone. This service works for both business and residential, domestic and international. Sign up is FREE Reply with "MORE INFO" in the subject field * * * * * * * * * * * * * * From the Listowner * * * * * * * * * * * * . To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to: majordomo at scn.org In the body of the message, type: unsubscribe scn ==== Messages posted on this list are also available on the web at: ==== * * * * * * * http://www.scn.org/volunteers/scn-l/ * * * * * * *