pardon my off-topic post, but...

[many waters cannot quench love <melys@cybernetics.net>]

greetings, good gentles!

i don't know how many of you have been following the debate on the
internet censorship bill which has been subsumed into a major piece of
telecommunications legislation currently before the senate.  i forward 
the following information because it potentially affects every one of us 
who's ever told a "no shit, there i was..." or exercised their freedom of 
expression over the internet.  the cda, or communications decency act, 
places at risk any individual who transmits "obscene" or otherwise 
inappropriate information over the internet.  

my concern is - who determines what's inappropriate?  and what the hell 
happened to free speech in america?  while newt himself has admitted that 
the act is unconstitutional, it would *still* wreak havoc and cause 
someone to submit him/herself to the legal ordeal of proving it so.  
please, help us stop it before that becomes necessary!

if you need any further information on the topic, please let me know!  i
can provide anything from a copy of the act itself to various public
commentary on its consequences.  it only takes 30 seconds to send email
and join the growing petition to make a real difference. 

(yes, i realize that this has nothing to do with the merry rose.  but it 
*does* affect atlantia-l and all who communicate over the 'net.  if you 
feel i've sinned by posting this here, you're welcome to flame me - IN 
PRIVATE EMAIL, please.)

					in service (to a slightly different
						"society, this time),

							...melys



angharad melys, guard d'argent
sacred stone / windmaster's hill, atlantia
melys@cybernetics.net

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 2 Jun 95 09:52:19 EDT
To: melys@cybernetics.net
Subject: Online Petition 

This is forwarded from Jim Warren's Gov Access list.  Has everyone
signed this?  DEBATE ON S.652 BEGINS NEXT TUESDAY AND LASTS FOR THREE
DAYS ONLY. THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE TO STOP THE CDA!


Craig



Craig A. Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
International Telecommunications/Information Specialist
Transnational Data Reporting Service, Inc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
caj@tdrs.com   


===================================================================

        Sign the Petition! URL:http://www.cdt.org/petition.html
 
If you don't have www access, send a message to <vtw@vtw.org> with subject
                   'send petition' for instructions



Almost 17,000 "Sign" Online Petition Against Indecent "Decency" Bill (S.314)

Date: Wed, 31 May 1995 12:43:06 -0400
To: stop314@panix.com
From: jseiger@cdt.org (Jonah Seiger)

As of today at 9:00 am ET, we are at 16,732 total signatures. That is
almost 1800 more than yesterday at the same time! The number of sigs per
day is actually INCREASING as time goes on.  At this rate, we sould easily
pass 20,000 by the end of this week.

Also, Senator Leahy has added a link to the petition on his home page!
Check it out -- the URL is

   ftp://ftp.senate.gov/member/vt/leahy/general/pjl.html

(yes its an ftp site, but use your web browser -- it works)

I can't really imagine how Leahy could give a better endorsement for the
petition effort.

--
Jonah Seiger, Policy Analyst          Center For Democracy and Technology
<jseiger@cdt.org>                        1001 G Street NW, Suite 700 East
                                                     Washington, DC 20001
PGP key via finger                                    (v) +1.202.637.9800

    * Help Senator Leahy Fight the Exon Communications Decency Act *