Computer underground Digest Sun Dec 3, 1995 Volume 7 : Issue 93 ISSN 1004-042X Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU Archivist: Brendan Kehoe Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala Ian Dickinson Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest CONTENTS, #7.93 (Sun, Dec 3, 1995) File 1--Changes on the CuD Mailing List coming soon File 2--Breasts, "Boobs," and America Online (Chic Trib Excerpt) File 3--Response to AOL.COM banning "breasts" File 4--Magna Carta (Response) File 5--Rep. Ron Wyden & VTW Technology Pledge (VTW reprint) File 6--More you can do to stop the Religious Right/net shutdown (reprint) File 7--Re: Cyberangels File 8--Civil Lib Groups Will Accept Cyberporn Compromise File 9--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 5 Nov, 1995) CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 3 Dec 1995 03:26:29 -0600 (CST) From: Jim Thomas Subject: File 1--Changes on the CuD Mailing List coming soon Many of you received a copy of the UIUC notice indicating that they will be changing systems and will not have the facilities to run non-UIUC lists, especially large ones. UIUC has allowed CuD to use their server to distribute the mailing list for the past few years. Because of UIUC's move, and because of the size of the CuD mailing list (over 6,000), we will be changing servers after the first of the year. We appeciate the service that UIUC has provided for us, and thanks to their staff who supported us with good nature and patience. UIUC also found an alternative distribution site for us, which further reduced our labor. So, Thanks to Bruce, Charlie, and the rest, for their class and generosity over the past few years. HOW THIS WILL AFFECT CuD READERS The problems of maintaining such a large list (bounces, unsubs, delays, and similar stuff) finally hit critical mass, and has become impossible to do. CuD is just a small part of my "real life" activities, but the mundane busy-work tasks eat up a significant portion of the day. Those on the mailing list received a "RFS" (request for suggestions), and the response was overwhelming. Thanks to all of you who responded. The feedback was invaluable. The overwhelming number of people suggested that we initiate a re-sub mechanism and encourage those who can get CuD from a web/ftp site or of Usenet (comp.society.cu-digest) to do so. So, that's what we'll do. The CuD move will not affected those currently reading from Usenet or the CuD ftp/www sites. They will notice nothing. Those on the mailing list will be minimally affected, but they will have to do this: In the next week or so, we will provide the new server address. Readers will have a month or so to sub on the new list, while CuD continues to be sent from UIUC. Re-sub reminders will be sent out in each issue. Then, at the appropriate time, we will switch to the new server, using the new mailing list with resubbed addresses. With luck, the shift will be invisible to those who resubbed. Those who did not resub will simply not receive CuDs after the move. To those worried about whether the move means an end to CuD, NO, absolutely not. The issue has never been whether to continue CuD, but to what to do about the mailing list, because the list comprises proportionately few readers. So, not to worry....the mailing list will be maintained. Thanks again for the mass support. Thanks especially to Bruce Jones at USC and to Pat Townson, who--busy as he is with his own Telecom Digest list--unselfishly helps others. Those wishing to unsub now and retrieve CuD elsewhere can send this message: unsub cudigest to: listserv@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu The CuD homepage is: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 3 Dec 1995 03:26:29 -0600 (CST) From: Jim Thomas Subject: File 2--Breasts, "Boobs," and America Online (Chic Trib Excerpt) ((MODERATORS' NOTE: From the people who brought us "hot-chat" rooms, anonymous login IDs, the "kiddie-porn" busts, and Grabber, perhaps the best graphic-snatching software for downloading XXX files, we now have the "breast brouhaha." Maybe aol.com is overly sensitive because, when descriping some of its policies, the term "boob" often springs to mind)). EXTRACTED FROM: The Chicago Tribune, Friday, Dec 1, 1995 `BREAST' DELETED FROM AOL VULGAR WORDS LIST America Online banned the word "breast" from its computer communication service, then quickly reversed itself after complaints from breast-cancer patients who use the service to share information and support. America Online, the country's largest online service, said it was trying to clean up cyberlanguage when it banned use of the word last week, The Boston Globe reported Friday. This angered subscribers who use America's Online breast-cancer bulletin board, which is sponsored by the American Cancer Society. The ban was discovered when a breast-cancer patient, who uses the name MiaBella, discovered that America Online had deleted her personal profile. Service users can create profiles to identify their interests so they can be contacted by others. .......................... Extracted from: The Chicago Tribune, December 2 AMERICA ONLINE ADMITS `ERROR' IN BANNING WORD `BREAST' REVERSAL FOLLOWS OUTCRY FROM CANCER PATIENTS .......................... Several AOL customers noted that this is the second time in six months that the on-line service has disrupted communication among breast cancer survivors by banning the word "breast." Last summer, the offending word was prohibited as an identifier of a so-called "chat room," a feature that permits groups of users to exchange views in "real time." At that time a flurry of protests directed at AOL chief executive Steve Case caused the company to permit "breast" as a chat room identifier. The company's repetition of the proscription led one exasperated customer to write: "Honestly, AOL, we have better things to do with our time, like helping and encouraging each other." Another disturbing implication is the thinking behind AOL's decision to declare "breast" a vulgar term, said Barbara LeStage, a Massachusetts woman who is on the executive committee of the American Cancer Society. "I don't have any problem with AOL trying to keep dirty words off their service," she said. "But I don't consider `breast' to be a dirty word. If you have people who see it as dirty, for whatever reason, rather than as an everyday term, then this is going to continue to happen." ((The Chicago Tribune is available from America Online's Newstand item on the main menu. For information about the Chicago Tribune's online service, contact: tribletter@aol.com)) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 01 Dec 1995 17:56:54 EST From: GKVB48E@PRODIGY.COM( JON HEIFETZ) Subject: File 3--Response to AOL.COM banning "breasts" Please post this "fine literature" in the next issue of CUDigest. ----------------------------------------------------------- (This article was reprinted from the Tusker Times, the student newspaper of a small highschool in a small town that nobody's ever heard of) Byte This By Jon Heifetz One of the biggest issues in today's world is censorship. Books and movies are already restricted, but computers are not. If you have a computer and a modem, you could easily find pornography or chat in a sexual way. The online services all have chat rooms that are often uncensored. There are people, known as chat hosts, who are paid by the online service to spend their days "cleaning" the chat rooms. Often, however, there are members posing as chat hosts, so you never really know if one is around. The World Wide Web (WWW), which is a network of many online services, businesses, and schools, has easy access to "adult material". If you go to http://www.playboy.com on the WWW, you will be amazed at what you see. If you go to the Kids and Teens area in Prodigy Chat and look at the member-created rooms, or page Josh 81 in chat, you will be even more amazed. Not only are teens there, but there are thirty-something men looking for boys and girls to have cybersex with. Cybersex is simulated sexual intercourse over the computer. Many local computer services (BBSes), which are often free, have no restrictions. You can not only download pornography and have cybersex, you can also get pirated software. Many of these BBSes do require you to prove your age to gain access to adult download areas, but that doesn't stop anything. Now the question is, what should we do? My answer is, nothing. There is nothing wrong with the human body. When Michaelangelo made David, a pornographic statue, everybody considered it great. When Playboy takes pictures of naked women and posts them to the WWW, it's considered horrifying. It's time for the people who police the internet to grow up. AOL, which is the biggest online service, blocks people out of any WWW site that some guy making $100,000 a year deems inappropriate. If you have e-mail and agree with me, then bombard SCase@aol.com (the AOL President) with messages telling him to back off. Thank you. ---------------------------------------------------------------- As you could tell, this created quite a controversy (g). -Living Hell gkvb48e@prodigy.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 17:25:12 -0500 From: Terry McIntyre Subject: File 4--Magna Carta (Response) rkmoore@internet-eireann.ie (Richard K. Moore), in a lengthy ramble, purports that the PPF's "Magna Carta for the Knowledge Age" is less about individual freedom than about freedom of corporations. The report surely has its flaws, but the cure is not to axe the concept of freedom altogether, nor to hand government the role of developing the new fronteir. We already know that governments are no lovers of freedom of expression. I do not know how other governments have responded to the bureoning power of speech on the internet, but here in the United States, Senator Exon and Ralph Reed have moved swiftly to prevent the spectre of free speech from hampering their political aims. The cure to a lack of freedom is not to shackle another, but to strike the shackles altogether. The internet is growing at a rate of 100% per year; hundreds of providers are competing to give inexpensive access to homes everywhere. All of this has happened in one of the least regulated industries in the world. Rather than forge new chains, let us remove any remaining obstacles. Let us campaign vigorously against know-nothings who would restrict our freedom of speech; let us tell Ralph Reed and all of his cohorts that they may speak on the same terms as everyone else - freely, to those who wish to listen. The PPF and Newt surely have their failings, but not everything they say is false. Where they speak for freedom, I would not decry them, but urge that they be less stingy with a commodity which (alone among those offered by governments) breaks no bones and picks no pockets - liberty. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 20:38:48 -0600 (CST) From: David Smith Subject: File 5--Rep. Ron Wyden & VTW Technology Pledge (VTW reprint) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 30 Nov 1995 00:34:15 -0500 From: Shabbir J. Safdar, VTW FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 29, 1995 Contact: Steven Cherry stc@vtw.org Shabbir Safdar shabbir@vtw.org (718) 596-2851 New York, NY Voter's Telecommunications Watch (VTW) announced today that Rep. Ronald Wyden (D-OR) has answered the Technology Pledge Questionnaire. He is the first candidate to do so in Oregon's much-watched special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by retiring Senator Packwood. The Technology Pledge Questionnaire was created by Internet activists to allow citizens to assess how candidates in the 1996 elections stand on critical issues where technology policy affects civil liberties and democracy in the on-line world. The Pledge Questionnaire covers free speech, public access to government information, electronic commerce, and the right to private conversation (cryptography). In particular, the four questions of the Pledge ask candidates whether they support . parental responsibility versus government regulation of free speech, . the online availability to public government documents, . regulation of still-emerging electronic markets, . governmental encouragement of the development of a secure networks specifically through liberalizing government regulation restricting the availability of cryptography. With respect to the first issue, Congressman Wyden not only supports parental responsibility in principle but introduced and co-sponsored the Internet Freedom and Family Act to stress technology and parental control rather than old-style Federal government content regulation. The Cox/Wyden amendment passed the House as part of the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1995 (421-4) on August 4, 1995 The special Oregon election is the first where candidates have been asked to answer the Pledge Questionnaire. The leading five candidates have have been faxed the four-part Pledge Questionnaire and background briefing papers. Thus far, two of the five candidates in the primary have responded. On November 21st, Jack Roberts refused to answer the questionnaire. On November 28th, Rep. Wyden's office answered all four questions in the affirmative. Significantly, his campaign office chose to do so via electronic mail from his own Internet account at the Oregon Internet provider, Teleport. Oregonians are excited to see Wyden take the Pledge Questionnaire. For example, Mark Nasstrom is an elected precinct member and chair of an on-line activist committee in Oregon's 5th Congressional District. "We're grateful Wyden has responded so positively." Nasstrom said. "Here at the precinct and district levels, where American politics really takes place, we see a lot of people concerned with telecommunications issues as much as anything else. Businesses are beginning to depend on the Internet and politics can really benefit from it if we don't clamp down on it." Oregon's largest Internet Service Provider was similarly enthusiastic. Jim Deibele, president of Teleport Internet Services said "I'm glad to see Wyden in favor of these points and disappointed that Roberts hasn't gone on record in favor of them. I hope the other candidates just haven't gotten around to it yet." Deibele went on to mention one important concern he continually finds among his 13,000 customers. "We see where people really want access to public information, everything from building records to camping permits.... We don't lead 9-5 lives anymore if we ever did." To learn more about the VTW Technology Pledge, see our World Wide Web page at URL:http://www.vtw.org/pledge/ _________________________________________________________________ Appendix 1: Technology Pledge Questionnaire 1. Laws regulating indecency are inappropriate for the global online world, where users have a tremendous amount of control over what they see. Question 1: Do you support parental control, as opposed to laws regulating "indecent speech" as a method of controlling childrens access to the Internet? yes/no 2. The electronic dissemination of government information, such as through the THOMAS system, has been an overwhelming success. It allows greater access to government information that ever possible before. Question 2: Do you support the online dissemination of government information? yes/no 3. The world of electronic commerce has the potential to be an explosive growth force in our economy if it is regulated consistently throughout the US. Question 3: Do you support a consistent national policy for online commerce? yes/no 4. Cryptography is a necessary piece for securing the Global Information Infrastructure. To date, the Clinton Administration has failed to allow the industry to develop, sell, and export competitive products with market-driven cryptography standards. Instead they have proposed schemes such as the Clipper Chip that are driven purely by law enforcement interests, and not by privacy or consumer demands. Question 4: Do you support the industry in its quest to develop, sell, and export products with market-driven cryptography standards? yes/no _________________________________________________________________ To contact Rep. Wyden's campaign office: Wyden for Senate Campaign Phone:(503) 230-1246 Email:wyden@teleport.com URL:http://www.teleport.com/~wyden/ Jim Deibele and Teleport can be contacted: Jim Deibele, President Teleport Inc. 319 SW Washington, Suite 604 Portland, OR 97204 +1-503-223-4245 http://www.teleport.com/ jamesd@teleport.com Mark Nasstrom and Lumberyard BBS can be contacted: Mark C. Nasstrom, System Administrator Lumberyard BBS Community Network P.O. Box 479 Yachats, OR 97498-0479 mnasstro@orednet.org +1-541-547-3016 Voters Telecommunications Watch is a volunteer organization, concentrating on legislation as it relates to telecommunications and civil liberties. VTW publishes a weekly BillWatch that tracks relevant legislation as it progresses through Congress. It publishes periodic Alerts to inform the about immediate action it can take to protect its on-line civil liberties and privacy. More information about VTW can be found on-line at gopher -p 1/vtw gopher.panix.com www: http://www.vtw.org or by writing to vtw@vtw.org. The press can call (718) 596-2851 or contact: Shabbir Safdar Steven Cherry shabbir@vtw.org stc@vtw.org ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 09 Nov 1995 01:12:43 -0500 From: shabbir@VTW.ORG(Shabbir J. Safdar, VTW) Subject: File 6--More you can do to stop the Religious Right/net shutdown (repri nt) CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE NET CENSORSHIP LEGISLATION IN CONGRESS (INCLUDING THE COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT AND THE MGRS AMDT) Short Update: Calls are coming in, but not enough! What You Can Do Now: Call Congress, directions below! SYSOPS AND ISPS: Please place a short version of this alert in your welcome message! (directions below) WEBMASTERS: Please place a link to this alert in your page! (directions below) CAMPAIGN TO STOP THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT Nov 8, 1995 PLEASE WIDELY REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WITH THIS BANNER INTACT REDISTRIBUTE ONLY UNTIL December 1, 1995 REPRODUCE THIS ALERT ONLY IN RELEVANT FORUMS _______________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS The Latest News What You Can Do Now _______________________________________________________________________ THE LATEST NEWS The Religious Right is attempting to push legislation the Telecommunications Deregulation Conference Committee that would shut down most forms of speech online. Their proposal would: -Make internet providers, online services, and libraries criminally liable for expression online. -Create a standard for criminalizing "indecency" online, dumbing down every Web page, newsgroups, discussion forum, and chat system. -Give the FCC jurisdiction over speech in cyberspace and software that might be used to filter children's access to the net. For a full analysis of the Religious Right's proposal, and a copy of their proposed legislation and their letter to the Conference Committee, see the alert at URL:http://www.vtw.org/. Earlier this week the coalition started a phone campaign to let Dole and Gingrich know how important this is to us. Calls have been coming in strong, but not enough have come in to sway their opinion. Please call now. _______________________________________________________________________ WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW 1. If you run any sort of system that allows a welcome message for all users, please add the following: The Religious Right is attempting to shutdown the net by passing legislation that would make services like this one liable for what you say and read on the Internet. Please call Congress now; for more info URL:http://www.vtw.org/ or send mail to files@vtw.org with "send alert" in the subject line. (11/8/95) If you have a Web page that gets a lot of traffic, please add the following link: Stop the Religious Right from shutting down online free speech! (11/8/95) 2. The proposals from the Religious Right will literally destroy online speech as we know it. The odds of stopping this are not certain. There is a very real chance that this legislation will pass, and we will experience a period of uncertainty and chilling of speech while an appropriate test case attempts to reach the Supreme Court (should it even get there!) The Religious Right has a strong grass-roots network. We need to counter their energy and ensure cyberspace is not lost due to them. IMMEDIATELY CALL House Speaker Gingrich (R-GA) and Senate Leader Dole (R-KS) and urge them to oppose the Christian Coalition's proposal. (fax numbers have been corrected) Name, Address, and Party Phone Fax ======================== ============== ============== R GA Gingrich, Newt 1-202-225-4501 1-202-225-4656 R KS Dole, Robert 1-202-224-6521 1-202-228-1245 If you're at a loss for words, try one of the following: Please oppose the recent proposal from the Religious Right to censor the Internet. The only effective way to address children's access to the Internet is through parental control tools outlined by the Cox/White/Wyden approach. or As a religious person and a parent, I oppose the Religious Right's attempts to censor the Internet. I am the best person to monitor my child's access to the Internet using parental control tools as outlined in the Cox/White/Wyden approach. 3. Join the online fight by becoming a volunteer for your district! Check to see if you're legislator is in the list below. If they are not, consult the free ZIPPER service that matches Zip Codes to Congressional districts with about 85% accuracy at: URL:http://www.stardot.com/~lukeseem/zip.html The conference committee legislators are: House: Barr (R-GA), Barton (R-TX), Berman (R-CA), Bliley (R-VA), Boucher (D-VA), Brown (D-OH), Bryant (D-TX), Buyer (R-IN), Conyers (D-MI), Dingell (D-MI), Eshoo (D-CA), Fields (R-TX), Flanagan (R-IL), Frisa (R-NY), Gallegly (R-CA), Goodlatte (R-VA), Gordon (D-TN), Hastert (R-IL), Hoke (R-OH), Hyde (R-IL), Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Klug (R-WI), Lincoln (D-AR), Markey (D-MA), Moorhead (R-CA), Oxley (R-OH), Paxon (R-NY), Rush (D-IL), Schaefer (R-CO), Schroeder (D-CO), Scott (D-VA), Stearns (R-FL), White (R-WA) Senate: Burns (R-MT), Exon (D-NE), Ford (D-KY), Gorton (R-WA), Hollings (D-SC), Inouye (D-HI), Lott (R-MS), McCain (R-AZ), Pressler (R-SD), Rockefeller (D-WV), Stevens (R-AK) If your legislator is on the conference committee, you have a chance to influence their vote on this issue with your power as a constituent. Volunteer to help educate your legislator by sending mail to volunteer@vtw.org. A coalition volunteer will be in touch with you. You can starting working to help spread the word in your district by sending this letter to five friends. Ask them to call Dole and Gingrich as well. 4. The People for the American Way (PFAW) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are organizing a letter from ORGANIZATIONS to the Conference Committee to oppose the censorship provisions. If you are a representative of an organization that would like to signon to this letter, you should contact jlesser@pfaw.org IMMEDIATELY. 5. We can't suggest relaxing at this point. The stakes are too high, and the risk is too great. Everything now hangs in the balance. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 1 Dec 95 14:47:48 MST From: Dave++ Ljung Subject: File 7--Re: Cyberangels Sorry this took so long, and I know some of this has been beaten to the ground, but I think some of this needs to be said. I started having a conversation with Gabriel of the CyberAngels and I realised that I should pull it back to CUD so that we could get some input and ideas from some of the other readers. -- One of the items I pointed out to Gabriel was that I didn't see how his list of 'crimes to be monitored' would include child pornography but not bestiality, but he pointed out that this was an oversight. -- Secondly, I disagree with his attack on anonymous remailers. Gabriel says: |What is the difference between 16728354@anon.penet.fi and |J65re5534@prodigy.com? We do not see the need for a second level of |anonymity for users. Users are already anonymous and already can only be |traced by reporting to sysadmins. I don't want my sysadmin to decide whether or not someone else should get my real name. Secondly, some systems will base your login on your name, when I was at my University, my login was ljung@cae.wisc.edu. It would have been incredibly easy to find out that login belonged to David Ljung in Madison Wisconsin. Secondly, even if I have control over my login, why should I be forced to make it hard to find out information about me if I want to be anonymous in some situations? What if I want people to be able to trace dxl@fc.hp.com to my real name, my website, my home address, my phone number, my favorite color, etc? Then why shouldn't I have some method of also posting anonymously? Perhaps you are right, maybe this method should be outside the law, but I don't see what you could do about it since most anonymous remailers are outside the states. Besides, even if you close that off, how will you stop me from forging my mail? Besides, even if you close that off, why do you give all the power to the sysadmin. Hell, I am the sysadmin of my system. If it wasn't for the fact that it advertises my presence at 'fc.hp.com' I'd be set, wouldn't I? I could create whatever user accounts I wanted and post from those... Gabriel says: | There is no way anyone can trace for |example a prodigy account holder to their real name, address, telephone etc. | So we feel that kids are already protected as far as ID is concerned. Not everyone uses Prodigy or AOL. Most of us consider this a good thing. I don't need to use examples of breaking unjust laws as a need for anonymous remailers. Here are some more: 1) A woman who wants to post to a battered womens newsgroup without fearing being 'found out' by their assailant 2) Women who want to post to a rape support newsgroup without fear of coworkers knowing about her past 3) Someone who wants to post extreme political views without being afraid of being targeted by violent radical groups or the government. 4) Someone who wants to post to a sexually explicit newsgroup without friends finding out their personal preferences or desires. How's that? |>3) A Cyberangel uses anonymity to avoid risk in his job. | |CyberAngels are not permitted to operate via anonymous remailers. We are |proud of what we do. In any case I think I answered this point earlier. | User ID is *already* anonymous. Not in all cases. By this ruling I cannot be a Cyberangel, since I can't make my user ID entirely anonymous, and I can't go linking Hewlett-Packard to some extreme views I may have on the net. No offense, but a community of cyber-cops composed of AOL and Prodigy users is a frightening thought. -- Third of all, I think that some of the items on his list of crimes go against his statement: "Activities between consenting adults (providing they are within the law) are not our concern." I had mentioned that *discussions* of viruses, terrorism, etc... were protected (though barely these days) by the first ammendment. His reply: |Your point is taken. We are not trying to *stop* discussions about |terrorism, or viruses, but we are *monitoring* such postings/websites because |if actions do occur we may be in a position to help. I think you need to make that clearer in your postings to CUD, since it wasn't immediately obvious. There is a huge distinction between talking about illegal activities and doing them. First amendment rights support our rights to talk about illegal activities. The Gov't has lately been trying to make both illegal. |Viruses to me are a form of Internet |graffiti - a way of leaving your tag on other peoples property. Only if they are released to the computer community. This is the same as bombs, weapons trading, terrorism, etc... Here is an opinion: Change your mission statement to only go after crimes that are on the net that are not being caught. Not first amendment crimes... One of the problems I think we currently have with 1st amendment rights is that we are trying to protect criminals under our umbrella. For example, when Exon tries to stop pornography we yell 1st amendment and tell him to leave our net alone. Instead I think we should say, yes - bestiality and child pornography is illegal. Feel free to try to catch and punish anyone who is *creating* such works, but leave the rest of us out of it. Any thoughts, guys? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 16:35:15 -0500 (EST) From: "Declan B. McCullagh" Subject: File 8--Civil Lib Groups Will Accept Cyberporn Compromise NEW YORK (Reuter) - A group of commercial online services and civil liberties groups have agreed to accept restrictions on sexual material being sent on the Internet, the New York Times reported in Saturday editions. The compromise, drafted by Washington state Republican Rick White, would create provisions for a Senate bill that would impose fines and prison sentences on people who transmit pornography, the newspaper said. It said the compromise, circulating as a draft on Capitol Hill, made no distinction between commercial and nonprofit service providers. It said the restrictions would presumably apply to all, including Internet access nodes run by academic institutions. The Times said the agreement was being made known days before a joint Senate-House committee is expected to debate a measure that would impose fines of up to $100,000 and jail terms on people who knowingly transmit pornography or material deemed ``filthy'', ``lewd'' or ``indecent''. The compromise would weaken the Senate bill's prohibitions against making indecent material available to children by changing the prohibition to material that is considered ''harmful to children'', the Times reported. The compromise would also offer added protection to online services or information providers who make a good faith effort to keep sex material away from children, the newspaper said. --- NEW YORK (AP) -- There reportedly is agreement on legislation limiting pornography on the Internet. The New York Times reported Saturday that a coalition of commercial on-line providers and some civil liberties groups have reversed course and signed on to a compromise drafted by Rep. Rick White, R-Wash. The move comes just a few days before a House-Senate conference committee takes up a measure that would impose prison sentences and fines on people who knowingly transmit pornography or material deemed ``filthy'' or ``lewd.'' But White's proposal would offer added protection to on-line services that make good-faith efforts to keep pornography away from children. The Times report says the coalition has agreed to the compromise as the lesser evil of other more restrictive proposals. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 5 Nov 1995 22:51:01 CDT From: CuD Moderators Subject: File 9--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 3 Dec, 1995) Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are available at no cost electronically. CuD is available as a Usenet newsgroup: comp.society.cu-digest Or, to subscribe, send a one-line message: SUB CUDIGEST your name Send it to LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU NOTE: THIS MAILING ADDRESS WILL CHANGE (TBA) AFTER JAN 1, '96 DO NOT SEND SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THE MODERATORS. The editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-0303), fax (815-753-6302) or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA. To UNSUB, send a one-line message: UNSUB CUDIGEST Send it to LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU (NOTE: The address you unsub must correspond to your From: line) Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest news group; on CompuServe in DL0 and DL4 of the IBMBBS SIG, DL1 of LAWSIG, and DL1 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;" On Delphi in the General Discussion database of the Internet SIG; on RIPCO BBS (312) 528-5020 (and via Ripco on internet); and on Rune Stone BBS (IIRGWHQ) (203) 832-8441. CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from 1:11/70; unlisted nodes and points welcome. EUROPE: In BELGIUM: Virtual Access BBS: +32-69-844-019 (ringdown) Brussels: STRATOMIC BBS +32-2-5383119 2:291/759@fidonet.org In ITALY: ZERO! 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Readers are encouraged to submit reasoned articles relating to computer culture and communication. Articles are preferred to short responses. Please avoid quoting previous posts unless absolutely necessary. DISCLAIMER: The views represented herein do not necessarily represent the views of the moderators. Digest contributors assume all responsibility for ensuring that articles submitted do not violate copyright protections. ------------------------------ End of Computer Underground Digest #7.93 ************************************