URGENT PETITION -- Fight Govt. Censorship!! (70 lines) (fwd)

[Floyd Pentlin <fpentlin@GARFIELD.LEESUMMIT.K12.MO.US>]

Anyone know if this on the up and up?  There have been brushfires in the
past which turned out to be urban folklore.  This does, however, have the
ring of truth.

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Floyd Pentlin, Library Media Specialist / Lee's Summit High School, Div. 2
400 Blue Parkway / Lee's Summit, MO 64063 / VOICE: 816-251-3418
FAX: 816-251-3419 / E-MAIL: fpentlin@garfield.leesummit.k12.mo.us
  Steven Wright: "The Stones, I love the Stones.  I watch them
                  whenever I can.  Fred, Barney, ...."
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Subject: URGENT PETITION -- Fight Govt. Censorship!! (70 lines) (fwd)

>Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 20:58:36 +0600
>Message-Id: <Pine.SOL.3.91.950223212809.26937B-100000@mercury>
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>Originator: bene@straylight.tamu.edu
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>From: "Richard Wallace (GD 1999)" <rwallace@minerva.cis.yale.edu>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <bene@straylight.tamu.edu>
>Subject: URGENT PETITION -- Fight Govt. Censorship!! (70 lines) (fwd)
>X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas
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>
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>A matter has come to my attention that is of the utmost importance to all
>of us online.
>
>Simply put, a couple of senators have proposed a particularly
>heinous piece of legislation titled the "Communications
>Decency Act of 1995"  (Senate Bill S. 314).  Basically, the
>bill would subject all forms of electronic communication --
>from public Internet postings to your most private email --
>to government censorship.  The effects of the bill onto the
>online industry would be devastating -- most colleges and
>private companies (AOL, Compuserve, etc.) would probably have
>to shut down or greatly restrict access, since they would be
>held criminally liable for the postings and email of private
>users.
>
>Obviously, this bill is designed to win votes for these senators
>among those who are fearful of the internet and aren't big
>fans of freedom of speech -- ie., those who are always trying to
>censor "pornography" and dirty books and such.  Given the
>political climate in this country, this bill might just pass
>unless the computer community demonstrates its strength as a
>committed political force to be reckoned with.  This, my friends,
>is why I have filled your mailbox with this very long message.
>
>A petition, to be sent to Congress, the President, and the media,
>has begun spreading through the Internet.  It's easy to participate
>and be heard -- to sign it, you simply follow the instructions
>below -- which boil down to sending a quick email message to a
>certain address.  That's all it takes to let your voice be heard.
>(You know, if the Internet makes democracy this accessible to the
>average citizen, is it any wonder Congress wants to censor it?)
>
>Finally, PLEASE forward this message to all your friends online.
>The more people sign the petition, the more the government will
>get the message to back off the online community.  We've been doing
>fine without censorship until now -- let's show them we don't plan on
>allowing them to start now.  If you value your freedoms -- from
>your right to publicly post a message on a worldwide forum to your
>right to receive private email without the government censoring it --
>you need to take action NOW.  It'll take fifteen minutes at the most,
>a small sacrifice considering the issues at hand.  Remember, the age
>of fighting for liberty with muskets and shells is most likely over;
>the time has come where the keyboard and the phone line will prove
>mightier than the sword -- or the Senate, in this case.
>
>
>
>Here's what you have to do to sign the petition:
>
>send an e-mail message to:  S314-petition@netcom.com
>the message (NOT the subject heading) should read as follows:
>SIGNED <your online address>  <your full name>  <U.S. Citizen> (y/n)
>eg.  SIGNED lsewell@leland.Stanford.EDU  Laura Sewell  YES
>
>If you are interested in signing the petition, I would highly suggest
>investigating the details of the situation.  You can find out more on
>the Web at    http://www.wookie.net/~slowdog    or in the newsgroup
>comp.org.eff.talk
>
>***** NOTES from Jeff Guinzburg (JEFF @ ISI) at 2/22/95 10:51 PM
>Sorry if this is off-topic or too long for you, but I wanted to ensure a
>wide distribution for this message, which I feel has a high degree of
>importance for those of us who value the privacy of our electronic
>communications.  I encourage its wide distribution.  I'm planning to sign
>the petition.
>
>Best Regards,  Jeff.  [full sig on request]