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STOP! CAMPAIGN - TO STOP AUSTRALIAN NET CENSORSHIP LEGISLATION
(SEE THE LIST OF CAMPAIGN COALITION MEMBERS AT THE END)
STATE ATTORNEYS-GENERAL CONSIDER ADOPTING NSW CENSORSHIP PLANS
COMMERCIAL WEB SITES, SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
TO BE LEFT WITH NO CHOICE BUT TO SHUT DOWN
USERS TO BE MADE VULNERABLE TO FRAUD, BLACKMAIL AND HARASSMENT
9 JUNE 1996
PLEASE REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WIDELY WITH THIS BANNER INTACT
REDISTRIBUTE ONLY IN APPROPRIATE PLACES AND
ONLY UNTIL 14 JUNE, 1996
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IN THIS ISSUE:
What's Happening
What You Can Do Now
Chronology of Events
Where Can I Learn More?
List of Participating Organisations
About Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc (EFA)
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WHAT'S HAPPENING
The EFA Electronic Freedom March in Sydney on May 27 was successful in
drawing national attention to a few of the many reasons the NSW government
must not proceed with unworkable and economically damaging Internet
censorship laws.
Our cause was not helped by the NSW Attorney-General's press release, just
in time for the march, headed "Paedophilia should not be encouraged by the
Internet". If Mr Shaw believes that implying everyone on the Net is a
paedophile will suppress dissension to his proposed laws, he has a thing or
two to learn. We must educate him, and every other State Attorney-General,
before the next meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General on
11 July.
The fight is far from over. It is of the utmost importance that we stop the
Attorneys-General agreeing to accept the NSW legislation nationally,
which appears not unlikely.
Although there has been wide publicity and criticism of Mr Shaw's absurd
proposals, it is less widely known that Mr Shaw believes those to be the
"best and most effective model" for Australia-wide uniform laws. In fact,
Mr Shaw submitted the NSW plans "to crackdown on the proliferation of
offensive material - such as pornography and sexually explicit games - on
the Internet", to all State Attorneys-General in March.
Despite repeated faxes, letters and calls by numerous people since April,
Mr Shaw refuses to provide a copy of the draft legislation. He has not
responded to EFA's formal offer, nor to any others to our knowledge, to
meet with him or his staff to discuss his proposals. We continue to work
from a leaked copy of the draft legislation which is now available on EFA's
web site.
The NSW legislation derives from a consultation paper based on a 1994
report on Bulletin Boards - a paper which was widely criticised twelve
months ago. The NSW proposals have drawn similar criticism from people who
do understand what the Internet actually is. It is apparent that the NSW
Attorney-General and the NSW Parliamentary Counsel's Committee do not and
that they have not read the submissions in response to the Department of
Communications and the Arts Consultation Paper, the Senate Select Committee
inquiry or the current Australian Broadcasting Authority inquiry.
Commercial web sites, software developers, corporate Intranet providers,
Internet service providers and IRC server operators advise the legislation
will leave them with no choice but to shut down. They cannot accept the
certainty of infringing the law because they have no control over material
which passes through their systems, most of which originates outside
Australia anyway. Many strongly object to suggestions that they monitor
their clients' private E-mail and activities, a suggestion which appears,
in any case, to be in contravention of The Telecommunications (Interception
Act) 1979.
Net users wonder why they should be made vulnerable to fraud, blackmail and
harassment, how they are expected to know whether a minor will read a web
page or a newsgroup, why they should be held liable for material they
receive unsolicited, and why their communications with one another should
be restricted to material suitable for children.
The draft legislation went to the March meeting of the Standing Committee
of Attorneys-General in secrecy. It is no longer secret.
These outrageous censorship proposals make it essential for the Internet
community to stand up and make their voices heard. We must let our
politicians know that we will not tolerate their attempts to shut down the
Internet in Australia. They must be made to understand that proposals like
the NSW legislation will actually destroy the Internet as a medium for
education, commerce, and political discourse. There are other, noninvasive
and technologically practical, ways to address issues related to access by
minors.
We must ensure that every State Attorney-General has a clear understanding
of what is involved before attending the July 11 meeting.
They must also be made to understand that we will not be frightened into
silence by Governmental attempts to brand Net users with the label
"paedophile". We know how utterly ridiculous that is. Mr Shaw could not
have made a greater error in attempting to silence us.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
You can:
1. Link your web pages to the STOP! Campaign Page
2. Contact State Attorneys-General, Shadow Attorneys-General and your
local Member of Parliament
3. Let us know what you've done
4. Watch this space for further alerts
5. Feel good for having taken action
Details are provided below:
1. Link your web pages to the STOP! Campaign Page by inserting the
following in your page:
Support the STOP! campaign against unnecessary censorship laws
2. Contact Attorneys-General and Members of Parliament
o Contact your local Attorney-General and try to make an
appointment.
o Prepare an objection and send it to your Attorney-General. Use
your owns words preferably, or make use of sample letters (see
below). Send it by snail mail.
o Contact your local Member of Parliament. Lodge an objection to
the legislative moves, either by personal visit or letter.
A list of the names and contact details of all Attorneys-General is
included at the end of this message.
That list is also available at:
http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/AGlist.html
We have put together a repository of reference material that will
help provide background information and ideas:
http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/cdocs.html
See also Aldis Ozols' "How to Lobby Politicians" page:
http://www.zeta.org.au/~aldis/Default.html
3. Let us know what you've done
After you've made contact with an Attorney-General or Member of
Parliament mail a note to [email protected] to let us know you did
your part. Although you will not receive a reply due to the number of
anticipated responses, we'll be counting up the number of people who
participated.
Mail to: [email protected] using one of the following subject lines:
Subject: "Letter sent to Attorney-General "
Subject: "Appointment made with "
Subject: "Attended meeting with "
It is not essential to include any text in the body of the message,
unless you've attended a meeting. In that case, please provide the
date of the meeting and a summary of what you were told.
4. You can monitor the progress of the STOP! campaign by:
o Visiting the STOP! Campaign page regularly at:
http://www.efa.org.au/Campaigns/stop.html
o Joining The STOP! Campaign Alerts list to receive the latest alerts
for the campaign. This will be a low volume list with no discussion.
To subscribe, send E-Mail to: [email protected]
with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message (no quotes).
o Joining The STOP! Campaign [email protected] discussion list:
To subscribe, send E-Mail to: [email protected]
with the word "subscribe" in the body of the message (no quotes).
o Joining the debate in the aus.org.efa newsgroup.
5. Relax! You have really done a lot to help the cause.
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CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
Nov 93 Computer Bulletin Board Task Force to examine the
regulatory options for Bulletin Boards established by the
Minister for Communications and the Arts and the Attorney-
General.
5 Oct 94 Report of the Bulletin Board Systems Task Force,
Regulation of Computer Bulletin Board systems released to
the public.
4 Apr 95 Public Seminar on the Regulation of Bulletin Board
Services - The Senate Committee on Community Standards
Relevant to the Supply of Services Utilising Electronic
Technologies.
1 Jul 95 Queensland Classification of Computer Games and Images
(Interim) Act 1995 commenced. Initially stated by Minister not
to regulate online services, however, has been used to
prosecute Internet and BBS users.
9 Jul 95 Consultation Paper on the Regulation of On-line Information
Services - issued for public comment by the Department of
Communications and the Arts/Attorney-General.
8 Aug 95 Announcement of the Australian Broadcasting Authority�s
Investigation into the Content of On-Line Services by the
Minister for Communications and the Arts.
1 Sep 95 Closing date for Consultation Paper submissions. (121
submissions received, ref. NSW A-G's press release 26 May 96).
5 Sep 95 Inquiry into the Regulation of Computer On-Line Services
- call for public submissions by The Senate Committee on
Community Standards Relevant to the Supply of Services
Utilising Electronic Technologies.
20 Sep 95 Closing date for Senate submissions (36 submissions made
available to the public in late 95).
Nov 95 Part 2 of the Report on Regulation of Computer On-Line
Services - released by the Senate Select Committee on
Community Standards Relevant to the Supply of Services
Utilising Electronic Technologies.
26 Oct 95 Western Australian Government introduces the WA Censorship
Bill into State Parliament.(Includes regulation of online
services).
Nov 95 Victorian Classification (Publications, Films & Computer
Games) Act 1995 tabled in Parliament. (Includes regulation
of online services).
20 Dec 95 Issues Paper on the Investigation into the Content of
On-Line Services - issued for public comment by the
Australian Broadcasting Authority.
16 Feb 95 Original closing date for submissions to Australian Broadcasting
Authority. ABA subsequently advised submissions would be accepted
after the deadline.
2 Apr 96 NSW Attorney-General announces intent to enact legislation
censoring the Internet. Requests for copies of the draft
legislation meet with refusal.
26 May 96 NSW Attorney-General press release states "Following
unanimous endorsement of the [consultation paper]
proposals by all Attorneys-General, the NSW Parliamentary
Counsel drafted legislation based on the discussion paper
and the consultation process. This legislation will be
discussed by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General
in July". The proposals however do not take into account
the numerous criticisms advised in submissions. Although
submissions have not been made public by the government,
many have been made available online by the authors.
27 May 96 Electronic Freedom March on NSW Parliament, Sydney.
27 May 96 Proposed NSW Legislation, recommended as a national standard by
the NSW A-G, leaked to EFA.
9 Jun 96 Launch of the STOP! Campaign.
30 Jun 96 Scheduled completion of Australian Broadcasting Authority's
inquiry (in excess of 200 submissions by May 96, ref:
ABA web site).
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WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE?
Several WWW sites have information about the STOP! Campaign and proposed
Net censorship legislation:
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc (EFA)
The leaked draft NSW legislation
Danny Yee's NSW March pages
Australian Computer Society (Roger Clark) site
Robin Whittle's site
Links to information about State legislation
Links to information about government inquiries
If you need further information concerning your local situation
you may contact your State STOP! Campaign Representative:
NSW/A.C.T. Danny Yee [email protected]
Vic James Nunn [email protected]
Qld Irene Graham [email protected]
Tas Andrew Connor [email protected]
W.A. Kim Heitman [email protected]
S.A./N.T. Michael Malone [email protected]
Media representatives may contact the following:
Kim Heitman [email protected] Ph: +619 458 2790
Danny Yee [email protected] Ph: +612 351 5159 (W)
+612 9955 9898 (H)
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LIST OF PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS
In order to use the Net more effectively, EFA invites all organisations to
join forces on a single Net campaign to stop Australian Net Censorship
Legislation.
The STOP! Campaign, launched today, has the objective:
To stop the implementation of Internet censorship laws at State and
Federal level, on the basis that:
o existing laws are adequate to deal with objectionable material,
o the industry has already developed tools to allow parents to
control their children's access,
o censoring the Internet is technologically impossible and
ethically unsound.
To join the coalition, E-mail [email protected] with the subject line
"Participating Organisations".
Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.* *
*
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ABOUT ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA INC (EFA)
The following information is provided in this first issue for the
information of those who do not know about EFA. This section will not be
included in future alerts. It is always available, with more detail by
E-mail to [email protected].
ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA INC (EFA) is a voluntary, non-profit,
national organisation formed in 1994 to define, promote and defend the
civil liberties of users and operators of networked systems.
EFA has been working since January 1994 to ensure that people have the same
basic freedoms 'within' computer mediated communication as without.
EFA is incorporated under South Australian law and co-operates with the
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and similar organisations around the
world.
More information about EFA can be found on-line at:
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: http://www.efa.org.au
Netmail in Fidonet to: efa-info at 3:800/846
or by writing to [email protected] or PO Box 382, North Adelaide SA 5006.
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Contact details for Federal and State Attorneys-General:
FEDERAL:
The Hon Daryl Williams AM QC MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice
Suite MF19, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600
Ph: (06) 277 7300 Fax: (06) 273 4102
Senior Adviser: Keith Holland (Acting) (06) 277 7300
Media Adviser: Megan Bonny (06) 277 7300
WA Office : Suite 8, Gateway Building, Garden City, BOORAGOON WA 6154
Ph: (09) 316 3633 Fax: (09) 364 9971
Senator the Hon Nick Bolkus
Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Justice
Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600
Ph: (06) 277 3388, (08) 234 1165 Fax: (06) 277 3062, (08) 234 1165
STATE:
NSW: The Hon J W Shaw QC MLC, Attorney-General
Level 20, Goodsell Building, Chifley Square, SYDNEY NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 228 8188 Fax: (02) 228 7301
Hon John P Hannaford MLC, Shadow Attorney-General
Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 230 2111 Fax: (02) 230 2980
VIC: The Hon J Wade MLA, Attorney-General
Level 21, 200 Queen Street, MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9603 6685/6659, Fax: (03) 9600 4608
Rob Hulls MP, Shadow Attorney-General
Parliament House, Melbourne VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9379 5879 Fax: (03) 9379 4434
QLD: The Hon D Beanland MLA, Attorney-General
Level 18, State Law Building, 50 Ann Street, BRISBANE QLD 4000
(GPO Box 149, Brisbane QLD 4001)
Ph: (07) 3239 3478 Fax: (07) 3220 0289
Hon Matthew J Foley, Shadow Attorney-General, Shadow Minister for Justice
Parliament House, Brisbane QLD 4000
Ph: (07) 3848 4410 Fax: (07) 3892 2229
WA: The Hon P Foss MLC, Attorney-General
12th Floor, Dumas House, 2 Havelock Street, WEST PERTH WA 6000
Ph: (09) 321 2222 Fax: (09) 322 5149
Media Secretary: Stacey Molloy
James (Jim) A McGinty MLA, Shadow Attorney-General
Parliament House, Harvest Terrace, Perth WA 6000
Ph: (09) 222 7233 Fax: (09) 321 6337
SA: The Hon Kenneth Trevor Griffin MLC, Attorney-General
11th Floor, Natwest Centre, 45 Pirie Street, ADELAIDE SA 5000
(GPO Box 464, Adelaide SA 5001)
Ph: (08) 207 1723 Fax: (08) 207 1736
Media Secretary: Lisa Brett
Michael J Atkinson, Shadow Attorney-General
Parliament House, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000
Ph: (08) 346 2462
TAS: The Hon Ray Groom MHA, Attorney-General
1st Floor, Public Buildings, Franklin Square, HOBART TAS 7000
Ph: (002) 33 6170 Fax: (002) 24 0617
Hon Judith L Jackson, Shadow Attorney-General
Parliament House, Cnr Salamanca Place & Murray Street, Hobart TAS 7000
Ph: (002) 33 6443
NT: The Hon Steve Hatton MLA, Attorney-General
Parliament House, DARWIN NT 0800
(GPO Box 3146 DARWIN NT 0801)
Ph: (089) 99 6877 Fax: (089) 81 1828
Press Secretary: Ph (089) 99 6770
Neil R Bell MLA, Shadow Attorney-General
Parliament House,k Darwin NT 0800
Ph: (089) 52 9611 Fax (089) 53 0211
ACT: Mr Gary J Humphries MLA, Attorney-General
ACT Legislative Assembly, London Circuit, CANBERRA ACT 2601
(GPO Box 1020, CANBERRA ACT 2601)
Ph: (06) 205 0133 Fax: (06) 205 0427
Terry Connolly MLA, Shadow Attorney-General
ACT Legislative Assembly, London Circuit, CANBERRA ACT 2601
Ph: (06) 205 0021 Fax: (06) 205 0495
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