////// ////// //\\ ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA
// // // \\ editor@efa.org.au
// // // \\ http://www.efa.org.au/
///// ///// /////\\\\\
// // // \\ Phone: 08 8384 7316 (+618)
//////// * // * // \\ * PO Box 382 North Adelaide SA 5006
Fidonet: EFA at 3:800/846
If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those of us who profess to favor freedom yet depreciate agitation are men who want the crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters...This struggle may be a moral one or a physical one, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never has and never will. Show me the exact amount of wrong and injustices that are visited upon a person and I will show you the exact amount of words endured by these people. These wrongs and injustices may be fought with words or with blows or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppose.
He accused Internet users of tying up lines at the telephone exchanges for up to 24 hours a day, implying that only by charging Internet users more would the community be able to continue to have cheap, reliable calls.
There are numerous technical and policy options to fix the alleged congestion of the telephone system. Communications writer Stewart Fist has published a series of articles debunking the Telstra claims, and providing real solutions to future problems.
The Telstra plan would triple the cost of Internet access to the average user, and would be astronomically expensive for active users. People on low incomes and organisations such as schools and libraries would be forced off the Net, while businesses would simply pass on the costs to customers.
It is no solution to the alleged congestion problem to throw the poor off the Internet. Students, the unemployed and pensioners are major users of the Internet and other online services such as amateur bulletin boards.
While it is unproven that Telstra has lost money from the Net ... indeed profits have been on the up and up ... it is undoubtedly the case that the social costs of this decision will be enormous. The costs to the community of discouraging online usage, and depriving pensioners and the unemployed of Net access are incalculable.
The proposal is a flagrant disregard of Telstra's Universal Service Obligation, and the betrayal of Telstra's customers by this decision. Never before has Telstra's near-monopoly been so abused.
EFA has mounted a campaign against this proposal. To help with the campaign,
Other sites of interest:
Further activity in the legislative area now appears to lie in amendments to the Broadcasting Act to allow the ABA to take responsibility for Internet regulation.
Central to the ABA approach is an industry "code of practice", ostensibly drafted by the service provider industry, but subject to approval by the ABA. It is significant that one industry body (INTIAA) has responded with a draft code that creates a bureaucracy with a government appointee at the head, no vote by members on the code of practice, and the requirement to adopt rating of content on the government's terms. Other industry bodies, such as the State and Territory Internet Associations, are developing codes of practice that will be subject to further scrutiny by local authorities.
The task for 1997 will be to resist the imposition of censorship on the Internet in Australia by governments under any guise. EFA will be continuing to campaign against laws which restrict the ability of a service provider to provide an uncensored service, or deny users access to information or the freedom to communicate.
EFA is currently finalising a response to the ABA report which will be submitted to Senator Alston and the ABA shortly.
The State and Commonwealth Attorneys-General are due to meet again in October to further consider this issue. EFA is monitoring the situation and will report further information when available.
For further details see the STOP! Campaign page.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. was
held in Adelaide on Sunday 22 September 1996, with participation by
IRC.
The composition of the EFA Board for 1996/97 following the September AGM is as follows:
The following reports presented at the meeting are available on-line:
Servers:
Channel: #efa
Date: Every Tuesday evening
Time: 9.00 pm (EST)
Board members will be in attendance throughout the night on the channel and will welcome any questions, comments or feedback you may have. Board Members can be identified by the "\" in front of their nicknames.
The topic of the current discussion will be posted as part of the channel title.
At times the channel may become moderated (depending on the number of participants). If this is the case details on how to ask questions and comment will be posted on the channel, or ask one of the board members.
In addition, during this period an FAQ has been issued, which includes the re-issued guidelines.
Many thanks must go to Val Thomson for the creation of this FAQ which represents many hours of work to organise and collate.
The efa-women lists are both still alive and, in the case of the issues list at least, kicking. Some stimulating and thought provoking items have steadily been introduced over the past couple of weeks. Why don't you join one or both of them and participate in the experience, or share tips and techniques with each other on the learning list!!
To join the lists:
efa-women-learning
This list is for discussion of matters that concern newcomers to the Net.
To subscribe, send an e-mail message to
efa-women-learning-request@efa.org.au
containing the word subscribe in the body of the
message.
To post a message to the list, send to
efa-women-learning@efa.org.au
.
The moderator of this list is Brenda Aynsley bpa@iss.net.au.
efa-women-issues
This list is for discussion of general issues concerning women online.
To subscribe, send an e-mail message to
efa-women-issues-request@efa.org.au
containing the word subscribe in the body of the
message.
To post a message to the list, send to
efa-women-issues@efa.org.au
.
The moderator of this list is Val Thomson val@pcug.org.au.
In Paris last week, an OECD/EPIC meeting was held to develop an international stance on cryptography and key escrow. Australia was represented at this meeting by Steve Orlowski from the Commonwealth Attorney-General's department, Justice Michael Kirby, and Kevin O'Connor from the Australian Privacy Commission.
From reports so far, it appears that:
This particularly serious threat, which originates from recent events such as a bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and the crash of TWA Flight 800, is another case in a long list of attempts to restrict freedom of speech in electronic networks, of which there are alarming examples in many countries including Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the USA and Vietnam, under a variety of pretexts ranging from "pornography" to "terrorism" and incorrect political opinion.
The "offensive" material being targeted is no different from similar material available in libraries and bookshops. *What is legal offline must also be legal online*. If material cannot be censored at the newsstand or the university library, it must not be censored in the online newsstands and libraries of our future.
For more information see the G7 Alert page.
For more info on global Net-muzzling in Singapore, China, France and elsewhere see Declan McCullagh's Plague of Freedom page.
You can renew your membership in any of the following ways:
Lost members - if you are a member and did not receive email notification of this newsletter, you are among the few members for whom we do not have a valid email address. Please contact membership@efa.org.au with your preferred email address(es).
If you can take a more active role please contact volunteer@efa.org.au to offer your services. We can really use you!
EFA's objectives are:
On the Internet, you can find more information about EFA at our World Wide Web site, http://www.efa.org.au/, or by sending email to efa-info@efa.org.au.
Ways to get EFA information via Fidonet:
Submissions to this newsletter are strongly encouraged. Ideas and brief articles for future issues should be sent to editor@efa.org.au.
© Copyright 1996 Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc.
Permission is hereby given for redistribution on networks, but distribution via other media is subject to the written permission of the EFA Board.
Views expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors only, and not
necessarily those of Electronic Frontiers Australia.