|
|
|
|
|
The voices of national security and law enforcement agencies will
generally be close to the ear of government. It is important that there
be voices of equal strength to speak for human rights, the rule of law
and protecting the privacy of citizens from the technologically enhanced
capacity of the State to monitor their communications .....
Where trade secrets, governmental data and vulnerable systems are at
stake it is imperative that those who claim the key to the kingdom of
encryption should themselves be subject to constant and fearless scrutiny
against the misuse of such large power.
1997 is shaping up to be a watershed in the history of the Internet.
We can either stand by and watch the Net reduced to a mere shadow of its
full potential, or we can make our voices heard for the cause of free speech,
liberty, and privacy. The future is in our hands.
More recently, in the remote Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland,
another battle is unfolding which could ultimately have profound implications
for the future of the World Wide Web. One online newspaper, The Shetland Times,
is seeking to prevent another, The Shetland News, from providing hyperlinks to
its site, claiming breach of copyright.
This case has attracted international concern because, if The Shetland
Times succeeds at the full hearing in the Court of Session in Edinburgh, it will
become illegal in Scotland (and possibly throughout the UK) to make a
hypertext link to a page without the permission of the owner of that page.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, the World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO) is currently holding a
diplomatic conference
from December 2 to 20, to consider highly controversial international copyright proposals which
could hamper the development of the Internet.
Both the United States and the European Union have recently proposed copyright
protection of databases, without regard to whether they possess the originality
or creativity required for protection under current copyright law.
The effect of these proposals, if passed, would be to potentially
expose ISPs to copyright infringement liability for the actions of their users,
and render the simple viewing of digital images a potential infringement
of copyright.
Regular reports on the WIPO Diplomatic
Conference are being provided at the HRRC website.
Further information is available from the Digital Future Coalition
and Tony Barry's
collection of links.
The OECD's position is basically to recognise the need for cryptography
in communications, but at the
same time to require that cryptographic methods be so designed as to
allow lawful access to keys in the interest of public safety and/or national
security. Furthermore, while OECD recognises national sovereignty,
it seeks to harmonise national policies.
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC),
which ran a
Crypto Symposium prior to the OECD Crypto conference in Paris in
September 1996, is now seeking comments on the OECD Guidelines, preparatory
to the next OECD meeting commencing 16th December 1996.
On the local front, Standards Australia has now issued a Miscellaneous
Publication entitled Strategy for Implementation of a Public Key
Authentication Framework. This document, to which EFA contributed comments
on the first draft, is concerned with standards for digital signature
authentication. EFA has now obtained copies of the document and will be
commenting in due course.
EFA's Cryptography Committee is working towards preventing
unnecessary regulation of encryption technologies and promoting the
benefits of strong encryption for the online community. Contact Greg
Taylor gtaylor@gil.com.au
if you would like to become involved.
Editorial
At no time in the history of Net activism has the role of organisations like
EFA been more critical. We are surrounded on all sides by moves to restrict,
censor and contain what we can say, see or do on the Internet. In Australia
and internationally, there are moves afoot to enforce copyright provisions that
are far more restrictive and extreme than those that exist in traditional
media.
Governments around the world are moving to censor material, for cultural,
social and political reasons. Security agencies are attempting to prevent
businesses and individuals from keeping their communications totally private. At the same
time, ordinary citizens are becoming more and more cynical about the role,
motives and integrity of those who would seek to impose their will upon
the Net community.
Copyright Issues
Copyright restrictions are looming as potentially as big an issue as Net
regulation. Earlier this year, the Australian
Performing Rights Association (APRA) demanded fees from ISPs for
music broadcast on the Net.
This battle is still in progress.
Cryptography Issues
A copy of the
OECD Cryptography Guidelines has now been put on the Web in Word 6 format.
Robin Whittle has converted this to produce a
HTML version.
EFA Response to ABA Report
In October 1996, EFA submitted a
response to the ABA
Investigation into the Content of On-line Services outlining EFA's concerns
with the report. It is understood that amendments to the Broadcasting Act
are currently in preparation to enable ABA to take
responsibility for Internet regulation.
The main criticisms in EFA's response were:
Opposition to compulsory ratings is beginning to mount around the globe, particularly in the U.K. See the Campaign for Internet Freedom and Xemu's Censorship Web Page for discussion on the issue.
The judge in this case ruled that the Act did not apply to the Internet and the defendant was cleared of all charges. Although this outcome was greeted with relief by Queensland Internet users, the case raises serious questions about whether idle curiosity should be treated as a crime, about the meaning of the terms possession and copying, and about the jurisdiction of States over the Internet.
EFA opposes the WA Legislation as a criminalisation of free speech, unnecessarily restrictive as to controversial material and a danger to the online community, especially content providers and users.
The EFA web site is being updated to provide guides to legislation and Internet organisations in each State and Territory.
Stop-Telstra Campaign
The EFA STOPTELSTRA Campaign has announced that residential users and charities will
not be facing timed local calls under the current government. Senator Alston has
made it clear that only business users may be charged timed rates for
local calls, and information from Telstra indicates that this will be
offered as a premium service guaranteeing faster and better connections.
In administering the StopTelstra campaign, EFA has been persuaded that there is a continuing need to monitor Telstra (and in due course other carriers) and the impact on the Internet of telco policies. Therefore, while the existing StopTelstra campaign was focussed on ensuring continuing untimed local data calls for home and charity users, a continuing "watching brief" will be maintained by EFA, especially regarding:
The StopTelstra committee will henceforth be chaired by Jase Przychodzen (mnemonic@pobox.com, http://hal9000.net.au/~decker/) and will report to the EFA Board on developments with telco policy and access issues.
The Stoptelstra lists will remain active, but those persons who were interested in the campaign solely in relation to the timed local data calls issue may wish to unsubscribe now by sending email to stoptelstra-request@efa.org.au with the word "unsubscribe" in the body of the message.
To all supporters of the campaign to date, the campaign committee expresses its thanks. There is no doubt that the numbers and interest of the many hundreds of Net users was crucial in the government making this decision to reject the Telstra proposal.
If you would like to close your involvement in the campaign on a positive note, Senator Alston's email address at minister@dca.gov.au would be a good place to send a message of congratulation for coming to the correct decision.
The EFA web site at http://www.efa.org.au will continue to highlight telco issues as they arise, and the proposed class action by State-based Internet Associations against Telstra will have EFA support.
Exposure draft legislation on telecommunications reform is now available on-line for those who wish to obtain more detailed information on current and proposed legislation.
Overseas News
On December 6, the United States Supreme Court announced that it would hear
the U.S. Government's appeal of a landmark legal challenge to the Communications
Decency Act in March or April 1997, in a case which is likely to
determine the future of freedom of speech in cyberspace.
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), which brought a successful challenge to the CDA earlier this year, applauded the court's announcement and expected the Supreme Court to agree with the earlier lower court decision to declare the CDA unconstitutional. However, supporters of the CDA have also hailed the announcement, expecting the earlier ruling to be overturned.
EFA is a foundation member of a global coalition of Internet freedom groups, including representatives from USA, Europe and civil rights groups. This coalition has released bulletins and position papers on international free speech issues and highlighting particular governments' attacks on the Net. EFA has been part of the international debate on free speech, Internet regulation, cryptography policy and the grasp of criminal law.
For more info on global Net-muzzling in Singapore, China, France and elsewhere see Declan McCullagh's Plague of Freedom page.
State Internet Associations
A number of state-based Internet Associations have now been established
or are in the process of formation. For more information on these
organisations and their objectives, refer to their Web pages below.
ISOC Australian Chapter formed
ISOC-AU, an Australian Chapter of the
Internet Society (ISOC), was recently formed in Australia. EFA congratulates those responsible
for establishing this organisation. While the objectives of ISOC are
somewhat different and more broadly-based than EFA, there will no doubt
be common ground as governments move to exert control over the Internet.
EFA therefore looks forward to ISOC participation in the looming battles
ahead.
EFA Board
Messages may be sent to the EFA Board at
efa-board@efa.org.au
The composition of the EFA Board for 1996/97 is as follows:
| Chair Kimberley Heitman |
kheitman@it.com.au |
| Vice Chair Brenda Aynsley |
bpa@iss.net.au |
| Secretary Kerrin Pine |
kerrinp@bns.com.au |
| Treasurer James Nunn |
jnunn@pobox.com |
General Board Members:
| Michael Baker | mbaker@pobox.com |
| Andrew Connor | connor@pobox.com |
| Jonathon Coombes | jon@orion.aljan.com.au |
| Michael Malone | pariah@iinet.net.au |
| Greg Taylor | gtaylor@gil.com.au |
| Danny Yee | danny@staff.cs.usyd.edu.au |
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.
EFA Women's Committee
The EFA Women's Committee invites interested parties to join the mailing
lists that have been established to discuss issues of concern to women
on the Net.
An FAQ has been issued, which outlines the guidelines for these moderated lists.
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.
Membership Renewals
Membership renewals for 1996/97 are now due. EFA
membership is only $20 per annum. If your dues are unpaid, please forward your
subscription as soon as possible to support the cause of Net freedom.
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!
Membership fees are payable each September and part fees apply to those joining during the year:
Group Membership is open to associations and groups on the basis of an annual fee of $300 or $0.10 per member, whichever is the greater.
The form to complete is available online at http://www.efa.org.au/JoinEFA/Welcome.html. The membership form is also mailed automatically to anyone who sends email to efa-info@efa.org.au or netmail to efa-info at 3:800/846.
What is EFA
ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS AUSTRALIA INC. is a non-profit national organisation
formed in 1994 to define, promote and defend the civil liberties of users
and operators of networked systems. EFA's members are Net and BBS users
and other people with a common interest in the digital community,
computer mediated communication and online information services. The
formation of EFA was inspired by the American
Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), and EFA is associated with the
EFF and similar organisations around the world.
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.