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There is simply no way to automate parenting or to live on a ratings
auto-pilot. The Internet is forcing us to confront what it means to
be human, our diversity, our ugliness, and our sometimes incredible
generosity. We cannot run away from it for long. We can lash out at
the people who remind us of the parts of humanity we don't like. We
can trade our freedom for an illusion of protection. But at the end
of this century, it's too late to fool ourselves for long. Doesn't
it make more sense to face forward, to keep learning, to find new
ways to cope and to teach kids to think their way through whatever
comes?
Another Senate Inquiry Announced
On 26th February 1997, the Senate Select Committee on Community Standards
Relevant to the Supply of Services Utilising Electronic Technologies
announced that it would conduct Part 3 of an enquiry into Computer On-Line
Services. The Terms of Reference
are outlined below. Submissions close on 27th March 1997. EFA is
currently preparing a submission and we urge all EFA members and others
concerned about excessive government interference in the Internet to do
likewise. This particular committee is heavily populated with
For further information, see:
Notes to assist in the preparation of Submissions to Senate
Committee Inquiries.
The Terms of Reference of this Inquiry are:
(ii) the implications of these changes for regulatory systems currently in place.
(iii) progress on the development of codes of practice by providers of on-line services, including ways in which those providers can take community standards into account in a deregulated environment after June 1997.
(iv) the efficacy of recent measures taken by the Federal, States and Territory governments to prevent the exploitation of minors through the Internet.
(v) a review of recent international developments in on-line services and their regulation.
The Secretary
Senate Select Committee on Community Standards
Suite 1 S 59
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
If you would like more information, please phone the Committee Secretary (Roxane Le Guen) on (06) 277 3646 or fax (06) 277 5829.
Government Crypto Report Suppressed
The Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department has put a hold on the
public release of the Walsh Report, an important review of cryptography
policy, according to information obtained by Electronic Frontiers
Australia.
The Review of Policy Relating to Encryption Technologies is the outcome of a study conducted in 1996 by Gerard Walsh, a former deputy director-general of ASIO. Publication of the report was eagerly awaited by members of the law enforcement community, other government departments, commerce, and the online community. It was expected that the report would examine the the various issues in the crypotography debate and encourage further comment and consultation.
The report was listed for sale by the Australian Government Publishing Service in January 1997, but was hurriedly withdrawn from the list 3 weeks later, following EFA's enquiry as to the reasons for its apparent embargo. The intention was to allow for a 3-month consultation period for public comment. Public release of the report has now been stopped, apparently by the Attorney-General's office.
Australia has never had a clear statement of policy about issues such as key escrow. The only regulations dealing with this technology are export restrictions administered by the Defence Signals Directorate. This curious administrative arrangement is a leftover from the days of the cold war, when cryptography was the province of the military and espionage interests. The whole field has now changed and encryption technology now forms an integral part of advances in network security and electronic commerce. The lack of a clear policy direction can only harm Australia's participation in these rapidly-developing fields.
EFA has issued a News Release calling for the public release of the Walsh report.
EFA has now implemented a closed mailing list for the discussion of crypto-politics and related issues. Contact Greg Taylor gtaylor@gil.com.au if you would like to become involved.
Timed Local Data Calls Threat
On Friday 7th February 1997, Telstra executives attempted to influence
the Telecommunications Bills Inquiry being conducted
by the Senate Environment, Recreation, Communications and the Arts Legislation
Committee into supporting timed local data calls.
The Minister, Senator Alston, subsequently re-confirmed that timed local data
calls are off the agenda. However, it is believed that Telstra will now
use a back-door approach, charging ISPs at a timed rate for incoming calls,
a cost that will undoubetdly be passed on to users.
Protest submissions to the Senate hearing have now closed but concerned users are
urged to protest to their respective Members of Parliament about this
unfair proposal. For more information, see the
Stop-Telstra Campaign page.
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.
Blocking/Filtering Technologies
Despite a great deal of early enthusiasm for PICS, a number of problems are now beginning to
surface. Paramount among these are:
There has been also much controversy of late about blocking/filtering systems (sometimes known as censorware). The EFA Board is interested in hearing from Internet users about any firsthand experiences with such systems, whether privately or by schools and libraries. What systems are being used (or will be)? How have they performed? What concerns over freedom to read and privacy have been raised?
We are also interested in viewpoints about the general question of the extent to which children have a right to access information against the wishes of their parents or guardians. Please submit your viewpoints to feedback@efa.org.au and we will provide a summary of comments in the next issue of the newsletter.
New EFA Web site
EFA has now released a
new-look Web site with expanded content, particularly
covering the key areas of Censorship and Encryption.
We also hope that you find the new site easier to navigate and more
pleasing in presentation.
The EFA Webmaster would be pleased to
hear any comments or suggestions on how the site may be improved.
Visit us and let us know what you think.
Copyright Issues
In the remote Shetland Islands off the coast of Scotland,
the battle is still 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.
A preliminary hearing has already resulted in the Shetland Times being forced
to remove all discussion of this issue from its site.
Meanwhile a similar lawsuit has been filed against TotalNews in New York over the use of frame technology to reference news from other web sites. The suit was filed by a number of content providers including The Washington Post, Time Inc., CNN, Reuters and claims that the conduct consists of acts of misappropriation, trademark infringement, and copyright violations.
The complaint characterizes TotalNews site as a "parasitic web site", one which does not produce any content of its own but rather approriates the content of others.
These cases have attracted international concern because, if successful, could lead to a situation where it will become illegal to make a hypertext link to a page without the permission of the owner of that page.
Overseas News
On 6 December 1996, 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 a case which is likely to
determine the future of freedom of speech in cyberspace.
The Supreme Court will now hear argument in the case
on March 19, 1997 but is not expected to bring down until a ruling until
June.
The Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), which brought a successful challenge to the CDA earlier this year, expects the Supreme Court to agree with the earlier lower court decision to declare the CDA unconstitutional. However, supporters of the CDA are also confident that the earlier ruling will 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 or the EFA Censorship page.
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 |
EFA on IRC
EFA conducts regular IRC sessions on Tuesday evenings as follows:
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
Over the past few months we've had more than our share of problems with
the efa-women-learning and efa-women-issues lists, but the Women's
Committee is pleased to announce that we're back in business and seeking
your input!
Please join in and share your problems, experiences, interests, knowledge and being with us all on these lists. For those of you who have asked to join but have received no acknowledgement, please re-subscribe.
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
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 Spider Redgold she@b022.aone.net.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 1997 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.