263 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
263 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
Read down to the sections on the Bells and porno-blocking for the good stuph.
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====================================================
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Free Speech Media, LLC
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July 11, 1995
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Number 8
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4 pages
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====================================================
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Compiled, written, and edited by Coralee Whitcomb
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Please direct comments and inquiries to cwhitcom@bentley.edu
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====================================================
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The Telecom Post is posted to several distribution lists and is also available
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from the CPSR listserv. To subscribe, send to LISTSERV@CPSR.ORG with the
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message SUBSCRIBE TELECOM-POST YOUR NAME.
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The Telecom Post will be published weekly while the U.S. Congress works on
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a comprehensive overhaul of the U.S information delivery systems.
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=====================================================
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TOPICS
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1. Regulatory Reform
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2. The attack on non-profits
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3. The readying for battle on HR 1555
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4. Spectrum Flexibility - Action Alert
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5. Windows '95 - scary
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REGULATORY REFORM
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S. 343, the Comprehensive Regulatory Reform Act of 1995 is now
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on the Senate floor. The Citizens for Sensible Safeguards are
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holding daily press conferences to speak out about this bill.
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No compromising here - this bill should be roundly defeated.
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The last issue of the Telecom Post reported that a much improved
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version of S343 had emerged from a meeting between Democrats and
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Dole (one of the sponsors). Unfortunately, that read was
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premature, and the bill remains in unacceptable form.
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S. 343 would require an extensive cost/benefit analysis and risk
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assessment be performed on all existing and new regulations with
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an impact of over $50m. Each regulation that has not passed
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through this process in a limited amount of time, will be
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eliminated. Though most consider regulatory reform needed, this
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bill will drop many of our worker safety and environmental
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safeguards while tying up the courts with industry maneuvering.
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Senators Chafee and Glen have introduced alternative legislation
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raising the definition of a "major rule" to over $100m and
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extending the sunset provisions if the rule is still undergoing
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its review process. The Citizens for Sensible Safeguards do not
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feel that this is enough difference to support the bill. Please
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call your senators in opposition to this bad bill.
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THE ATTACK ON NONPROFITS
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Independent Sector has published a letter hoping that many
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hundreds of nonprofits will sign on to demonstrate the pervasive
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opposition to the Istook/McIntosh/Ehrlich proposal to gag
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nonprofit organizations. The letter follows. To sign on to
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this letter fax 202-416-0580 or call 202-223-8100 with your
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name, organization, address, telephone, and fax number, and
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email address.
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Sign-on statement:
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Serving the Public Good
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A Position Statement on Advocacy by Nonprofit Organizations
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The nonprofit sector plays a key role in our society today. In
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partnership with government, nonprofit organizations are engaged
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in service delivery, research, public education, and much
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more-in general, they work to build a better America. Nonprofit
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organizations also speak to policymakers and the public on
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behalf of the people they serve, as well as empower them to
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speak for themselves. The advocacy voice on the nonprofit sector
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has led to significant improvements in public policies at the
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local, state, and federal level.
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Because nonprofit organizations do not stand to profit by
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lobbying and can provide enormous insight on public policy
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issues, Congress has encouraged them to lobby, but has placed
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detailed restrictions on the amount of money that can be used
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for lobbying purposes. The federal government also bars
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nonprofits from using any federal funds for lobbying purposes,
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and prohibits nonprofit organizations form engaging in partisan
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politics.
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Nonprofit organizations faithfully comply with all these
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restrictions and support enforcement of penalties when the rules
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are violated. However, some in Congress are proposing to go
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beyond current restrictions to silence the advocacy voice of the
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nonprofit sector. They would, for example, expand the lobbying
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restrictions to include all "political advocacy" activities, bar
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certain organizations that engage in advocacy from receiving any
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federal grants, and prohibit federal employees from giving
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contributions to nonprofits that engage in advocacy. Such
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efforts will have a chilling impact n the democratic process as
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well as the rights of individuals and organizations to
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participate in public policy debates. We strongly oppose any
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effort to limit the advocacy voice of the nonprofit sector.
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Curtailing the historical responsibility to speak to the public
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and to policymakers on behalf of the people nonprofit
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organizations serve would be a severe blow to our democratic
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freedoms.
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GETTING READY FOR BATTLE
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Timetable
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We look forward to the House bills coming to the floor in the
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next two weeks. Apparently, there is a commitment by the House
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to address the telecom legislation before their August 4 recess
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so though the schedule isn't made, we can look forward to it
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shortly. The House process is different than the Senate's. A
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bill must first go through the "rules" process where it is
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determined how much time will be taken, what amendments will be
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looked at and how much time each of those gets. If your
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Congressman is on the rules committee this might be an
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opportunity to be effective as the rules process does much to
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shape the debate. We would like the longest possible amount of
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time for floor debate.
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The House fight should look similar to the Senate fight with the
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following differences. The role of the Department of Justice
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will take a center stage. Rep. Hyde (R-IL), chair of the House
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Judiciary committee has introduced bill HR 1528 which would
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provide Justice with consultative, oversight responsibility in
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determining that sufficient competition exists for Bell entry
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into long distance. Other differences come from Gingrich's
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strong first amendment viewpoint on net censorship and total
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rejection of the Exon amendment. And there is likely to be a
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fight for the Snow/Rockefeller type pricing considerations for
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non-commercial entities.
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The Bells are taking a strong stance in opposition to the
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"facilities-based competition" language in HR1555 claiming that
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it will prevent them from ever entering the long distance
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market. They have written Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas
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Bliley (champion of that language) threatening to non-support
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of the legislation without substantial changes. The long
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distance telco coalition, the Competitive Long Distance
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Coalition, is outraged at the Bells' arrogance. Rep. Jack
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Fields (R-TX) seems to think that the offending language can be
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eliminated along with any substantive role of the Department of
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Justice.
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Other developments include the further "scrubbing" of the bill
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of state regulatory authority and additional removal of FCC
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regulatory powers. Public utilities may well be added to the mix
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of telecommunication providers.
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Censorship
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The People for the American Way and the ACLU are working with
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Rep. Cox (R-CA) and Wyden (D-OR) to promote content-filtering
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technologies as a porno control rather than the producer/carrier
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liability approach of Exon. The spirit of the cooperation and
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the general direction of user-controlled filtering devices are
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encouraging, though both advocacy groups are critical of the
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specific language in the "Internet Freedom and Empowerment Act".
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Essentially the bill attempts to free both those carriers who
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don't want to touch any form of editorial control as well as
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those "good Samaritans" who try their hand at keeping the net
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"clean". This provision attempts to overturn the Prodigy
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decision of inducing liability upon the carrier who attempts to
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exercise editorial control. There remains the complication that
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several states are enacting "mini-Exon" bills and the Cox/Wyden
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bill bows to their authority. Another troubling aspect is the
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prohibition on "economic regulation" by the FCC. A potential
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result is the dismantling of Snowe/Rockefeller, universal
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service related provisions. The ACLU points out that it is
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important that die-hard civil libertarians be heard now. The
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momentum on the right flank is so strong, only the most extreme
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left position will leave room for a satisfactory compromise.
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SPECTRUM FLEXIBILITY - ACTION ALERT
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The Media Access Project reports that there is an important
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opportunity for the public interest community to make a
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difference and IT REQUIRES REAL GRASSROOTS ACTION BY ALL OF
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USNOW. Some time ago extra spectrum was set aside for
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broadcasters to make the transition to HDTV. Conversion to
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digital will permit broadcasters to provide six or more program
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and non-program services such as data, paging and others. On
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JULY 28 there will be an FCC proceeding to determine the terms
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under which that additional spectrum will be allocated. The
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commissioners need to hear that the public should have a period
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with which to make comments. This is an opportunity to insist
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that part of that additional spectrum be devoted to the public
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good. The letters must be received by JULY 21. I will follow up
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this report with a sample letter for all of us to work with.
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The take on the commissioners' attitudes is that this could go
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either way so, therefore, real grassroots effort can make a REAL
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difference.
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MICROSOFT AND WINDOWS '95
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The National Consumers League reports on some very scary facts
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regarding Windows '95. The Microsoft Network will be bundled
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with the operating system. When a new owner boots up they will
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be invited to register on the network. If they don't, they will
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be faced with the same invitation every time they boot up - it
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cannot be dismantled. While the MSN icon will continue to
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appear on the desktop regardless of whether it is active, icons
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from other providers will be buried four layers down forcing you
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to search for your provider of choice. A "registration mole" is
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built in that can inventory your hard drive of all its .exe
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files and keep Microsoft updated along with your registration
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info as to what you use on your system.
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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Another file downloaded from: NIRVANAnet(tm)
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&TOTSE 510/935-5845 Walnut Creek, CA Taipan Enigma
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Burn This Flag 408/363-9766 San Jose, CA Zardoz
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realitycheck 415/666-0339 San Francisco, CA Poindexter Fortran
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Governed Anarchy 510/226-6656 Fremont, CA Eightball
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New Dork Sublime 805/823-1346 Tehachapi, CA Biffnix
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Lies Unlimited 801/278-2699 Salt Lake City, UT Mick Freen
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Atomic Books 410/669-4179 Baltimore, MD Baywolf
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Sea of Noise 203/886-1441 Norwich, CT Mr. Noise
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The Dojo 713/997-6351 Pearland, TX Yojimbo
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Frayed Ends of Sanity 503/965-6747 Cloverdale, OR Flatline
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The Ether Room 510/228-1146 Martinez, CA Tiny Little Super Guy
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Hacker Heaven 860/456-9266 Lebanon, CT The Visionary
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The Shaven Yak 510/672-6570 Clayton, CA Magic Man
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El Observador 408/372-9054 Salinas, CA El Observador
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Cool Beans! 415/648-7865 San Francisco, CA G.A. Ellsworth
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DUSK Til Dawn 604/746-5383 Cowichan Bay, BC Cyber Trollis
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The Great Abyss 510/482-5813 Oakland, CA Keymaster
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"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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X-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-X
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