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====================================================
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Free Speech Media, LLC
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August 14, 1995
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Number 12
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5 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. Freedom of Speech
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Cox/Wyden
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HR1555, Manager's Amendment
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The Communications Decency Act
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The Protection of Children Against Pornography Act
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The Anti-Electronic Racketeering Act of 1995
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Export Controls
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2. Regulatory Reform
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3. Nonprofit Gag Rules
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4. Spectrum Flexibility
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FREEDOM OF SPEECH
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Hats off to the terrific effort put forth the ACLU, People for
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the American Way, Voters Telecom Watch, Center for Democratic
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Technology, and the many others that put out such heroic efforts
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to protect the freedom of speech on the Internet through the
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Cox/Wyden amendment. The Internet Freedom and Family
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Empowerment amendment passed with a vote of 420 to 4 during the
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final hours of HR1555 debate.
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Cox/Wyden language:
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"No provider or user of interactive computer services shall be
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treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided
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by an information content provider. No provider or user of
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interactive computer services shall be held liable on account of
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--
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(1) any action voluntarily taken in good faith to restrict
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access to material that the provider or user considers to be
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obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent,
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harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such
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material is constitutionally protected; or
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(2) any action take to make available to information content
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providers or others the technical means to restrict access to
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material described in paragraph (1)"
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"Nothing in this Act shall be construed to grant any
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jurisdiction or authority to the Commission (FCC) with respect
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to content or other regulation of the Internet or other
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interactive computer services."
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The ACLU has put forth the following principles to be adhered to
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in any legislation.
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1. The First Amendment Rights of all Americans must be
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preserved.
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2. Policies must empower users -- including parents -- to make
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personal decisions about content.
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3. There should be no incentive for government or private
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industry to infringe on privacy rights by reading private e-mail.
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4. The online world must operate free from intrusive and
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unenforceable government content regulation.
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HR1555 - Manager's Amendment
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Lest we declare the First Amendment victory, a closer look at
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the infamous "Manager's Amendment" is necessary. This
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amendment, which altered much of the final outcome of HR1555,
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had a sneaky bit of First Amendment abuse tucked inside. The
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Protection of Minors provision makes criminally liable anyone
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who "intentionally communicates by computer... to any person the
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communicator believes has not attained the age of 18 years, any
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material that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms
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patently offensive as measured by contemporary community
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standards, sexual or excretory activities or organs." It also
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makes it a crime to receive prohibited material by computer thus
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including all possible geographical locations of senders and
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receivers in its "community standards". This is fundamentally
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no different than the spirit of the Exon Amendment. The
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chilling effect it would produce "would effectively reduce all
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online content to that which is suitable only for children" and
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"reduce all online speech to the obscenity standards of the most
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restrictive community in the United States..." claims an ACLU
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alert.
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The Communications Decency Act also known as the Exon Amendment
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and now Title IV of the Telecommunications Competition and
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Deregulation Act of 1995.
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Though the opposition in the House to the Exon Amendment might
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give us a sense of relief, the passage of HR 1555 does not mean
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it is gone for good. When the conference committee convenes, it
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will have to strike an agreement between Cox/Wyden and the CDA,
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both having passed overwhelmingly in their respective houses.
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The Protection of Children from Computer Pornography Act, S892
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Sponsored by Dole (R-KS), Coats (R-IN), Grassley (R-IA),
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McConnell (R-KY), Shelby (R-AL), Nickles (R-OK), Hatch (R-UT).
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Would impose criminal penalties on a service provider that
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knowingly transmits indecent material to a minor, or who
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"willfully" permits its network to be used to transmit indecent
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material to a minor. Obscene speech is not constitutionally
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protected, however, indecent speech is, giving this act
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questionable constitutionality. There is no evidence that
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current law is insufficient to cover the spirit of this act and
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the feared outcome is that service providers would have to rely
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on the broadest possible interpretation of the statute in order
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to avoid liability. The chilling effect on the entire Internet
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would be severe.
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Anti-Electronic Racketeering Act of 1995, S974
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Sponsored by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), this bill will
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allow for export of cryptography products as long as it is
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sufficient for commercial use but still able to be broken by the
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US intelligence community. All encoding or encrypting software
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would be required to include a "universal decoding device" a la
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Clipper Chip
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Export Controls
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Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) has introduced the
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Anti-Electronic Racketeering Act of 1995 that outlaws software
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that encrypts communications knowingly accessible to foreign
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nationals and foreign governments regardless as to whether it is
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designated non-exportable.
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Would they really control what we see and here? - You bet
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The 90's Channel, the nation's only full-time progressive
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television network is currently facing huge increases in their
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renewal rates from Tele-Communications Inc. (TCI) Increases
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that would "drive us out of business for sure", claims John
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Schwartz, president of the channel. At the same time TCI
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intends to air "Damn Right", a daily political program with a
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decidedly right-wing bent.
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The campaign to rid the airwaves of 90's Channel programming
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started in August, 1992 when TCI informed that channel that it
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was to be dropped. After court proceedings, an agreement was
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reached to continue carriage until October 31 of this year.
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REGULATORY REFORM
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A group of Democratic senators, led by John Kerry (D-MA) have
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been working on a package of amendments that would make S343
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more acceptable. The Center for Sensible Safeguards has been
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closely monitoring and advising the Democratic group while
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asking the rest of us to keep the pressure on. This bill is
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undergoing terrific scrutiny by industry and enormous pressure
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is felt by all the legislators involved. It's beginning to
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sound more like political football than a genuine effort at
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improving the legislative process. It is still unclear as to
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whether the Democrats want a passable bill or simply want to
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humiliate Senator Dole. The bill is currently on hold until
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after the recess.
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S343 would impose cost-benefit analysis and judicial review on
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existing and new regulations. If the process is not
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successfully completed in a given amount of time, the regulation
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would be rendered unnecessary. This bill would eliminate many
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of the health, safety, and environmental safeguards that we have
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come to expect. It would tie up the courts terribly. Clinton
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has vowed to veto this bill in its current form.
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NONPROFIT GAG RULE
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The move to drastically limit public advocacy work financed by
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federal funds was passed on August 4, 1995 as a part of the
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Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations bill. Rep. David Skaggs
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(D-CO) proposed an amendment to delete the "Istook amendment"
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but it failed by a vote of 187-232. The appropriations bill won
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by a vote of 219-208. Rep. David Obey (D-WI) stated that the
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bill was a "mean and ugly piece of work" and that it was a
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"vicious exercise of public power". The August 7, New York
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Times described the amendment as a "remarkable rider" which
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"calls for a cutoff of grants to nonprofit entities if they
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spend more than a threshold amount - even of money from other
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sources - on political advocacy. A cancer society that gets
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Federal funds might then not be able to testify before congress
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on the best prospects for cancer research".
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This nasty piece of legislation still must pass the Senate
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before it becomes law. The advocacy group, Independent Sector,
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will be holding "road shows" in states where members of the
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Senate Appropriations Labor HHS Committee reside in order to
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drum up opposition during the next series of legislative steps.
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SPECTRUM FLEXIBILITY
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New spectrum, valued at $100 billion has been given to the
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broadcast industry for free. Originally reserved for the
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transition to HDTV technology, broadcasters now wish to use this
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spectrum for more profitable ventures such as PCAs, pay-TV,
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paging and data services. HR 1555 provided this $100 billion
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gift.
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Other, more public minded initiatives have emerged for a more
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public use of this spectrum. Apple has submitted a petition to
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the FCC (RM-8653) for an unlicensed "NII band". This 300
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megahertz band would be made available to the American citizenry
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for free (the petition can be found at
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http://www.apple.com/documents/fcc.html). This would appear to
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be the last remaining hope for that "electronic commons" so many
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of us once thought possible - Space, set aside, for free, for
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everyone. The deadline for public comment on this proposal was
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July 25.
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Now that HR1555 has passed, the last public attempt at
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retrieving a portion of the public air waves for non-commercial
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use is in the making. The Small Business Survival Committee is
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creating the "Campaign for Broadcast Competition" which will
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attempt to enhance public understanding of the issue. The
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Campaign will use the argument that broadcasters be held to the
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same financial barriers that exist for everyone else - the
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spectrum should be auctioned and the proceeds used to reduce the
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deficit.
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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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