----- Begin Included Message ----- Date: Fri Feb 3, 1995 02:00 pm EST Source-Date: Fri Feb 03, 1995 13:57:37 From: Electronic Messaging Association / MCI ID: 254-4290 TO: * Vinton G. Cerf / MCI ID: 105-0002 Subject: EMA Alert Special 2/3/95 +---------------------------------------------------------+ ##### # # # # # ##### #### ##### # ## ## # # # # # # # # # ### # # # # # # # # # ### #### # # # # # ####### ####### # # # # # ##### # # # # # # ##### ##### # # # +---------------------------------------------------------+ -> EMA ALERT <- News For and About the Members of the ELECTRONIC MESSAGING ASSOCIATION ============================================================ February 3, 1995 -- Number 18 <----------------------------------------------------------> ***** SPECIAL ALERT ***** - Congress to consider making all system operators liable for messaging content. Bill would force employers to monitor message content. ACTION NEEDED NOW! <----------------------------------------------------------> UNREASONABLE NETWORK POLICING PROPOSED Yesterday, Senator Jim Exon (D-NE) introduced S.314, the Communications Decency Act of 1995, in the United States Senate. In an effort to stamp out digital pornography, it makes all telecommunications providers doing business in the United States (from the telephone companies all the way down to offices that use LANs) liable for the content of anything sent over their networks. To avoid the possibility of tens of thousands of dollars in fines and up to two years in jail, business owners would be forced to police their networks and monitor in advance all messages sent over them. WITHOUT ACTION - COULD BE LAW IN MONTHS This bill is substantially the same as the one he put forward last year. He will offer it as an amendment to the pending telecommunications deregulation legislation in the U.S. Senate, which is expected to be enacted by July. Last year, his amendment was adopted even though many thought it hastily drafted and poorly thought out. Fortunately, the telecommunications deregulation legislation died. This year, a more conservative U.S. Congress may be even more reluctant to challenge a "morality" amendment; and its legislative vehicle, the telecommunications deregulation legislation, stands a much better chance of passage this year. ACTION NEEDED NOW Action by the business community is needed now. Please notify your corporate government affairs office and/or your legal counsel. This measure could be adopted as an amendment to the telecommunications bill IN A MATTER OF WEEKS (or potentially added to any legislation pending on the U.S. Senate floor), if business does not mobilize against it. S.314 will not stop digital pornography, but it could devastate the messaging business. If you are interested in further information or are able to participate in lobbying efforts over the next few weeks, contact Sarah Reardon at EMA (see below). ------------------------------------------------------------ EMA ALERT is published and copyrighted (1995) by the Electronic Messaging Association. Permission to reproduce and/or redistribute with attribution is hereby given to all EMA members. For more information about anything in EMA ALERT, contact EMA via e-mail - use either X.400 (S=info; O=ema; A=mci; C=us) or Internet (info@ema.org) address, facsimile (1-703-524-5558), or telephone (1-703-524-5550). Any EMA staff member can be addressed directly via e-mail by using, for X.400, G=<firstname>; S=<lastname>; O=ema; A=mci; C=us, and, for Internet, <firstinitial><lastname>@ema.org. EMA's postal address is 1655 N. Fort Myer Dr. #850, Arlington, VA 22209 USA. ----- End Included Message -----