From: [email protected]
On Behalf Of Audrie Krause
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2001 2:38 PM
Subject: NetAction Notes No. 74: Action Alert

Published by NetAction Issue No. 74 September 29,
2001

Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message.
* * * * * * *
In This Issue:
URGENT Action Alert: In Defense of Freedom
About NetAction Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

URGENT Action Alert: In Defense of Freedom

Circulate this alert until Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2001

Privacy advocates are urging U.S. citizens who are concerned about
maintaining our constitutionally protected civil liberties to sign
the "In Defense of Freedom" statement before Congress votes on
proposals to expand electronic surveillance and include all hacking
offenses in the anti-terrorism bill drafted in response to the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and
the Pentagon.

According to an analysis by the Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) would
"authorize and expand the use of the FBI's controversial Carnivore
system, limit judicial oversight of government surveillance
activities, erode the traditional separation of domestic law
enforcement and foreign intelligence functions, and authorize
surreptitious police entries in all criminal investigations." In
addition, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
warns that the legislation would treat all
computer trespass (including minor acts of vandalism) as terrorism.

News reports indicate that Congressional negotiators are meeting this
weekend to decide which provisions will be included in the bill.
Whether or not these proposals will reduce the threat of terrorism is
debatable. What is certain is that they will erode our freedom.

As Benjamin Franklin warned:

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

NetAction has endorsed the "In Defense of Freedom" statement and we
urge our readers to do so, as well.

The statement is at: .

Individuals and organizations can sign the statement at:
.

A detailed analysis of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, prepared by
EPIC, is available at:
.

A recent news report on the status of the proposed bill is at:
.

If you haven't already done so, please sign the statement now, and
forward this alert to others.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About NetAction Notes

NetAction Notes is a free electronic newsletter, published by
NetAction. NetAction is a national, nonprofit organization dedicated
to promoting use of the Internet for grassroots citizen action, and
to educating the public and policy makers about technology policy
issues.

To subscribe to NetAction Notes, send a message to:

The body of the message should state:
To unsubscribe at any time, send a message to:
The body of the message should state:

NetAction is supported by individual contributions and grants. You
can make a credit card donation from NetAction's secure server at:
.

For more information about contributing to NetAction, contact Audrie
Krause by phone at (415) 775-8674, by E-mail at
mailto:[email protected]>, visit the NetAction Web site at
, or write to:
NetAction * 601 Van Ness Ave., No. 631 * San Francisco, CA 94102
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copyright 1996-2001 by NetAction/The Tides Center. All rights reserved.
Material may be reposted or reproduced for non-commercial use provided
NetAction is cited as the source. NetAction is a project of The Tides
Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.