Free speech wins in court: 3-0!

Table of contents

What's happening

A three judge panel in Philadelphia ruled that the CDA is unconstitutional on Wed. June 12, paving the way for the Supreme Court to overturn the law. The case to challenge the Communications Decency Act was brought by the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

The question everyone asked was "Will the Internet be regulated like Saturday morning television, or more like the print world?" The court agreed with net users that it should be more like the print media, and called the law into question. Thousands of netizens celebrate today by displaying the fireworks icon and setting their World Wide Web pages to point to the online text [250K] of the court decision.

Below are some ways you can help.

Online campaign: how can I help?

The icon above is an animated graphic that you can add to your WWW page simply by cutting an pasting the following HTML code into your page. For people who are comfortable with HTML, you might want to use the still at http://www.vtw.org/images/cdastill.gif. 

<a href="http://www.vtw.org/speech/">

<img src="http://www.vtw.org/images/cda.gif"

height=120 width=100 alt="Free speech court decision"
align=top></a><br clear = all>

<br>

Three judge panel in Philadelphia votes 3-0 that the CDA is not Constitutional.

<br>Follow the link to read the decision.
Note that you do not need to copy the image yourself to display it Check out some other prominent folks who have taken the time to link to the CDA icon. And here are the nearly four thousand other folks [>100k file] who have helped out and are concerned about the court case. Browse them and appreciate the diversity of people affected by this court decision.

All icons change as soon as the pages are reloaded.

Most importantly, read the decision and learn how it will affect your First Amendment rights. If you add the link to your page, fill out the form below and we'll display the links in a list for people to browse. Enter the URL (eg http://your.site.org/)

Enter the name for the link (eg Joes Cool Web Page)

Enter your email address (eg joe@aol.com)



For more information on this effort, see the corresponding alert. The press should contact Shabbir J. Safdar, VTW at +1.718.596.2851 or Jonah Seiger, CDT at +1.202.637.9800. The logo was created by VTW's graphic designer LJ Lindhurst (ljl@echonyc.com).

Become a plaintiff in the lawsuit on its way to the Supreme Court

You can still become a named plaintiff in the CIEC (Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition), and sue the Federal government along with 45,000 other netizens and a score of Internet businesses. To sign on as a plaintiff, go to the CIEC signup WWW page.

Attend the online press conference with lawsuit attorney Bruce Ennis

Tomorrow at 5:30pm EDT, HotWired will host a live online briefing with Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC) organizers and the lead CIEC attorney who argued the case before the federal judges in Philadelphia. They will discuss the implications of the court's ruling, the next steps in the legal battle, and answer questions from netizens.

Scheduled to participate in the online briefing:
Don't miss this chance to interact with the CIEC leaders as they discuss this important victory and what it means to the future of the Internet! 

WHERE:    HotWired's WiredSide Chat (http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/)

WHEN:     Thursday June 13, 5:30 pm EDT (2:30 PDT)

TO PARTICIPATE:  Visit http://www.hotwired.com/wiredside/ for instructions.

                 You will need to be a member of HotWired (membership is

                 FREE - visit http://www.hotwired.com/ for details), and

                 a copy of RealAudio installed on your computer (visit

                 http://www.realaudio.com/ for a FREE copy of Real

                 Audio).
HotWired's wiredside chat is an innovative new way to hold online events. It combines a live audio broadcast with an interactive chat forum, allowing users to pose questions to the guest and talk about the session.

Transcripts of the session will be available at the CIEC web page. This special event is co-sponsored by the Netizen and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).

Attend the local rallies to learn about the decision

Local rallies are being planned already. Find one near you below, or plan one for your town!
New York City RALLY IN SILICON ALLEY
The date will probably be the evening of the decision. Below is the place information and the directions, or read the full invitefor more information. 
WHERE: Loft of Outernet, Inc. (bway.net)
@ 626 Broadway, Suite 3-A WHO: You and your friends! Show up, bring friends,
and come find out how net free speech fared in court. WHEN: 6:30pm, the
evening the court's decision is announced Exact date of event will be posted
at http://www.vtw.org/speech/ PRESS: Press contact is Shabbir J. Safdar
(VTW) +1.718.596.7234.

Pittsburgh RALLY
The date will be the evening of the decision. Below is the place information and the directions, or read the Envirolink WWW for more information. 
WHERE: The main entrance steps of the
Carnegie Library here in Pittsburgh WHO: You and your friends! Lots of
cyber-luminaries!
WHEN: 4:00 PM (EST) on the day the court's decision is announced PRESS:
Press contact is Josh Knauer at Envirolink (josh@envirolink.org)
at +1.412.683.6400
San Francisco Victory Party 
WHEN: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 5PM WHERE: South Park in San
Francisco's
South of Market District. (South Park is located between Bryant and Brannan
Streets off Second Street) WHAT: LIVE MUSIC * FREE BEER * NAUGHTY WORDS
BRING: Free speech protest signs, Costumes, Enthusiasm, Good Cheer
If you are scheduling a rally of your own, contact Shabbir J. Safdar via email at shabbir@vtw.org. Be sure to include a daytime and nighttime phone number where you can be reached.

Great resources about the case

There are a number of great resources of information about the case on the net. Here's a short list that will get you going (it's not meant to be an exhaustive list).

People Suing the Feds:

Text of court decision

The decision is available at:
  • Text of the decision broken into small parts
  • Text of the decision broken into small parts

    VTW sponsors

    VTW is thrilled and glad to be powered by the fine staff members at Public Access Networks (Panix.Com). Their long-time support of civil liberties issues by providing VTW significant WWW and Internet services has helped make us what we are today. Thanks Panix!

    Voters Telecommunications Watch / vtw@vtw.org / Copyright ©1994-1996 ll2paulÿ VTWVICT.HTMTEXTR*chÿÿÿÿTEXTR*chÿÿÿÿ­öØ"+dž%HDTMAPPL %MACSFNDR%ScavAPPLhR*chP((x Monaco–ÿÿ 4é%ÿÿ 5g—ÿÿ 7˜ÿÿ 7å™ÿÿ 9ašÿÿ 9ã)ÿÿ :‡›ÿÿ ;ãÐÿÿ