Letter to Senator Leahy - 13 Feb 1996

Dear Senator Leahy,

How do I thank you? I'm aware of your recent participation in the 'web blackout protest', and I've read your statement in response to the passage and signing into law of the Telecommunications Act. I've also just noted your introduction in the Senate of legislation to repeal the onerous Communications Decency Act (CDA) provisions of this law. I applaud you, sir! Thank you for standing up for our country's founding principles while most of those around you were pandering to political pressure.

I am a 20-year veteran Air Force officer, recently retired. Upon my commissioning, I took an oath, which still binds me, to protect the Constitution. Supposedly, so did each of our congressmen and the President. I was saddened, indeed angered, by the blatant flaunting of that oath by those voting first for the CDA itself, then the Telecom Act containing it's outright trampling of the First Amendment.

Let's call it what it is: pandering. Many in both houses recognized the flaws of the CDA. Yet, no in-depth hearings were held on its language. Objections by the Department of Justice, net users, net providers, thousands of citizens, and prominent civil rights organizations were ignored. The CDA was jammed through despite all calls for reason and moderation for one reason: to appear 'tough' before the Christian Coalition and other zealots who claim to want to 'protect the children' as a means of imposing their narrow views upon the rest of the nation. The 'protect the children' ploy is so transparent as to be sickening. It is used increasingly to justify draconian laws which erode our freedoms and invade our privacy on every subject from abortion rights to school prayer. Others, including yourself, have pointed out that existing statutes deal with the child-protection issues. The CDA is 'feel-good' legislation only. I am gratified that you recognized and had the guts to publicly acknowledge this as the political posturing that it is.

I find it curious that those who espouse 'family values' so strongly are the ones who continually place the task of rearing the children into the hands of government. They speak of individual responsibility and smaller government with a loud voice, then place laws like the CDA on the books which would require an impossible level of monitoring, regulation, and bureaucracy to enforce. It is hypocrisy of the highest order.

I find it repugnant that Congress would pass this measure, knowingly leaving vague and unconstitutional language to the courts to deal with. This too is hypocrisy. It is a violation of their oaths of office. As a minimum, it is cowardice; at the other extreme, tyranny. It seems you were one of the few who stood firm. I commend you for that.

You will face considerable opposition in your effort to repeal the CDA. The zealots will brand you and those who stand with you as abandoning the children and as amoral. These same zealots have considerable financial backing to rally political opposition. I implore you to continue to stand up for your beliefs and our Constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression. For should the CDA stand, the precedent will be set to expand the definition of 'indecency' to other areas of thought, speech, and communication. I grant there are many voices in all media that I personally find abhorrent and wish could be silenced. However, I recognize that the best counter against such voices is free and open dialogue. The best weapon against lies is the truth, not censorship. That was recognized clearly in the First Amendment. Please continue to keep it alive.

I have been on the Internet since the early days of Arpanet. In those days, I used the net as part of my official military job. Today, in retirement, I operate a tiny Internet Service Provider site. Last month, Tigerden marked its second anniversary of full time net service. We provide accounts, e-mail, news, web page space, and net access to about 80 individuals and organizations worldwide. Most of our users are not even local, the majority are outside my home state. Our service is currently not for profit; its operation is fully funded by myself alone. We are now established firmly enough that I've considered making the site a commercial one, using revenues to expand and improve our facilities.

However, the CDA not only puts a 'chilling effect' on expression of ideas on the net, but, in real terms, puts a chilling effect on my decision to expand. I've already seen other sites, principally BBS (telephone accessed bulletin board system) sites, have equipment confiscated or have service disrupted by law enforcement agencies. One notorious case now on appeal involves a BBS in California which was 'busted' by a Tennessee postal inspector for obscenity. This case involved not only a 'sting' operation on the part of the postal inspector, but also was entrapment because the postal inspector used child pornography which *he mailed unsolicited to the owner* as justification for a raid of the site. Although no child pornography was found on the system itself, the owners were still convicted of sending 'obscene' images across state lines over the telephone system into Tennessee to the postal inspector who subscribed to the service under a false name and downloaded them. The first appeal was denied on the grounds that the BBS owners should have blocked access by those in communities where the material was prohibited. No children were involved; all this involved communication between *adults*. The location of the trial was carefully chosen as Memphis, Tennessee where the 'local community standards' would most assuredly find the material involved to be 'obscene'. The precedent here and the entrapment aspects of this case are especially troubling.

I see the CDA as opening up even more suits of this sort, on even shakier grounds, with its broad prohibitions and vague language. I see the small providers who can't muster adequate defenses becoming easy targets under this law. Indeed, I see many facing frivolous suits from any local group who might disapprove of any system's content, for whatever reason, and who can get a prosecutor on their side. How easy it would be for someone to obtain an account, download or post a few 'indecent' newsgroup articles or images, then prosecute the provider. A few 'example' convictions of this nature would shut down, in fear, many smaller sites that help make this new medium the vibrant resource that it is.

Even if no conviction occurs, providers can be shut down, guilty until proven innocent. The CDA provides 'defenses' but no 'protections'. A 'defense' is an after-the-fact event; it imposes significant financial hardship on the smaller provider to mount his 'defense' after he has already been charged and taken to court. In all likelihood, his source of income, the site itself, will have been shut down, seized as 'evidence'. Citizens are supposedly afforded Constitutional protections against unlawful searches and seizures. Yet the CDA provides no 'protections' against such actions. It places full burden on the provider, a burden which the smaller ones cannot bear despite possible exoneration from charges. (I just noticed the irony of the word 'exoneration'.. to 'unburden'...yet Exon now is synonymous with oppression.)

I consider myself a conservative. I believe strongly in individual responsibility, minimal government intrusion into private lives, and responsible fiscal policy. As a veteran officer, I believe in a strong national defense and respect for law. In times past, I've felt the Republican party most echoed my ideals. Yet now, that party is losing it's focus, becoming increasingly idealogical regarding imposition, by government authority, of the moral imperatives of a narrow minded, but vocal and financially influential, minority. Political lines are increasingly fuzzy, leaving the only choice to look to the individuals who will both express ideals I hold as well as have the guts to stand up in the face of political expediency.

I see you, sir, at least in this instance, as one who deserves my support. Although you are not from my state, the Internet does indeed make us a global community where geographical or political boundaries are largely irrelevant. As a member of this global community, I pledge to you my personal efforts, and the resources of Tigerden's net facilities, to help you in your campaign to bring down this travesty called the CDA. Please don't hesitate to call on me directly if there is any way at all I may be of assistance.

Thank you for your attention to this letter, and for your continued, unwavering work to keep the Internet a place of free exchange of ideas.

Deepest regards,

George Nemeyer (root@tigerden.com)
System Administrator
Tigerden.com
http://www.tigerden.com

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Last Updated: 13 Feb 1996