ALAWON v4n20 (March 9, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n20

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                                                             ISSN 1069-7799
                                  ALAWON
                      ALA Washington Office Newsline
                     An electronic publication of the
              American Library Association Washington Office
 
                            Volume 4, Number 20
                               March 9, 1995
 
   In this issue: (194 lines)
     ALA JOINS COALITION TO ADDRESS SENATOR EXON'S COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY
          ACT OF 1995 - ACTION NEEDED
     TWO DISCUSSION DRAFTS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILLS RELEASED BY
          SENATORS PRESSLER AND HOLLINGS - ACTION NEEDED
     VICE PRESIDENT GORE AND SECRETARY OF EDUCATION RILEY ANNOUNCE
          TECHNOLOGY GRANTS
 
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                ALA JOINS COALITION TO ADDRESS SEN. EXON'S
            COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT OF 1995 - ACTION NEEDED
 
ALA has signed a joint letter with the "Interactive Working Group", a new
coalition of public interest organizations, members of the computer and
communications industry, and several other library and journalism
associations concerned about the First Amendment threats in S. 314.  The
coalition was convened by the Center for Democracy and Technology.
 
In the joint letter, the coalition expresses serious concerns about S. 314,
the Communications Decency Act of 1995.  The coalition has asked Senators
Pressler (R-SD) and Exon (D-NE) not to incorporate S. 314 into Senate
telecommunications reform legislation which is expected to be introduced
later this month.
 
As introduced by Senator Exon, S. 314 would expand current law restricting
indecency and harassment of telephone services to all telecommunications
providers and expand criminal liability to all content carried by all forms
of telecommunications networks.  (See an earlier report in ALAWON, Vol. 4,
No. 10, February 15.)
 
It is argued that the Exon bill could gravely reduce or even cutoff access
to email, discussion lists, usenets and other services.  The bill could
also force providers to closely monitor and pre-screen electronic mail or
even refuse to transmit any message or other content which may be
considered to be indecent.
 
The bill poses a significant threat to freedom of speech and the free flow
of information in cyberspace.  It also raises fundamental questions about
the right of government to control content on communications networks, as
well as the locus of liability for content carried in these new media.
 
The March 2 coalition letter reads in part:
 
     Developing means for detecting and holding wrong-doers
     responsible for illegal activity, and permitting parents to
     control access by their children to adult material while still
     preserving our constitutional liberties, are important goals
     shared by many in our society.  However, the choice of methods
     for achieving these goals raises serious free speech and
     censorship problems.  Our commitment is to work with you and your
     colleagues to resolve these issues in ways which will enable
     individual and parental choice, without impairing the free flow
     of information or stifling development of emerging technology
     through bureaucratic regulation.
 
ACTION NEEDED:  Please contact Senators Pressler and Exon as well as other
members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Ask them to remove S. 314 from its "fast track" so that the First Amendment
and free speech questions can be addressed.  Other senators on the
committee include: Packwood (R-OR), Stevens (R-AL), McCain (R-AZ), Burns
(R-MT), Gorton (R-WA), Lott (R-MS), Hutchison (R-TX), Snowe (R-ME),
Ashcroft (R-MO), Hollings (D-SC), Inouye (D-HI), Ford (D-KY), Rockefeller
(D-WV), Kerry, (D-MA), Breaux (D-LA), Bryan (D-NV), Dorgan (D-ND).
 
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             TWO DISCUSSION DRAFTS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS BILLS
        RELEASED BY SENATORS PRESSLER AND HOLLINGS - ACTION NEEDED
 
Senator Larry Pressler (R-SD) and Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) each have
initiated "discussion drafts" of telecommunications bills to update the
Communications Act of 1934.  Neither draft has been officially filed
although discussion copies are circulating.  Both draft bills promote de-
regulation and widespread competition.
 
The Pressler draft is intended to "accelerate...private sector deployment
of advanced telecommunications and information technologies and services."
Rural and urban areas would have "comparable" rates and all rates should be
"affordable."  Carriers of last resort would be eligible for universal
service support payments.
 
Pressler's draft bill would also provide for establishment of a "Federal-
State Joint Board...to develop rules for universal service" but there is no
provision for incremental-cost based rates for libraries, schools or
community/nonprofit users.  It was provisions for incremental-cost based
rates and universal service requirements that ALA and others had strongly
supported in S. 1822, the telecommunications bill that never made it to the
Senate floor in the last Congress.
 
The Hollings draft is similar to last year's S. 1822 although it weakens
the provisions for universal service and incremental-cost based rates.
Schools and libraries are still considered community telecommunications
users.  The draft promotes the concept of universal service by requiring
all telecommunications providers to contribute to universal service funds.
However, subsides for universal service are "explicit and targeted to those
who most need the subsidy."
 
The new Hollings draft defines "community users" as elementary and
secondary schools, libraries, health care facilities, local public
broadcasting and "any class of community users that contribute to public
safety, education and knowledge."  All telecommunications carriers, "upon
bona fide request, would have to provide universal service at rates not
higher than the incremental cost to such public or non-profit community
telecommunications users."
 
Hollings limits rates for interexchange telecommunications services in
rural and high-cost areas to "levels no higher than...those in urban
areas."
 
These draft bills could be collapsed into one bill and move forward
quickly.  Watch ALAWON and the next issue of this newsletter for the status
of this critical legislation.  Library supporters working on this issue
should work to strengthen provisions for universal service and incremental-
cost based rates.  Libraries should always be advocated as a type of
community telecommunications users eligible for the incremental rates.
 
ACTION NEEDED:  Please contact Senator Pressler (R-SD), as chair of the
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation as well as other
members of the committee and emphasize the important public service role of
libraries, both as providers and users of telecommunications services.
Emphasize that universal service and incremental-cost based rates for
libraries are important provisions to any telecommunications legislation.
(see above report on S. 314 for a list of the senators on this committee.)
Watch upcoming issues of ALAWON for updates on this critical legislation.
 
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       VICE PRESIDENT GORE AND SECRETARY OF EDUCATION RILEY ANNOUNCE
                             TECHNOLOGY GRANTS
 
Vice President Al Gore and Secretary of Education Richard Riley jointly
announced the beginning of the new Technology in Education Challenge Grants
on March 7, 1995.  The announcement took place at a ceremony in a model
elementary school in Montgomery County, Maryland, Forest Knowles
Elementary, where technology is completely integrated into the classroom.
Students demonstrated the type of learning atmosphere that Vice President
Gore and Secretary Riley envision for classrooms across the nation.
 
Secretary Riley said that the goal of the program was for "every classroom
in America to be online by 2000 or 2001."  He strongly emphasized that the
Information Superhighway can not be a service to only a portion of the
nation's population.  Vice President Gore emphasized the partnerships that
must exist between public and private sectors of the community in order for
grant money to be received.  Gore held up the Forest Knowles students as
examples of the results of technology in the classroom, "students who are
not afraid to take risks, who are empowered, who are ready to learn."
 
Libraries are specifically included in the suggested list of consortia
members for a community, and, as was demonstrated at Forest Knowles, school
libraries can play a large role in the Technology Learning Challenge.
Letters of intent must be submitted no later than April 4, 1995 and the
application deadline is June 2, 1995.  For more information or for an
application call 1-800-USA-LEARN.  The grant information and application
are also available on the Internet by visiting the Department of
Education's WWW site at URL http://www.ed.gov or use Gopher at
GOPHER.ED.GOV.
 
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ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library
Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC
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Fax: 202-547-7363.  Contributing to this issue:  Claudette W. Tennant;
Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org).
 
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