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From: gnu@hoptoad.uucp (John Gilmore)
Newsgroups: net.micro
Subject: Congress is now debating the future of Usenet / FIDO / etc
Message-ID: <1014@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: Mon, 18-Aug-86 13:59:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: hoptoad.1014
Posted: Mon Aug 18 13:59:12 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 19-Aug-86 07:58:33 EDT
References: <1632@well.UUCP> <1013@hoptoad.uucp>
Followup-To: net.mail
Organization: Nebula Consultants in San Francisco
Lines: 25

I forgot to send a copy of this article to net.micro too.
Micro people who use BBS systems, please read the referenced article
(vnews/readnews users type 'p') and then contact your Congresscritter
if you have strong feelings.  I do, I think we are screwed if it passes!

If you use a FIDO system, please forward this discussion into the FIDO
network.  Anybody who does email service on a shared-costs bases will
be screwed by this bill; I think that includes FIDOs.

Brief summary:
(Read article <1013@hoptoad.uucp> for the whole summary)
This Bill, S.2757, the "Electronic Communications Privacy Act",
appears to put legal liability on Usenet hosts which forward mail or
news for other hosts, and could alter or destroy the current structure
of Usenet (and/or Stargate).  It was written by people who DON'T UNDERSTAND
EMAIL and networking, and was lobbied for by the commercial email companies
(telemail, compuserve, etc).  It has been passed by the House and is
now pending in the Senate.
 
Read <1632@well.UUCP> (vnews/readnews users type '2p'), which tells you
how to get the complete text of the bill.
Post discussion to net.mail (keep it out of the other groups).
-- 
John Gilmore  {sun,ptsfa,lll-crg,ihnp4}!hoptoad!gnu   jgilmore@lll-crg.arpa
		     May the Source be with you!