****Begin File******************Begin File*******************Begin File**** *************************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 4, Number 10 February 15, 1995 In this issue: (203 lines) ACTION ALERT: COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT OF 1995 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR EXON FEDERAL COURT RULES NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SUBJECT TO FOIA NTIA TIIAP ANNOUNCES 2ND GRANT CYCLE CRITICAL DEADLINE FOR LETTER OF INTENT: MARCH 23 ALA SCHEDULES MARCH 15, APRIL 11 AND MAY 9 FOR IMPORTANT PROGRAMS *************************************************************************** * ACTION ALERT * COMMUNICATIONS DECENCY ACT OF 1995 INTRODUCED BY SENATOR EXON S. 314, the Communications Decency Act of 1995 was introduced by Senator Jim Exon, (D-NE) on February 1. This "Decency Act of 1995" is intended by Exon to "protect the public from the misuse of telecommunications network and telecommunications devices and facilities." Substantially similar to the bill Exon submitted last year, S. 314 was filed as an amendment to the Communications Act of 1934; it could yet be tacked onto other pending Communications Act rewrites underway in Congress. The bill amends several sections of the Communications Act to make various telecommunications providers responsible for indecent communications on their systems. Though some telecommunications technologies do not have the capability to monitor transactions, S. 314 could prohibit providers from providing "obscene or harassing utilization of telecommunications devices and facilities in the District of Columbia or in interstate or foreign communications." The bill increases various related fines from $10,000 to $100,000, and prison terms for violations of the pertinent sections from 6 months to 2 years. Questions have been raised regarding the impact on local area network providers and other forms of electronic messaging. In the case of cable TV operators, S. 314 would allow operators to "refuse to transmit any public access program or portion of a public, educational, and governmental access program which contains obscenity, indecency, or nudity." Cable TV operators could also reject any leased access programming which contains such "obscenity." Allowing or requiring telecommunications providers to monitor and potentially reject the programming, messages and communications of others on a vague criteria of "obscenity" raises serious First Amendment concerns. Making the carrier responsible rather than the originator is not the answer. S. 314 has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. For those concerned about the serious First Amendment issues in this bill, please contact the following senators as soon as possible: Chair: Pressler (R-SD), Packwood (R-OR), Stevens (R- AL), McCain (R-AZ), Burns (R-MT), Gorton (R-WA), Lott (R-MS), Hutchison (R- TX), Snowe (R-MN), Ashcroft (R-MO), Hollings (D-SC), Inouye (D-HI), Ford (D-KY), Exon (D-NE), Rockefeller (D-WV), Kerry, (D-MA), Breaux (D-LA), Bryan (D-NV), Dorgan (D-ND). *************************************************************************** FEDERAL COURT RULES NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SUBJECT TO FOIA The preservation of important records documenting national security policy has been assured in an important court ruling. Judge Charles R. Richey of the United States District Court of Appeals for the District Court of Columbia ruled on February 14, 1995, that the National Security Council is an "agency" of the federal government and is, therefore, required to preserve its electronic mail records under the Federal Records Act. ALA is one of several plaintiffs in the suit (Armstrong et al v. Executive Office of the President et al) initiated by reporter Scott Armstrong and the National Security Archives in 1989, at the end of the Reagan Administration, to prevent White House officials from destroying the electronic mail records of the NSC and other agencies in the Executive Office of the President. Other plaintiffs in the suit are historian Scott Armstrong, the National Security Archive, the American Historical Association, the Center for National Security Studies, and researcher Eddie Becker. The defendants are the Executive Office of the President, the National Security Council and the Acting Archivist of the United States, Trudy Peterson. In August 1993, the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the District Court of Columbia held that the White House's practices were unlawful because they permit the destruction of historically valuable electronic mail information, and upheld an injunction prohibiting the government from destroying magnetic tapes and computer hard drives containing electronic mail written by officials of the Reagan, Bush and Clinton administrations. The Court of Appeals also remanded the case to the district court to decide whether the NSC was evading the records laws by classifying many of its records as "Presidential records" which are not subject to the same FOIA requirements or the same protections against improper destruction. The Clinton Administration claimed in March 1994 that the NSC was not an "agency" and not required to preserve electronic mail records as directed by the Court of Appeals' ruling. The Clinton Administration also announced at the time that it was discontinuing the NSC's program for making records available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act. Previous administrations had always defined NSC as an "agency." Judge Richey's ruling rejected the Clinton Administration's definition of the NSC as unlawful, and ruled that the "NSC is an agency subject to FOIA, and...must maintain and preserve its records in accordance with the Federal Records Act, except when high level officials of the NSC are acting solely in their capacity to advise and assist the President." The ruling requires the NSC and the Archivist to develop new guidelines for recordkeeping by February 27 and ensure the NSC records "are preserved under the Federal Records Act and not destroyed under the guise of the Presidential Records Act." The Court added, "...this case is important to the nation and the very credibility of this and future administrations." ************************************************************************** NTIA TIIAP ANNOUNCES 2ND GRANT CYCLE The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is calling for applications for the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) 1995 grant cycle. TIIAP provides competitive matching grants to non-profit and government groups such as schools and libraries for the purpose of developing the national information infrastructure. Library projects received five of the 92 grants awarded in 1994 for a total of $1,851,840. Libraries also participated as partners in projects submitted by other applicants. NTIA is offering workshops across the nation to provide potential applicants the opportunity to meet and to learn about the goals of the TIIAP. No fees will be charged for the workshops, but because of the expected response, NTIA asks that only two people from each project attend. According to NTIA, workshops will be held in the following places on the corresponding dates: Charleston, SC February 24 Omaha, NE February 28 Richmond, VA March 2 Portland, OR March 8 Albany, NY March 11 Austin, TX March 17 The workshops will provide libraries with the opportunity to connect with non-library institutions to enhance the chances of being awarded a grant. For more workshop details use ftp, telnet, gopher, or World Wide Web at ntia.doc.gov, or e-mail tiiap@ntia.doc.gov. This year the program has expanded to include three categories: Category One - Demonstration Projects, Category Two - Access Projects, Category Three - Planning Projects. Deadlines for application vary according to the category of the proposed project. All applicants are required to submit a letter of intent by March 23 regardless of the category for which they are applying. A complete list of deadlines as well as information on eligibility, evaluation criteria, the selection process and a program description can be found in the February 10, 1995 issue of the _FEDERAL REGISTER_. Further information can also be obtained by contacting Laura Breeden, Director of the Telecommunication and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program by phone: (202)482-2048, fax: (202)501-5136, or e-mail: tiiap@ntia.doc.gov. *************************************************************************** ALA SCHEDULES MARCH 15, APRIL 11 AND MAY 9 FOR IMPORTANT PROGRAMS Three important programs have been scheduled by ALA in the Washington, D.C. area for the coming dates: March 15 - Freedom of Information Day April 11 - Library Advocacy Training and In-depth Washington briefings May 9 - Library Legislative Day Watch upcoming issues of ALAWON or the ALA Washington Office Newsletter for additional details about these programs or contact the ALA Washington Office at: voice: (202) 547-4440; fax: (202) 547-7363; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org. *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. ALA Washington Office staff contributing to this issue: Anne A. Heanue and Claudette Tennant (Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org). ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). Back issues and other documents are available from the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). *************************************************************************** ***End of file******************End of file******************End of file***