****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 103 December 8, 1995 In this issue: (185 lines) TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORM CONFEREES CONTINUE SLIDE TOWARD INTERNET CENSORSHIP PROVISIONS GPO PROVIDES FREE ACCESS TO ALL GPO ACCESS DATABASES WASHINGTON OFFICE ANNOUNCES DIVISIONAL LIAISONS ***************************************************************** TELECOMMUNICATIONS REFORM CONFEREES CONTINUE SLIDE TOWARDINTERNET CENSORSHIP PROVISIONS As recently reported, House telecommunications reform conferees agreed on Wednesday, December 6, to adopt stiff new criminal penalties for the knowing use of an interactive computer system to either send "indecent" material to persons under 18, or to send such material to another computer system "in a manner available for display" to minors. In so acting, the House conferees accepted Rep. Bob Goodlatte's (R-VA) modification to a similar measure authored by Rep. Rick White (R-WA). Significantly, Mr. White's proposal based the new criminal penalties on transmission of the more limited category of material deemed "harmful to minors," a legal standard already in use in 48 states. Late yesterday evening, December 7, online service industry representatives met with staff to both Reps. White and Goodlatte in an effort to craft a definition of "indecent" material that would not effectively censor the Internet. They did not succeed. As a result, Rep. White has committed himself to calling publicly for the inclusion of the "harmful to minors" standard in the final formulation of the telecommunications reform bill yet to be negotiated "between" the House and Senate conferees. They are now expected to meet Tuesday, December 12, for this purpose. In the interim, online service providers and other media corporations are expected to press Senate conferees, including the authors of the Senate's "indecency"-based bill (Sens. Exon and Coats), to accept Rep. White's "compromise" formulation. ALA, in concert with other major library and educational groups have called -- and will continue to call -- on Congress not to adopt any new criminal penalties affecting Internet and other computer-facilitated communications. If, and only if, Congress believes that it must legislate, ALA has alerted conferees by many means that Rep. White's proposal would result in less -- but still unacceptable -- potential liability for librarians and educators. ***************************************************************** GPO PROVIDES FREE ACCESS TO ALL GPO ACCESS DATABASES The U.S. Government Printing Office announced free use of GPO Access online services beginning December 1, 1995. All Internet and dial-in users can receive electronically, at no charge, the Congressional Record, Federal Register, congressional bills, and a growing list of government documents on the same day of publication. Until now, GPO Access has been free only to users on-site in some 600 of the Nation's nearly 1,400 Federal Depository Libraries and to remote users connecting through more than 20 depository library "gateways." It was available to others on a subscription basis. Under the new program, the subscription fee has been dropped. GPO Access currently includes the following databases: Congressional Bills (103d and 104th Congress) Congressional Calendars (104th Congress) Congressional Directory (1995-96) Congressional Documents (104th Congress) Congressional Record (103d and 104th Congress) Congressional Record Indexes (1992-1995) Congressional Reports (104th Congress) Economic Indicators (April 1995 forward) Federal Register (1994 and 1995) GAO Reports (FY 1995 forward) Government Manual (1995-96) History of Bills (103d and 104th Congress) Public Laws (104th Congress) Unified Agenda (1994 and 1995) U.S. Code (basic) GPO Access can be reached via the Internet or by dial-in through a modem. The following access methods are as follows: URL: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/ WAIS client software Telnet: swais.access.gpo.gov; then login as guest. Dial-in: 202-512-1661; type swais and then log in as guest. In more than 20 States, users with modems can connect to GPO Access through depository library "gateways" with a local phone call. Listings of depository libraries and "gateways" can be found on the Superintendent of Documents' home page. General information on accessing these databases is available by e-mail: help@eids05.eids.gpo.gov ; phone: 202-512-1530; or fax: 202-512-1262. Questions about the GPO Access service can also be directed to a nearby Federal Depository Library. At least one such library is located in each Congressional district. ***************************************************************** WASHINGTON OFFICE ANNOUNCES DIVISIONAL LIAISONS ALA Washington Office Executive Director Carol Henderson recently announced the appointment of WO liaisons to several ALA divisions. Lynne Bradley, Deputy Executive Director of the Washington Office, will serve as liaison to ALA's Association of College and Research Libraries, and to the Public Library Association. Lynne's prior experience includes service in academic and public libraries, as well as running a cooperative multi-county library video network, and serving in local elected public office. Mary Costabile, Assistant Director of the Washington Office, will serve as liaison to ALA's three youth divisions--the American Association of School Librarians, the Association for Library Service to Children, and the Young Adult Library Services Association. At the WO, Mary has worked closely on legislative elements of the children and youth initiative from the 1991 White House Conference on Library and Information Services, including enactment of the 1994 ESEA school library resources program, and the emphasis on services to children in the pending renewal of LSCA as the Library Services and Technology Act. Her prior experience includes serving as a state-level legislative assistant, and working with at-risk youth as a liaison for a foster-care review board. The WO liaisons will work with division staff and division legislation committees to keep them informed, will attend appropriate division meetings, and will alert Washington coalitions about divisional concerns. In turn, the divisions will keep the WO liaisons informed about specific issues, and will continue their liaison with the ALA Committee on Legislation through representatives to the Legislation Assembly. The liaison appointments are part of an effort by Henderson and ALA Executive Director Elizabeth Martinez to provide deeper coordination between ALA's staff expertise in Chicago and its expanding Washington presence to more effectively pursue ALA Goal 2000--to promote the public's right to an free and open information society. E-mail addresses for these staff members are: Bradley -leb@alawash.org. Costabile - mrc@alawash.org. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-628-8410; Fax: 202-628-8419. Contributing to this issue: Carol C. Henderson, Adam M. Eisgrau, Anne A. Heanue and Claudette W. 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 listserv 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 File****************End File*****************End File**** *****************************************************************