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News - Old News
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Arrests Over Anti-Mugabe E-Mails
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Fourteen people have been arrested in Zimbabwe for circulating an e-mail calling for protests to oust President Robert Mugabe, state media reports, BBC News (November 21, 2003)
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Filter Software Will Block Offensive Web Sites
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"Websense" filtering software is now in place at Argonne-East to analyze and prevent access to World Wide Web pages containing material that may be offensive, Argonne News (November 19, 2003)
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UK Cannabis Internet Activists Website Blocked
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During the week of 11th November it was drawn to our attention that UKCIA was blocked from computers in libraries run by Essex County Council, UK Cannabis Internet Activists (November 18, 2003)
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Group Fears Threats of E-Voting Company
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A civil rights group fears legal threats from an electronic voting company are having a "chilling effect" among Internet service providers, students and voting rights advocates, Associated Press via USA Today (November 18, 2003)
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David Weekly on OPG v Diebold Case in Court Today
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Today, a federal judge will hear arguments that will determine whether or not e-voting manufacturer Diebold Systems can use the DMCA to force 'Net users into removing links to online discussion archives stolen from Diebold earlier this year, Boing Boing (November 17, 2003)
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Court Hearing on Electronic Voting Company's Threats Against Critics
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Two student activists and an Internet Service Provider (ISP) will ask a federal district court judge on Monday to stop the ongoing legal harassment of them and others in a case involving disclosure of flaws in electronic voting machines, Online Policy Group (November 14, 2003)
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New First Report: Net Filters in Libraries
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Internet Filters and Public Libraries by David L. Sobel (OPG Advisory Board member) is a new First Report now available from the First Amendment Center, First Amendment Center (November 12, 2003)
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Machine Politics in the Digital Age
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In mid-August, Walden W. O'Dell, the chief executive of Diebold Inc., sat down at his computer to compose a letter inviting 100 wealthy and politically inclined friends to a Republican Party fund-raiser, to be held at his home in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year," wrote Mr. O'Dell, whose company is based in Canton, Ohio, New York Times (November 9, 2003)
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Students Sue Over Voting Vulnerability
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Two students from Swarthmore College have filed suit against one of the nation's largest makers of electronic voting machines, alleging that Diebold, Inc. had abused copyright laws to keep information from the public that is crucial to the health of America's democracy, Daily Princetonian (November 6, 2003)
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EFF Stanford Law Clinic Sue E-Voting Company
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A nonprofit Internet Service Provider (ISP) and two Swarthmore College students are seeking a court order on Election Day tomorrow to stop electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold Systems, Inc., from issuing specious legal threats, Scoop (November 4, 2003)
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Diebold Voting Case Tests DMCA
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Can Diebold Systems use copyright law to pressure Netizens into removing links to online discussion archives stolen from the company in March? That question is before a federal judge, PC World (November 4, 2003)
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Diebold Voting Case Tests DMCA
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Can Diebold Systems use copyright law to pressure Netizens into removing links to online discussion archives stolen from the company in March? That question is before a federal judge, IDG News Service via PC World (November 4, 2003)
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File Sharing Pits Copyright Against Free Speech
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Diebold Election Systems is waging legal war against grass-roots advocates, including dozens of college students, who are posting on Internet copies of company's internal communications about its electronic voting machines, New York Times (November 3, 2003)
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Students Buck DMCA Threat
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When Diebold Election Systems learned that its internal e-mail correspondence had popped up on the Web, it used a common legal tactic: sending cease-and-desist letters to Webmasters, CNET News (November 3, 2003)
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E-Vote Protest Gains Momentum
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Swarthmore College students embroiled in a legal battle against voting-machine maker Diebold Election Systems have received a groundswell of support from universities and colleges nationwide, Wired News (October 29, 2003)
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E-Voting Flap Generates Legal Threats
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Despite lawsuit threats from one of the nation’s largest electronic voting
machine suppliers, some activists are refusing to remove from Web sites
internal company documents that they claim raise serious security questions,
Associated Press via MSNBC (October 27, 2003)
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Diebold Threatens Publishers of Leaked Electronic-Voting Documents
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Despite lawsuit threats from one of the nation's largest electronic voting machine suppliers, some activists are refusing to remove from Web sites internal company documents that they claim raise serious security questions, Associated Press via Mercury News (October 27, 2003)
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Diebold Targeted By Electronic Civil Disobedience
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Defending the right of a fair, democratic election, Why War? and the Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons (SCDC) announced today that they are rejecting Diebold Elections Systems' cease and desist orders and are initiating an electronic civil disobedience campaign that will ensure permanent public access to the controversial leaked memos, IndyMedia (October 22, 2003)
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Students Fight E-Vote Firm
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A group of students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania has launched an "electronic civil disobedience" campaign against voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems, Wired News (October 21, 2003)
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Students Fight E-Vote Firm
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A group of students at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania has launched an "electronic civil disobedience" campaign against voting machine maker Diebold Election Systems, Wired News (October 21, 2003)
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Google Ordered to Pay Fine in French Trademark Case
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The civil court in Nanterre, near Paris, fined privately held Google 75,000 euros for allowing advertisers to link text Internet advertisements to trademarked search terms and gave the company 30 days to stop the practice, common at Internet search services, Reuters via Yahoo! News (October 18, 2003)
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ISP Rejects Diebold Copyright Claims Against News Website
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Electronic voting company Diebold, Inc., sent a cease-and-desist letter to the nonprofit OPG ISP demanding that OPG remove a page of links published on an IndyMedia website located on a computer server hosted by OPG, Online Policy Group (October 16, 2003)
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Middle East Website Posts Then Removes LGBT Story
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We must express our extreme disappointment that Al Bawada capitulated to the pressures put upon them by fundamentalist conservative closed minded people that would like us to believe that there are no G.L.B.T. people in the middle east, GayMiddleEast.com (October 4, 2003)
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Villages Bypass BT for Broadband
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Villagers in rural Northamptonshire have won their battle to bring broadband internet to their homes, by setting up their own service, BBC News (September 25, 2003)
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MSN to Close Chat Rooms
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Microsoft says it will drop chat room services in 28 countries next month, in a move it says will ward off pedophiles and junk e-mailers, CNN (September 24, 2003)
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Spammers, Pedophiles Force Microsoft to Quit Chat
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Microsoft Corp. announced on Wednesday it would shut down its Internet chat rooms in 28 countries, saying the forums had become a haven for peddlers of junk e-mail and sex predators, Reuters (September 23, 2003)
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India Bans a Yahoo Group
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The Indian government has banned a Yahoo group, alleging that it has anti-India content, CNET News.com (September 23, 2003)
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Three Arrested After Traffic Camera Aimed At Passersby
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Images from a traffic camera that was used instead to monitor passersby near the University of Alabama led to the arrests of three people allegedly misbehaving on the street, police said Tuesday, Associated Press and NBC13.com (September 17, 2003)
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Pennsylvania Web Blocking Law
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The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) together with the ACLU of Pennsylvania and Plantagenet, Inc., a Pennsylvania ISP filed a constitutional challenge to a Pennsylvania statute that blocks access to Internet sites accused of carrying child pornography and that results in the blocking of wholly innocent websites, Center for Democracy and Technology (September 9, 2003)
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Porn Filters Found to Be Ineffective Tools
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The Borough Assembly will soon vote on whether to force the public library to install expensive, ineffective Internet censorship filters on all its public and staff computers, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (September 6, 2003)
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OPG Co-Hosts Bridging the Digital Divides Event
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Join us the week of August 25-29 as we discuss "Bridging the Digital
Divides, Equal Access to the Internet" on Techsoup's Digital Divide Forum, including topics such as
class-based disparity in available technology,
the role race, ethnicity, and religion play in the
digital divide, women and technology,
the impact of Internet blocking software on the lesbian,
gay, bisexual, and transgender community, and
access to technology for people with disabilities, Online Policy Group (August 25, 2003)
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Designing a Protocol to Circumvent Internet Censorship
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Several companies and volunteer groups have been working for years on systems to circumvent Internet blocking at the network level, with a focus on defeating Internet censorship in China, where the “Great Firewall of China” blocks users from viewing external Web sites that criticize the Chinese government, Peacefire (August 24, 2003)
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CI Host Says AOL Blocking It, Sues
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CI Host, a Bedford-based Web-hosting business, has sued America Online, saying the Internet provider has unfairly labeled the company as a spammer and blocked the company's clients from communicating with AOL customers, Star-Telegram (August 22, 2003)
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China Blocks Foreign Software
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A new policy from China's governing body states that all government ministries must buy only locally produced open source software at the next upgrade cycle, removing Microsoft products from government offices until 2010, CNET News via BusinessWeek Online (August 19, 2003)
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Children’s Internet Protection Act Study of Technology Protection Measures
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On August 15, 2003, NTIA released a report pursuant to section 1703 of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Pub.L.No. 106-554, 114 Stat. 2763, 2763A-336 (2000), evaluating the effectiveness of technology protection measures and safety policies used by educational institutions, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (August 15, 2003)
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Minn. Librarians Settle Internet Porn Case
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The city's public library will consider using Internet
filters to restrict patrons' access to online porn, and will pay
$435,000 to a dozen librarians who said easy access to the images
resulted in a hostile work environment, the librarians' lawyer said
Friday, Associated Press via Yahoo! News (August 15, 2003)
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Attack of the Smartasses
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Friendster.com creator Jonathan Abrams wants to purge his über-hip dating site of phony profiles. But online "fakesters" are fighting back, SF Weekly (August 13, 2003)
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Don't Privatize Our Airwaves
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The contemplated FCC action to privatize the airwaves could result in the biggest special interest windfall, at the expense of American taxpayers, in history, Mercury News (August 13, 2003)
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Report: ISPs Block 17 Percent of Legit E-mail
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Top Internet service providers blocked 17 percent of legitimate permission-based e-mail in the first half of the year, according to a report issued by Return Path, InternetNews.com (August 12, 2003)
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Activist Gets Year in Jail for Hosting, Link to Bomb Site
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The Online Policy Group (OPG) today condemned the sentencing on August 4 of political activist Sherman Austin to one year in jail for hosting a website describing bomb-making and for linking from his RaiseTheFist.com website to that website, Online Policy Group (August 5, 2003)
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The Web Rewires the Movement
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Although MoveOn does not track member demographics, anecdotal evidence suggests that its base is disproportionately white as Al Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun, for example, fared poorly in the group's recent "primary", The Nation (August 4, 2003)
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Watch What You Surf, Net Police Are Here
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In what appears to be its first serious attempt to monitor the Internet, the Government of India has outlined an official procedure for blocking websites, Times of India (August 1, 2003)
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Ministry to Filter Sites to Mobiles
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The Japanese telecommunications ministry plans to develop a system for rating and filtering Web sites accessed by cellphones to prevent minors from viewing sex-related and other inappropriate content, ministry sources said, Asahi Shimbun (July 30, 2003)
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Studies Probe Web Link to HIV Surge
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Will Doherty, executive director of QueerNet/Online Policy Group, a nonprofit focused on providing wider Internet access, noted that online dates, or hookups, don't of themselves cause STD infection, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network (July 29, 2003)
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"Pay as You Surf?" or "Bringing Home the Gold to Cable and Phone Monopolies"
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Amazon's Misener and his Coalition of Broadband Users and Innovators, which includes Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, Disney, and others, are urging the FCC to adopt a safeguard that would prevent cable or phone giants from "impair [ing] consumer access to Internet content", Center for Digital Democracy (July 28, 2003)
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Star Wars Kid Files Lawsuit
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The parents of the infamous "Star Wars Kid" are suing classmates who posted a humiliating video of their son on the Net, according to Canada's Globe and Mail, Wired News (July 24, 2003)
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CIPA-Regulated Filters Fall Far Short
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A recent study by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Online Policy Group (OPG) concludes that the blocking software used is not accomplishing the purposes of CIPA, blocking appropriate materials and by failing to block inappropriate content, Law.com via USA Today (July 24, 2003)
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Bush Opposes Plan for Minority Grants
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The Bush administration declared its opposition Tuesday to a bill pushed by Virginia lawmakers that would create a grant program for computer technology at historically black and other minority-serving colleges and universities, Daily Press (July 23, 2003)
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Taiwanese Sexologist Faces Possible Dismissal and Imprisonment Over Web Site
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More than 2,400 professors, students, and others have signed an
international petition to support a sexologist in Taiwan who may be
imprisoned for two years and dismissed from her university if she is
found guilty of breaking the island's obscenity laws, Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required) (July 22, 2003)
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Bill Aims to Curb Net Censorship
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Would-be Internet censors in places such as China and Myanmar could have a tougher time restricting the free flow of information, according to a measure that the U.S. House of Representatives approved, CNET News.com (July 17, 2003)
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Accidental Anarchist
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In United States v. Sherman Martin Austin, a 20-year-old Austin faced a single felony count of "distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction with the intent that such information be used in furtherance of a federal crime of violence", Los Angeles Weekly (July 11, 2003)
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Dick Armey, Porn King?
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Internet porn filters have a faulty track record, but Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court insist libraries can't receive federal funds without them, Alibi (July 3, 2003)
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Supreme Court Supports Library Internet Blocking Law
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The Supreme Court ruled today that a federal statute requiring Internet blocking, also known as filtering, in libraries receiving certain federal funds or discounts is constitutional, Online Policy Group and Electronic Frontier Foundation (June 23, 2003)
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Study Released on Internet Blocking in Schools, Filtering Software Overblocks and Miscategorizes Websites
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The Online Policy Group (OPG) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today released a study documenting the effects of Internet blocking, also known as filtering, in U.S. schools. The study found that blocking software overblocked state-mandated curriculum topics extensively -- for every web page correctly blocked as advertised, one or more was blocked incorrectly, Online Policy Group and Electronic Frontier Foundation (June 23, 2003)
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Court OKs Anti-Porn Filters in Libraries
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A sharply divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that Congress can force the nation's public libraries to equip computers with anti-pornography filters, Associated Press via ABC News (June 23, 2003)
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When Spam Filters Go Bad
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In June, the company that provides cable modem service, Road Runner, installed a superaggressive new set of spam blockers on its e-mail servers and this reporter suddenly noticed all email stopped for nearly three hours, Salon (June 19, 2003)
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Human Rights and the World Summit on the Information Society
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Online Policy Group joins a group of 43 non-governmental organizations signing a letter to the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights urging his active participation in the preparatory committee and summit meeting of the World Summit on the Information Society, taking place in September and December 2003, (June 16, 2003)
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San Francisco Reacts to Supreme Court LGBTIQQ Rights Ruling
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A broad coalition of San Francisco community organizations has called an event to protest or celebrate, depending on the outcome of the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Texas sodomy statute, QueerNet Project of Online Policy Group (June 12, 2003)
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The Ignoble Savage
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Talk Radio Network Inc. (TRN), an Oregon-based company that syndicates Savage's hate-filled right-wing talk show, "The Michael Savage Show," to 305 radio stations around the country, is suing Julie Sigwart, co-founder of the Web site TakeBacktheMedia.com (TBTM); Thomas and Gunilla Leavitt and Leavitt Enterprises, who produce www.savagestupidity.com; and unknown individual "John Doe," who produces www.michaelsavagesucks.com, Alternet.org (June 9, 2003)
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Public Citizen to Defend SavageStupidity.com Against Savage Lawsuit
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SavageStupidity.com announced today that Public Citizen, a nationally prominent non-profit public interest law firm, has agreed to defend them from a lawsuit filed by Talk Radio Network, Inc., which syndicates "The Savage Nation", a nationally broadcast radio talk show hosted by the infamous Michael Savage (née Weiner), SavageStupidity.com (June 3, 2003)
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U.S. Wants Court Out of Abortion Case
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The Bush administration urged the Supreme Court to reject a politically charged abortion case that seeks free-speech protection for protesters who used "wanted" posters to target doctors, Associated Press via Yahoo! News (June 2, 2003)
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With Wireless, an English City Reaches Across Digital Divide
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In Manchester, the once-grimy Victorian city famous as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, Wi-Fi is being used, for the first time ever on this scale, as a way to bridge the digital divide, New York Times (free registration) (May 31, 2003)
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Declaration on Freedom of Communication on the Internet
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Among other points, the declaration states: "In order to ensure protection against online surveillance and to enhance the free expression of information and ideas,
member states should respect the will of users of the Internet not to disclose their identity", Committee of Ministers, Council of Europe (May 28, 2003)
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Can the Web Beat Big Media?
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FCC czar Michael Powell says new technologies will let diversity flourish even as giant corporations consolidate their control over TV and newspapers...Dream on, Salon (May 21, 2003)
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Iran Steps Up Net Censorship
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Iran has tightened controls on the internet, ordering thousands of political and pornographic websites to be blocked, BBC News (May 12, 2003)
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Porn Blocks Urged on Hi-Tech Mobiles
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Parents should think twice before buying children the latest mobile phones, experts warned yesterday, amid concerns that new technology could draw them into the seedy world of internet porn, The Observer (May 11, 2003)
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Licensed to War Drive in N.H.
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A land where white pines easily outnumber wireless computer users, New Hampshire may seem an unlikely haven for the free networking movement, Wired News (April 29, 2003)
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An Orwellian Purge
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A May 31, 2002 internal memo from the Education Department, "Criterion and Process for Removing Old Content from www.ed.gov," the department's Web site, is strangely akin to what occurs in 1984, Baltimore Sun (April 28, 2003)
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Setting Up a Simple Filtering Circumventor
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You can turn your home computer into a miniature Web server that you and your friends can connect to when your away-from-home Internet access gets censored, Peacefire (April 25, 2003)
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Monster.com's Resume Purge Draws Fire
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In a move the company claims is designed to comply with federal regulations, Monster.com on Thursday will delete most references to certain countries from job postings and resumes, CNET News.com (April 23, 2003)
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Use of 'Gay' May Block AIDS Research
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Federal health officials have given undocumented warnings to scientists who study AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases to keep words like "gay" and "transgender" out of their grant applications if they wish to receive funds, the New York Times reported on Friday, PlanetOut (April 18, 2003)
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Software Rams Great Firewall of China
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The news and propaganda wing behind the U.S. government's Voice of America broadcasts has commissioned software that lets Chinese Web surfers sneak around the boundaries set by their government, CNET News.com (April 16, 2003)
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Sex and the Internet
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OPG Executive Director Will Doherty presented a program entitled "Sex and the Internet" to the annual conference of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality in San Jose, CA, Online Policy Group (April 12, 2003)
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Activists Turn to Privacy Rights
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On Tuesday, six protesters dressed in business suits entered the San Francisco offices of Autonomy, a British software firm that has contracts with intelligence agencies and the Office of Homeland Security. While others marched outside, the six were swiftly arrested and ushered out of the Howard Street building, Mercury News (April 12, 2003)
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Congress OKs Internet Porn Restrictions
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The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the Child Abduction Prevention Act, which strengthens penalties for pedophiles, provides funding for a national child-abduction alert system and bolsters prohibitions against child pornography, Washington Post (April 10, 2003)
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Report Criticizes Google's Porn Filters
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Children using Google's SafeSearch feature, designed to filter out links to Web sites with adult content, may be shielded from far more than their parents ever intended, CNET News.com (April 10, 2003)
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German Law Shields Children From Content
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Germany became the first country in Europe to enact legislation protecting minors from harmful media content, Washington Internet Daily via NewsEdge via ComputerUser.com (April 3, 2003)
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The Great Firewall of China
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OPG Executive Director Will Doherty presented a program entitled "The Great Firewall of China: Filtering, Blocking, and
Government Censorship" to the annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference in New York City, Online Policy Group (April 3, 2003)
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OPG Climbs "Great Firewall" at Computers Freedom and Privacy Conference
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OPG Executive Director Will Doherty will lead a plenary entitled "The Great Firewall of China - Internet Filtering and Free Expression" at the Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference taking place at the New Yorker Hotel from 10:30am - 12:00 noon, Online Policy Group (April 3, 2003)
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Pa. Won't Identify Web Sites Blocked
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Pennsylvania's attorney general is citing laws against distributing child pornography in refusing to identify any of hundreds of Web sites his office has forced the nation's largest Internet providers to block under a unique state law, Associated Press via SiliconValley.com (April 3, 2003)
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Federal Appeals Court Clears Way for ACLU Lawsuit Over FBI Censorship of Internet Website
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The American Civil Liberties Union will move forward in its First Amendment lawsuit over censorship of a New Jersey artist Mike Zieper and his web host Mark Wieger's controversial website by federal law enforcement officials, now that a federal appeals court has rejected the government’s attempt to dismiss the case, American Civil Liberties Union (April 3, 2003)
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Censoring the Internet
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The Children's Internet Protection Act is the first federal law ever to impose free-speech restrictions on local libraries, and it does so in a constitutionally unacceptable way, New York Times (free registration) (March 10, 2003)
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New Online Smut Prohibition Bill Introduced
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In the wake of last week's decision by a Pennsylvania appeals court to bar enforcement of the controversial 1998 Child Online Protection Act (COPA), Rep. Lamar Smith (R.-Tex.) introduced legislation Monday designed to strengthen the laws against online child pornography, dc.internet.com (March 10, 2003)
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Smart-Mobbing the War
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You can find America's new antiwar movement in a bright yellow room four floors above the traffic of West 57th Street -- a room so small that its occupant burns himself on the heat pipe when he turns over in bed and can commute to his office without touching the floor, New York Times (free registration) (March 9, 2003)
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COPA Unconsitutional - A Futile Anti-Porn Crusade?
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The federal government's crusade to protect children from the Internet's seamier side took another hit yesterday, as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia knocked down yet another law aimed at online pornography, Washington Post (March 7, 2003)
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High Court to Hear Web Smut Case
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In the latest test of Congress' ability to control online content, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear arguments over whether libraries should be required to filter out porn on their Internet-connected computers, Reuters via CNET News (March 5, 2003)
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U.S. Supreme Court Considers Internet Blocking in Libraries
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The Online Policy Group (OPG) and software expert Seth Finkelstein today submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a lower court decision that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) places unconstitutional limitations on free speech of library patrons by requiring the use of technology protection measures in libraries receiving certain federal funding or discounts, Online Policy Group (February 10, 2003)
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Email Vetting Blocks MPs' Sex Debate
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A new email vetting system at the English House of Commons is stifling debate among MPs over serious parliamentary business such as the Sexual Offences Bill, BBC (February 4, 2003)
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Big Brother Knows When You've Got Mail
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Given the continuing assault on cyber freedoms by the Bush administration and Congress, activist Will Doherty warns there's only one way to ensure your online privacy: "If there's anything you're trying to keep private, you should avoid putting it online", Philadelphia Gay News (January 3, 2003)
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DMCA: Dow What It Wants to Do
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Responding to Digital Millennium Copyright Act charges over a Dow Chemical parody site, Verio plans to throw The Thing--an ISP which has provided Internet connectivity, technical support and Web design services to New York City artists and political activists for over a decade--offline next month, Wired News (December 31, 2002)
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Supreme Court Sets Schedule for CIPA Appeal
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Arguments on the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) will be held Wednesday, March 5, 2003, according to a schedule released December 18, by the U.S. Supreme Court, American Library Association (December 19, 2002)
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Pedal-Powered Internet, The
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The newest way to hook up the developing world: the pedal-powered Internet, New York Times (December 15, 2002)
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Internet Filters Block Health Information, Study Finds
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Teenagers who look to the Internet for health information as part of their "wired generation" birthright are blocked from many useful sites by antipornography filters that federal law requires in school and library computers, a new study has found, New York Times (December 10, 2002)
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See No Evil: How Internet Filters Affect the Search for Online Health Information
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With a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging mandatory filters in libraries, the Foundation conducted a comprehensive study that indicates Internet filters most frequently used by schools and libraries can effectively block pornography without significantly impeding access to online health information - but only if they aren’t set at their most restrictive levels, Kaiser Family Foundation (December 10, 2002)
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OPG ENEWS
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Online newsletter chock full of action alerts, project updates, online policy news, and how to volunteer, Online Policy Group (December 6, 2002)
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Beating Victim May Have Met Killer Online
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A year after Ottawa police warned gay men about assaults connected to a telephone dating line, an Ottawa man was found dead in his apartment on Wednesday after what friends believe was an encounter with a man he may have met online or over the phone, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network (December 6, 2002)
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An Inside Look at China Filters
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An article on Chinese filtering mentions that the Online Policy Group and the Electronic Frontier Foundation will publish a study later this month detailing how America's public schools are filtering websites on issues from firearms to slavery, kiddie porn to pogo sticks, Wired News (December 4, 2002)
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Bush Signs Child Net Safety Law
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President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed into law legislation to create a new kids-safe "dot-kids" domain on the Internet, Associated Press on CNN (December 4, 2002)
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The Wireless Commons
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We have formed the Wireless Commons because a global wireless network is within our grasp, Wireless Commons (December 2, 2002)
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What Would Dewey Do? Libraries Grapple With Internet
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Some users of the central Phoenix library are clicking away at sexually explicit material, creating one of the thorniest issues that libraries nationwide now face: balancing community standards against the First Amendment rights of patrons who use the computers to view X-rated material, New York Times (December 2, 2002)
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Paying the Price
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The effects of CIPA on high school student newspapers are not difficult to see, according to Will Doherty, media relations director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and executive director of the Online Policy Group, Student Press Law Center Report (December 1, 2002)
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Critics Say Government Deleted Web Site Material to Push Abstinence
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Information on condom use, the relation between abortion and breast cancer and ways to reduce sex among teenagers has been removed from government Web sites, prompting critics to accuse the Department of Health and Human Services of censoring medical information in order to promote a philosophy of sexual abstinence, New York Times (November 26, 2002)
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Pentagon Data Mining: Just Say 'No'
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Unless you have been living in a cave, you're aware of the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) program, the goal of which is to accumulate every bit of transactional online data worldwide and use data mining techniques to provide intelligence information, InfoWorld (November 22, 2002)
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Piqua's Library Has to Flesh Out Its Own Website
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Library Director James Oda earlier this month attempted to access the library's new website — www.fleshpublic.lib.oh.us — to show it off for the library staff, but unfortunately, the library computer denied him access, Dayton Daily News (November 22, 2002)
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Net Porn Filters Just Don't Work
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As well-intentioned as the filter-the-Net folks might be, the reality is that existing technology can't get the job done, San Francisco Chronicle (November 13, 2002)
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How the U.S. Can Stop Internet Censorship
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Firewalls and content filtering software are designed to screen Internet traffic that could be dangerous to your PC, but they can also be used to censor Internet content, CNET/ZDNet Reviews (November 13, 2002)
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Supreme Court to Hear Web Porn Case
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The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will decide if public libraries can be forced to install software that blocks sexually explicit Web sites, the latest in Congress' string of attempts to shield children from Internet pornography, Associated Press via ABC News.com (November 12, 2002)
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Europeans Outlaw Net Hate Speech
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The Council of Europe has adopted a measure that would criminalize Internet hate speech, including hyperlinks to pages that contain offensive content, Wired News (November 9, 2002)
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OPG ENEWS
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Online newsletter chock full of action alerts, project updates, online policy news, and how to volunteer, Online Policy Group (November 8, 2002)
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Australians to Pull Plug on Protest Websites
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Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison, acting on a request from NSW Police Minister Michael Costa, will look at upgrading federal powers to block certain "unacceptable websites advocating or facilitating violent protest action be accessible from Australia", The Courier-Mail (November 7, 2002)
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OPG ENEWS
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OPG has revived its online newsletter, chock full of action alerts, OPG project and organizational news, online policy news, and lots more, Online Policy Group (October 8, 2002)
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Fighting Net Censorship Abroad
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Washington lawmakers are considering legislation that would allocate $100 million to thwart Internet censorship by authoritarian regimes, Wired News (October 3, 2002)
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Special Olympics Joins California Colocation Project
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The California Community Colocation Project (CCCP) today announced a partnership with the Special Olympics of Northern California. CCCP, a project of the Online Policy Group, provides free hosting for computer servers from nonprofit organizations, such as the server running the Special Olympics' backend database, Online Policy Group (October 3, 2002)
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California Community Colocation Project Takes Off
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The California Community Colocation Project, or CCCP, was launched in February 2002 as the world's first formal non-profit to focus exclusively on the needs of the not-for-profit colocation community, Linux Journal (October 1, 2002)
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Groups: Teaching on AIDS Censored
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The Bush administration has pulled information about the effectiveness of condoms from a government Web site and is engaged in a "witch hunt" against those who promote condoms in the fight against AIDS, several groups charged yesterday, AP via Seattle Times (October 1, 2002)
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WorldCom Blocks Access to Child Porn
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Last week, a Pennsylvania judge, at the request of Attorney General Mike Fisher, ordered WorldCom, the bankrupt Internet and voice provider, to block access to five purported child pornography sites, CNET News.com (September 23, 2002)
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Hey Filters, Leave the Kids Alone
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A small group of activists gathered in front of Mission
High School on Wednesday to protest federally mandated Internet filtering in
public schools, Wired News (September 19, 2002)
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School Communities Give Internet Filtering Law Failing Grade
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School administrators, along with students,
teachers, parents, and school librarians, in San Francisco,
New York, and Boston speak out against
federal mandates for Internet blocking or filtering software
in public schools, Online Policy Group (September 18, 2002)
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