Politech mailing list archives
FC: COPA Commission spinning over Internet filtering
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 10:18:37 -0400
[Warren Publishing publishes Communications Daily, well read in DC. Also see: http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2642392,00.html --Declan]
********* From: "Samberg-Champion, Sasha" <schampion () warren-news com> To: "'declan () well com'" <declan () well com> Subject: COPA Commission spinning Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 09:50:35 -0400 Declan -- I'm generally no fan of Internet filtering requirements, but I'm tired of the spinning certain members of the COPA Commission have been doing this week. Every story I've seen has said the Commission is at odds with the Labor-HHS measure, when in fact the report takes no position on mandatory filtering and filtering proponents say it even helps their case. Of course it's the job of people like Alan Davidson to interpret the report that way, but do journalists have to lap it up uncritically? -- Sasha White House Seen Ready to Fight Filtering Requirements There still could be a fight over the filtering requirement for schools and libraries getting federal technology money that's embedded in the Labor-HHS spending bill (HR-4577), despite the contention by some advocates that inclusion was a done deal (WID Oct 16 p1). Proponents and foes alike are gearing up for what's expected to be a last-min. push from the White House to delete it, sources told us. Complicating matters, the release of the COPA Commission report on filtering technologies provided new opportunity for spin from both sides. "We fully expect at some point the White House behind the scenes, under the radar screen, to attempt to block this," said David Crane of the Senate Commerce Committee, which is chaired by filtering advocate Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.). "We've gotten word from budget negotiators that you better get ready, get supporting information. They're getting rumbles it's going to come." The White House at the behest of Vice President Gore has fought against past filtering measures, such as the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) and the Communications Decency Act. Gore pointedly didn't call for filters in a recent debate, whereas Tex. Gov. George Bush (R) did (WID Oct 19 p2). Industry and civil liberty groups have made a last-ditch effort to delete the proposal. There's no question that the White House opposes the item -- it said so in a statement of objections to the Labor-HHS bill -- but opponents noted that, as with other items in appropriations bills, the question would be how strongly the Administration felt about it compared with other issues such as education funding. A vote now is expected next week. Both sides claimed their position has been bolstered by the COPA Commission report. "They've established Internet filtering is an effective tool to protect children from exposure to inappropriate content," Crane said. "That flies in the face of one of the completely false claims that the ACLU makes, that Internet filtering and blocking software isn't accurate... That's a tired, 6-year-old claim." Center for Democracy & Technology counsel Alan Davidson emphasized instead that the Commission didn't recommend filtering mandates: "They came up with a pretty comprehensive set of recommendations. Mandatory filtering was not part of that set." In truth, the Commission neither advocated nor opposed mandatory filtering. Chmn. Don Telage of Network Solutions said the panel didn't have the time or resources to give an absolute answer on the issue, but rather chose to produce a "very technical" report on various options available for protecting children from inappropriate content. He lamented the spinning that's gone on this week by both sides and the reduction of a long, complicated report in news stories into a focus on the Labor-HHS bill, butsaid "I can't stop that." -- {{Sasha Samberg-Champion}}
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- FC: COPA Commission spinning over Internet filtering Declan McCullagh (Oct 20)