The Freedom of Information Act has given us the opportunity to go back in time 20 years and ascertain what really happened nationally and internationally concerning US policies. But hindsight isn't of much use 20 years later when events are no longer subject to change.

That is why we depend on information stemming from the internet, newsletters, alternative newspapers and magazines which allow us the opportunity to scrutinize our government's actions on a daily basis so their policies can't hide behind the mantle of time.

Clinton's administration would no doubt like to keep many things under wraps for at least 20 more years. However, daily reports emanating from sources other than the mainline media have made the Clinton's global and domestic agenda, as well as their personal problems, open to public discussion.

Because this "access information" has proved to be troublesome at least, this administration is trying various methods of eliminating the opposition.

The IRS has been used to disrupt or bankrupt conservative activists and their publications with arduous audits. Joe Farah is one of the latest targets of this practice. Other conservative think tanks have also received IRS audit letters while liberal organizations have not received similar requests.

Many have become informed via the conservative radio talk shows. This is a very necessary input for most listeners who are treated nightly to the "news" from Rather, Brokaw, and Jennings representing the three major networks.

Five major radio companies in the US are now gobbling up independent and smaller stations thus eliminating many of our conservative talk show hosts and the public's ability to net work through these programs. Local news will become less important and competition decrease as the focus will be on a broader spectrum. More programs on psychology, the need for diversity, and globalism will be employed to keep us happy by being uninformed.

William Kennard is the newly appointed head of the Federal Communications Commission.A graduate of Stanford and Yale Law School his close friends include Bill Clinton, Al Gore, civil-rights attorney Vernon Jordan, and Bob Johnson, Chairman of the Black Entertainment Television. He refers to himself as African American and before becoming FCC chairman questioned concentration of media holdings while championing greater minority ownership. Kennard also wondered whether he should rein in broadcaster's 1st Amendment rights. Although he now states that the marketplace is preferable to government enforced policy, due in part to his chosen mentors, conservatives remain unconvinced about his true intentions. Mr. Kennard will be putting his stamp on all areas of our media.

Next we come to the Internet, one of the newer means of communication which will definitely require the liberals censoring attention.

People are getting information from English papers that are not available in US publications and printing it on the net, among other places.

The best avenue to net censorship appears to proclaim that pornography on the Internet is poisoning the children, and that the government must protect us from ourselves. Big Brother wants to keep children safe by censoring the Internet content. In addition a 1995 amendment to the Telecommunications Reform Bill imposes a $100,000, fine or/two year jail term on anyone using a computer to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass anyone. (1) This is subject to whose interpretation?

In a Pasadena school district computers were used to access Internet pornography sites from the buildings where children study. School employees had home entry to district computers and had signed on to more than 100 pornographic sites. One could ask what was the need for the employees to have their computers signed on to the school net in the first place. Stories like this encouraged Congress to pass the Communications Decency Act which Clinton signed into law. The 3rd US District of Appeals declared this law unconstitutional, and that "the Internet deserves the highest protection from governmental intrusion."

This ruling is now being appealed to the Supreme Court. (2)

We are not an island!

Indeed, the Internet is global and so the problems and culture of one country spill over into another. Germany wants to know why the US is making such a fuss about government censorship of the Internet. The Germans are leading the crowd in the net censorship role. Due to complaints about porn from the Munich office, CompuServe temporarily blocked the access to 200 newsgroups. Nude beaches, hotel advertisements posted about " sexual rendezvous" and even a pornography museum in Germany are examples of the rather lax sexual laws. The reason for the large gap in cultural issues concerning the US and Germany arises from the divergent opinions on free speech.

Germany tolerates government intrusions because of their painful history, which still dominates their society, in many cases unjustly, even today. Germans expect their government to erect a purification system by censoring all the hate and violence on the Internet. While we consider free speech to be one of the basic rights in our society (although this freedom is diminishing daily) it has different connotations for the Germans. (3)

What were the first actions of the North Vietnamese and other armies when invading other countries? Conquerors head for the radio stations to shut them down, then turn them into propaganda mills. US forces terminated a station in Bosnia for broadcasting anti-UN messages.

Widespread protests in Belgrade last year prompted President Milosevic to close the radio station, which was broadcasting criticism of his regime. Radio broadcasts may have stopped; however, the opposition lived online through the Internet site, which was created on a computer in Holland. This same line to the outside world is functioning today for the Serbian democracy movement.

In order to stop this Internet Milosevic would have to cut all telephone communications and confiscate every computer in Bosnia and beyond.

The Internet has a vast reach, is decentralized in structure, represents human freedom, and its sole purpose is to put people in touch with each other without a middleman. It is important we try to maintain this function.

Shanghai is the most censored city in the world. China is proposing similar restrictions on Hong Kong communications, which previously enjoyed free speech under the British rule. The Mainland Chinese want to cut off most of Hong Kong's Internet feeds. The communist government is considering installing a national level filter. An army of censors would be needed to accomplish this project. (4) Perhaps this would provide employment for all those jobless Chinese.

Bringing the Internet problems back home again, the Clinton administration is pushing the Clipper III system in order to control the coding of computer signals. Supposedly for monitoring terrorist organizations, this system is being challenged in court with the Supreme Court being the final adjudicator.

Judge Petal stated that software "related to encryption is simply an expression of free speech." The US government is prosecuting Daniel Bernstein, mathematician, and encryption inventor for perfecting a program to which the government doesn't have access. All systems should be accessible to government officials according to the present administration.

A group called The Internet Society, an international organization based in Reston Virginia, is opposing a Thai Bill called the "Internet Promotion Act." This bill provides for the establishment of an "Internet Promotion Committee" to set guidelines for online "etiquette." "We see a danger that the law could lead to a government censorship committee," stated three top executives of The Internet Society. (5)

Aside from the meddling of the federal government, some states are making their own laws regarding the Internet. California is the leader in this process because the majority of tech companies are located here. The "most watched" piece of legislation is the California Internet Tax Freedom Act" by Congressman Cox. This measure would prohibit states from taxing the Internet until the federal government considers a national Internet tax policy.

Why should the Internet be considered a new source of income for the government?

Currently there are 40 pieces of legislation in congress pertaining to regulation of the Internet.

Sharing of the same goal, statism, by the Clinton administration and the liberal media accounts for the censuring and slanted reporting in the newspapers. The White House relies on "media fronts" to offer rebuttals on news breaking events unfavorable to the Clinton hierarchy. The burial waivers at Arlington National Cemetery are a good example of this. Five main points were put forth by the Clinton instructed media including the statement that the Larry Lawrence information questioning his right to burial in Arlington was not reliable because it came from "Clinton haters." Major newspapers bonded to the Clinton administration printed verbatim the five points given them. It all backfired when Lawrence's remains had to be removed from Arlington because he was not entitled to be buried there.

A left-wing consortium of newspapers, CNN, and Reuters News Service, are currently working on a method of controlling the Internet.

Using "Copyright" infringements as the excuse, a suit was filed against a small web site operator, named Roman Godzick. His site, TotalNews, attempted to make a profit by selling advertising around copyrighted material. No profit was made thus making the lawsuit unnecessary. Roman's suit was settled outside of court so the liberal's cause was thwarted.

This sent the consortium scurrying around to locate another Internet case to try. Jim Robinson and his small Free Republic web site became their next target.

Robinson, just as Godzick, does not make a profit. But the consortium by this time had enlarged their agenda by objecting to citizens reposting news articles in a net public forum. Legal precedent was on Robinson's side because he didn't profit from his web site.

In mid-December of 1997, Clinton signed a bill allowing criminal prosecution and imprisonment of copyright infringers who DON'T make any profit on their infringement. While this bill is supposed to target music and software, the legislation is broad enough to include newscopy. There is only one stipulation; the copyrighted material must represent a retail value of $1,000. Since more newspapers and magazines are charging for their articles, a computer could add up the retail value of material in Robinson's net site.

When the total reaches $1,000, Robinson could find himself in jail. NASA (the National Security Administration) has inserted a section in this bill exempting the federal government from having to abide by this act.

Even the Voice of America has fallen prey to censorship. Forbidden from broadcasting to American listeners, the VOA beams communist dissidents' messages to their home country. A former White House aide, Evelyn Lieberman, was put in charge of this organization. Things have changed.

Wei Jingsheng, a Chinese dissident was interviewed on a VOA program. Lieberman was told to pull his appearance and stop the scheduled airing on a TV network called Worldnet.

Media Bypass makes a profound observation. "We have come full circle with the White House attempting to stifle dissidents not only in the US but also in communist China. We are adherents to the New World order of International Statism where there is little tolerance for dissidents (6) (or for those who desire their 1st amendment rights).

February 15, 1998

References:
(1) McAlvany Advisor, May/June 1995.
(2) Los Angeles Times, 2/14/98.
(3) Orange County Register, 6/28/94.
(4) Orange County Register, John Seiler, 1/26/97.
(5) Los Angeles Times, 1/19/98.
(6) Media Bypass Magazine, 2/98.