@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996
Sender: •••@••.••• (Sandra Bernstein)
Subject: EFC: Freedom to Read in Cyberspace
Please forward freely.
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER CANADA (EFC) --- PRESS RELEASE
(For immediate release --- February 27, 1996)
``Freedom to Read'' in Cyberspace
A few members of Electronic Frontier Canada have developed an amusing and
interactive Web page to celebrate `Freedom to Read Week'.
The Internet, some people say, is out of control and in need of strict
government regulation. But just what might a censored Internet look like?
One possible answer to that question is given by the ``Black Thursday
Machine'', an interactive Web page that was the brainchild of three
multimedia designers: Brian Hall, Andrew Chak, and Rob Stanley. Stanley is
also a member of the online civil-liberties organization Electronic
Frontier Canada.
http://www.vex.net/~brian/Censored
http://www.hyperactive.net/censored
The ``Black Thursday Machine'' invites Internet surfers who visit the site
to type in the address of their favourite Web page, to see what it might
look like if a Canadian version of the new and controversial American
``Communications Decency Act'' were put into effect.
The ``Black Thursday Machine'' will fetch any page you request, but it
presents you with a censored version. The algorithm it uses is simple and
unsophisticated -- but these are the same kinds of rules recently used by
America Online and CompuServe when they blocked access to discussions
including the words `gay', `sex', or `breasts'.
``Any naughty word is replaced by the word `CENSORED' in bright red,'' says Rob
Stanley, who was the chief programmer. Which words are on the forbidden
list? ``It works just like government censorship,'' says Stanley, ``you
don't get to choose. It's an arbitrary process.''
~--<snip>--~
* Why `Black Thursday' ?
New and harsh restrictions on what can be communicated through American computer
networks were signed into law on Thursday, February 8th, 1996 -- `Black
Thursday'. ``This sent a shock wave through the Internet, where concerned
individuals around the world `Painted the Web Black' for 48 hours as a sign
of protest,'' says David Jones, EFC president.
* About `Freedom to Read Week' in Canada (February 26 to March 3)
``The purpose of `Freedom to Read Week','' says Sandra Bernstein, ``is to
encourage Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual
freedom, as guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.'' Sandra
Bernstein, also a member of Electronic Frontier Canada, represents the
Periodical Writers Association of Canada on the Book and Periodical
Council's Freedom of Expression Committee, which sponsors `Freedom to Read
Week' each year.
Bernstein also maintains an online `Chronicle' which documents challenges to
Freedom of Expression in Canada: http://www.efc.ca/pages/chronicle
_________________________________________________________
EFC Contact Information:
Electronic Frontier Canada
Dr. David Jones, •••@••.•••
phone: (905) 525-9140 x24689, fax: (905) 546-9995
Dr. Jeffrey Shallit, •••@••.•••
phone: (519) 888-4804, fax: (519) 885-1208
Dr. Richard Rosenberg, •••@••.•••
phone: (604) 822-4142, fax: (604) 822-5485
Electronic Frontier Canada's, online archives:
URL: http://www.efc.ca
Other Contact Information:
Multimedia designers who dreamed up the "Black Thursday Machine":
-- programming, engine development.
Rob Stanley, phone: (416) 928-9503 (home), (416) 960-8400 (work)
email: •••@••.•••
-- graphical look, interface, design, and copy
Andrew Chak, phone: (416) 469-4154 (home), (416) 448-2403 (work)
email: •••@••.••• fax: (416) 469-0914
-- concept development, design
Brian Hall, phone: (416) 504-0908 (home), (416) 351-1040 (work)
email: •••@••.•••, pager: (416) 337-3377
These fellows also dreamed up the award-winning "Canadianizer"
at the following URL: http://www.io.org/~themaxx/canada/can.html
- - - - -
Additional sponsors of the `Black Thursday Machine':
HyperActive NetMedia
http://www.hyperactive.net
Vex.Net
http://www.vex.net
Passport Online
http://www.passport.ca
- - - - -
Further Contact Information for `Freedom to Read Week' in general
Freedom to Read Week -- Web page URL: http://www.cycor.ca/pwac/freeweek.htm
Freedom to Read Week -- Publicist, Sarah Thring
phone: (416) 480-2533, fax: (416) 480-2434.
Sandra Bernstein, phone: (416) 465-0798
email: •••@••.•••, URL: http://www.inforamp.net/~sandrab/home.htm
Book and Periodical Council, 35 Spadina Road Toronto, ON Canada M5R 2S9
email: •••@••.•••
phone: (416) 975 9366, fax: (416) 975 1839
*********************************************************
Sandra Bernstein
•••@••.•••
http://www.inforamp.net/~sandrab/home.htm
*********************************************************
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
Posted by Richard K. Moore - •••@••.••• - Wexford, Ireland
Cyber-Rights: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/
ftp://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/library/
CyberJournal: (WWW or FTP) --> ftp://ftp.iol.ie/users/rkmoore/cyberlib
Materials may be reposted in their _entirety_ for non-commercial use.
~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
