On Thu, 13 Jun 1996, Henry B. Crawford wrote:

> Yesterday a Federal Judge ruled against restricting freedom of speech on
> the internet.  Where does the process go from here, and are we still in
> danger of the feds "pulling our plug."  I assume Donna (Monkey Business)
> Rice and her group plans to appeal.  Personally, I can only advise that we
> not put our blue ribbons away yet.

     It wasn't *a* judge, it was a special three-judge appellate panel,
and the decision was unanimous and so resounding that it seems unlikely to
be overturned by the Big Nine. One excerpt:

     Judge Dolores K. Sloviter: "The First Amendment should not be
interpreted to require us to entrust the protection it affords to the
judgment of prosecutors. Prosecutors come and go. Even federal judges are
limited to life tenure. The First Amendment remains to give protection to
future generations as well."

     The complete text is available at http://www.cdt.org

     Hank Burchard * <[log in to unmask]> * Washington DC