Canada Update #1

Except for the addition of this comment and changes to the layout and navigation links, the content of this page was last updated on 22 May 1997 at 8:30am.

[posted on behalf of an anonymous Canadian]
UPDATE #1 -- UPDATE #1 -- UPDATE #1 -- UPDATE #1 -- UPDATE #1

THOSE INTERESTED IN PROTECTING ANONYMOUS POLITICAL DISCOURSE ON THE INTERNET ARE STARTING TO TURN THE WEB GREEN BY MIRRORING WEB PAGE BANNED IN CANADA

21 MAY 1997

PLEASE REDISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT WIDELY WITH THIS BANNER INTACT REDISTRIBUTE ONLY IN APPROPRIATE PLACES & ONLY UNTIL 2 JUNE 1997

IN THIS UPDATE

Update

 Since an Action Alert was issued two days ago an increasing number of people have started to turn the Web Green by creating mirror sites of a web page banned by the Canadian government. Those involved include some brave Canadians. The latest details on the progress of this this campaign are available at:

Background

 The Canadian government is enforcing a law that prohibits "political advertisements", including web pages, if they fail to identify the author or sponsor. (A political advertisement is defined in law to include anything that directly endorses or criticizes a particular candidate or political party.) The government is serious about this and has threatened to charge an individual. Rather than go to jail, this person took his web page offline. What is left of their page is at: Electronic Frontier Canada will be taking this fight to court and the issue will surely reach the Supreme Court of Canada, but it will take several months before anything significant happens. Details available at: In the mean time, there is a sense of urgency and a need to do something right away. There is an immediate need to promote debate among the general Canadian public about the merits of anonymous telecommunication and the infeasibility of Net censorship. The best way to get this discussion rolling is to create mirror sites of the controversial web page (the more the better) so that Canadians will start asking themselves, "Why do so many people think this is an important issue?"

It is important for you to recognize that this web page is not libellous, is not mean-spirited, is not pornography, is not hate propaganda. The sole reason it is ILLEGAL in Canada is because it is anonymous.

Argument for Anonymous Political Discourse

 Anonymous political speech is important so that opinions can be expressed without fear of reprisal from neighbours, employers, customers, clients, relatives, even the government.

What You Can Do
  1. Create a "mirror site" by copying the web page now available at:
  2. Notify ELECTRONIC FRONTIER CANADA (efc@efc.ca) of your mirror site and include the following information:
    1. URL of your mirror site
    2. Geographic Location of the mirror site computer: (City, Country)
    3. Name of the person responsible for creating mirror site:
    4. Email address:
    5. Postal Mail Address:
    6. Daytime Phone:
    7. Fax:
  3. If you are up for more (or have already created a mirror site) ask a friend or colegue to create a mirror. A sample letter is available at:
  4. Forward this update to appropriate newsgroups and mailing lists.
It is particularly important that we maximize the number of mirror sites and the number of distinct countries in which mirror sites are created.

-- This update posted on behalf of an anonymous Canadian --
This Update is also available at:
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