cyberspace advocacy groups

By the mid-1990s a number of issues were arising as the Internet and Web became an increasingly important fac-tor in commerce and society (see censorship and the

Internet, intellectual property and computing, and privacy in the digital age). Often in response to pro-posed or enacted federal legislation, a number of advocates have organized groups to keep track of developments that they believe threaten the free exchange of information and expression, as well as opposing government surveillance and corporate practices believed to intrude on privacy.

Although there are dozens of groups advocating for the rights of Internet users, three groups have been particularly prominent and effective.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was founded in 1990 by Mitch Kapor, John Gilmore, and John Perry Bar-low. Its immediate motivation was the federal search and seizure of computers belonging to Steve Jackson Games as part of an investigation into illegal distribution of pro-prietary documents. Although the game company was not involved in any crime, the seizure of its equipment and information threatened to put it out of business. Ultimately, Jackson prevailed in federal court, establishing that uncon-ventional means of expression such as games were entitled to First Amendment protection. In another high-profile case, computer scientist Daniel Bernstein sued and won the right to publish encryption software and related papers, again extending First Amendment protections in the digital world.

The EFF has also been involved in the dispute between users of file-sharing services and the Recording Industry Institute of America (RIAA) over subpoenas of service pro-viders seeking alleged illegal downloaders.

Most recently, the EFF has expanded its efforts further with regard to issues of government surveillance and the prosecution of computer crimes, such as collection and use of evidence.

Center for Democracy and Technology

Founded in 1994, the Center for Democracy and Technol-ogy (CDT) somewhat overlaps the EFF in interests, but has a greater emphasis on the connections between online activities and the political process. The organization’s first major battle involved the Computer Decency Act. While intended by its proponents to ban obscenity and particu-larly child pornography from the Internet, cyberspace-rights advocates saw the law as vague, poorly written, and likely to deny access to material that is constitutionally protected for adults—an argument that the Supreme Court ultimately accepted in ACLU v. Reno (1997).

More recently, the CDT has supported the free-speech rights of bloggers (see blogs and blogging), arguing that they should be accorded journalistic rights (see also journalism and computers). Besides issue advocacy, the organization’s overall focus is on developing public policy that recognizes the unique features of cyberspace and pro-motes freedom of expression, protection of privacy, and widespread access to the Net (see also Internet access policy).

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Also founded in 1994, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is a Washington, D.C.–based public inter-est research center devoted to privacy and civil liberties issues. The group’s electronic newsletter EPIC Alert pro-vides a useful summary of ongoing developments, cases, and issues. The organization also publishes regularly updated compendiums on developments in open govern-ment/freedom of information, privacy and human rights, and privacy law. (For online activists involved in general political issues and campaigns, see political activism and the Internet.)