CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY

Working for Civil Liberties on the Internet

Prospectus 1996-97

Overview

The Center for Democracy and Technology is a leading voice in the critical public policy debates affecting the future of the Internet and other new communications media. Based in Washington DC, CDT's mission is to develop and work for policies that advance civil liberties and democratic values for global communications networks.

CDT's public education and advocacy work is guided by a vision of the Internet as an open and decentralized communications medium in which anyone, anywhere around the world, can participate free of gatekeepers and government censors.

Today each Internet user has at his or her fingertips the equivalent of an electronic Gutenberg with global reach. CDT is developing policies, practices and tools that support the free flow of information, privacy and the democratic potential of the Internet.

In 1996 our major accomplishments included:

• Free Expression: CDT organized the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition--consisting of 47 library, industry, and public interest organizations -- to mount a successful constitutional legal challenge to the Communications Decency Act. CIEC "wired the courtroom" in Philadelphia to educate the court about the unique nature of the Internet.

• Online Privacy: CDT's Privacy Demonstration Web Page educated thousands of users about how personal information is gathered on the Web to make the case for privacy safeguards on the Internet. CDT worked to persuade policy makers, industry and public interest organizations to commit to develop standards and technical tools to facilitate fair information practices on the Internet.

• Encryption: CDT initiated a high visibility public education campaign on the need for and right of citizens to have strong encryption to protect their privacy on the Internet. The CDT-organized Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Forum at Stanford University enabled over 500 experts, industry executives and privacy advocates to meet with key members of Congress, impressing on legislators the need for effective "locks and keys" to make cyberspace secure for users.

• Electronic Surveillance: CDT's critique of FBI surveillance proposals led the FBI to scale back its wiretapping design requirements for advanced communications infrastructures as required under the Digital Telephony statute.

• Online Democracy: CDT developed new ways to give Internet users greater access to government and to participate in the democratic process. CDT produced the first live cybercast of a congressional hearing which featured realtime interaction between committee members and Internet users. CDT's interactive online petition enabled over 56,000 "netizens" to join the Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition lawsuit against the Communications Decency Act. CDT also worked to pass the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, guaranteeing citizens' access to computerized government records.

In 1997 CDT is working on an ambitious agenda, which includes:

• Free Expression: The Communications Decency Act, having been declared unconstitutional by a three-judge panel in Philadelphia, is now on appeal before the US Supreme Court. The CDT-organized Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition is working to persuade the Court to uphold the lower court decision.

• Educating policy makers and the public: Regardless of the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal, we expect the Internet censorship issue to be back before the US Congress in 1997. Thus, the educational and analytical activity of the Interactive Working Group will become critical again. The Interactive Working Group will bring interested parties together to evaluate legislative proposals and consider policy alternatives. CDT, working with the American Library Association, will also expand its efforts to persuade policymakers that user controls are a more effective way to protect children from objectionable content than government restrictions on free speech.

• Online Privacy: CDT and members of the Internet Privacy Working Group are developing a Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3) with the World Wide Web Consortium at MIT. Enabling web browsers to recognize a common fair information practices vocabulary, P3 will facilitate the ability of website operators and Internet users to negotiate over how personal information will be collected and used on the Internet.

• Encryption: In response to government efforts to guarantee law enforcement access to encrypted communications, CDT, in consultation with members of the Digital Privacy and Security Working Group, is conducting a study of the technical feasibility and legal and privacy issues posed by alternative key escrow and key recovery systems. CDT will conduct more public forums and expand its online efforts to educate the public about the need to reform encryption policy to promote privacy and commerce on the Global Information Infrastructure.

• Electronic Surveillance: Communications technologies are always outpacing legal standards for protecting privacy and security. Periodically, it is necessary to reexamine the legal framework for privacy protection. In the belief that it is time for such a review, and in response to Congressional requests for CDT's assistance, the DPSWG will be undertaking in 1997 a major study of communications privacy in the digital age.

• Online Democracy: CDT is expanding its efforts to put Congress on the Internet. CDT will "cybercast" more congressional hearings and events dealing with Internet policy issues this year as part of a project to explore ways to enhance citizen participation in the democratic process via the Internet. As the coordinator of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, CDT is working with the Caucus and advisory committee members to educate the Congress about the Internet and expand citizen access to Congress via the Internet.

• Internet Access: CDT is looking at regulatory issues that affect the cost and availability of access to the Internet. Working with the Media Access Project, the Benton Foundation, and The Voters Telecommunications Watch, CDT will conduct a series of educational forums to explore alternative industry cost, design, and bandwidth proposals. Our goal is to identify policies that ensure widely available, affordable digital access to the Internet.

• Global Outreach: In recognition of the need for global policies and practices that keep the Internet open, CDT is expanding its free expression and privacy work abroad. CDT is continuing to identify and establish working alliances with non-government organizations, human rights groups and commercial entities who share CDT's vision of the Internet.
  

The Center for Democracy and Technology is widely recognized for its unique approach to Internet issues. CDT seeks practical solutions to problems and dedicates itself to convening and building consensus among interested parties, across the political, ideological, and communications industry spectrum. We manage working groups in each issue area that bring together representatives of the private and public sector, including industry and public interest groups. These working groups, backed by CDT staff expertise in relevant law and technology, meet regularly, share information and conduct public education and outreach campaigns, with the shared goal of supporting the free flow of information and commerce on the Internet and other interactive communications media.

CDT is a non-profit 501(c)(3) public interest organization. CDT is supported by foundations and a broad cross section of over forty computer and communications firms and associations. Funders support and participate in specific working group activities.

CDT Working Groups

• Interactive Working Group -- Free Expression
• Digital Privacy and Security Working Group -- Communications Privacy
• Internet Privacy Working Group -- Internet User Privacy
  

CDT Board of Directors

• Jerry Berman, Chair
• Toni Carbo
• Hon. Don Edwards
• Sen. Carol A. Fukunaga
• Morton H. Halperin
• Michael E. Trister
• Tracy Westen
  

CDT Advisory Committee

Leslie Harris, Co-Chair, John Podesta, Co-Chair

Hal Abelson, David D. Boaz, David J. Farber, John Frohnmayer, Oscar H. Gandy, Jr., Jock Gill, Allen S. Hammond, Lance J. Hoffman, David R. Johnson, George A. Keyworth II, Gene Kimmelman, Larry Kirkman, Albert H. Kramer, Kate Martin, Jerry Michalski, Elliot M. Mincberg, Anthony Rutkowski, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Albert Vezza, Alan F. Westin

CDT Staff

• Jerry Berman, Executive Director
• Daniel J. Weitzner, Deputy Director
• James X. Dempsey, Senior Staff Counsel
• Deirdre Mulligan, Staff Counsel
• Alan Davidson, Staff Counsel
• Jonah Seiger, Communications Director
• Bob Palacios, Online Organizer/Sysop
• Danielle Kolb, Office Administrator
• Virginia Green, Receptionist

Center Fellowships

• Janlori Goldman, Policy Fellow

1996 CDT Supporters

America Online, Inc.	Lotus Development Corporation
American Association of Advertising Agencies, Inc.	MCA/Universal
American Express	MCI Communications Corporation
Apple Computer, Inc.	Microsoft Corporation
Association of National Advertisers	Nathan Cummings Foundation
AT&T	National Cable Television Association
AT&T Wireless Services, Inc.	Netcom On-Line Communication Services, Inc.
Bell Atlantic	Netscape Communications Corporation
Business Software Alliance	Newspaper Association of America
Cellular Telecommunication Industry Association	Pacific Telesis Group
Citicorp Credit Services	Prodigy, Inc.
CompuServe, Inc.	Software Publishers Association
Deer Creek Foundation	Open Society Institute/Soros Foundation
Direct Marketing Association, Inc.	Spyglass, Inc.
Dun & Bradstreet	Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Electronic Messaging Association	Targetbase Marketing
Glen Eagles Foundation	Time Warner, Inc.
Hartford Foundation	TRW Information Services
IBM International Foundation	U.S. Telephone Association
Interactive Digital Software Association	US West, Inc.
Information Technology Association of America