• General Information About Electronic Frontiers Georgia
  • Introduction
  • Working to Protect Civil Liberties
  • Working to Protect the Interests of Netizens
  • Building the Community
  • Activities of EFGA
  • Legal Structure of EFGA
  • Credit to those who have made special contributions
• Membership in Electronic Frontiers Georgia
  • Why You Should Join EFGA
  • EFGA Membership Form
• Mail Lists and Other Information
  • EFGA Mail List Info
  • EFGA Meetings
  • For Members Only

The vast web of electronic media that connects us is heralding a new age of communications. New digital networks offer a tremendous potential to empower individuals in an ever-overpowering world. However, these communications networks are also the subject of significant debate concerning governance and jurisdiction.

For, while the free flow of information is generally a positive thing, serious problems arise when information flows free--problems such as how to protect children and undesiring adults from exposure to sexually explicit or potentially offensive materials; how to protect intellectual property rights; how to determine which country's laws have jurisdiction over a medium that is nowhere and everywhere at the same time; how best to protect privacy while still permitting recovery for harm; how to ensure that legislators, access providers, and network users do not stifle disagreeable speech. While well-established legal principles and cultural norms give structure and coherence to uses of conventional media, the new digital media do not fit so easily into existing frameworks.

Founded in June of 1995, Electronic Frontiers Georgia is dedicated to finding ways to resolve these and other conflicts while ensuring that essential civil liberties are protected.

Electronic Frontiers Georgia was founded in June of 1995 to ensure that the principles embodied in the Constitution and Bill of Rights are protected as new communications technologies emerge. To this end, the EFGA:

• Sponsors cases such as the HB1630. Cases, in which users' on-line civil liberties have been violated. Additionally, EFGA submits amicus briefs and finds pro bono counsel when possible for important legal cases. We continue to monitor the online community for legal actions that merit EFGA support.
• Works to ensure that communications carriers do not deny service to network users solely on the basis of the content of their messages and that carriers do not bear undue liability for harm stemming from the content of messages where that harm is actually caused by users.
• Produces legal white papers informing BBS operators, telephone companies, and public utility commissions about the civil liberties implications of their actions. We monitor legislation and agency actions affecting the online community. We also work with EFGA members and groups of members on state and local levels to affect change in local legislation.
• Speaks to law enforcement organizations, state attorney bar associations, conferences and summits, and university classes on the work that we do and how these groups can get involved.

EFGA works to make sure that common carriage principles are upheld in the information age. Common carriage principles require that network providers carry all speech, regardless of its controversial content. EFGA supports a new common carriage system in which system operators are shielded from liability for the actions of users, but without the regulatory burden presently associated with common carriage.

EFGA also works to convince lawmakers that all measures that support broader public access to information should be enacted into law. EFGA supports an Electronic Freedom of Information Act and other legislation to make government information more accessible to citizens.

EFGA supports both legal and technical means to enhance privacy in communications. We, therefore, advocate measures that ensure the public's right to use the most effective encryption technologies available, and have spoken before Georgia lawmakers as well as conducted online campaigns in support of these goals.

EFGA supports an Open Platform model of the global information infrastructure, providing nondiscriminatory access, based on open, private-sector standards, and free from burdensome regulation.

Finally, EFGA works to craft policies that enable public and private information providers to distribute and sell their information products over the Internet. We encourage the government to provide support for schools, universities, and research labs that buy Internet services on the open market. We work on policies that encourage the government to stimulate the development of experimental, precompetitive, network technologies and to fund the development of applications that are of use to "low-end" users, who are traditionally underserved by advanced digital media.

In order to foster community and openness, EFGA works with local organizations that support online communications issues. EFGA, in an advisory ally role, has helped other organizations.

EFGA, in conjunction with many other organizations, has formed and participates in a number of coalitions and summits to bring together thinkers from the nonprofit/NGO world, communications and computing industry leaders, government policy makers (when appropriate), and grassroots advocates in a nonpartisan setting to discuss communications policy goals and strategies and to form balanced solutions to problems. Such efforts to date have included the Digital Signature Working Group, Copyright Enforcement Summit, and our Industry Advisory Council.

EFGA publishes an electronic bulletin, EFGA-Online.

EFGA maintains several communications forums on the Internet. We have our own Internet node which houses our FTP, gopher, Listserv and WWW information servers.

Finally, EFGA answers Internet and civil liberties questions from the community via telephone, postal mail and e-mail whether they be technical ("How do I connect to the Internet?") or legal ("Does my boss have the right to read my e-mail?"). We have built up a strong reputation among "netizens" for being an excellent source of information about life in Cyberspace.

In 1996, we...

• Brought a lawsuit against the State of Georgia (HB1630) concerning anonymous use of the internet, web links, and free speech concerning commercial enterprises.
• Ensured that privacy protections for transactional information were discussed with the Senate Study Committee on electronic commerce issues. This year, we will fight to take government regulation out of cryptography issues.

Our agenda for the coming year includes...

• Along with the ACLU, actvist groups and industry leaders, supporting a court battle against the overbroad and vague communication decency provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996
• Sponsoring, and promoting the international Blue Ribbon Campaign against censorship
• Monitoring state proposed legislation that attempts to clone the federal CDA and would have the same chilling effect on use of the Internet as a tool for understanding and democracy
• Continuing to fight for the privacy of transactional data and medical records
• Monitoring proposed "Net taxes" in several states and local communities
• Analyzing potential threats and contributions to the Net in Georgia
• Studying the condition of digital intellectual property rights and convening various interested parties to examine how value is currently being, and can be, exchanged online. Part of this process may also include a test bed of digital cash and transaction schemes, with a particular focus on privacy and security issues.

Every day decisions are being made that will affect the future of communications:

• decisions about what sorts of technology you can use to protect the privacy of your communications;
• decisions about what services you will be able to get over the emerging national information infrastructure;
• decisions that are made before you even know that there are choices.

Electronic Frontiers Georgia works to ensure that the civil liberties guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are applied to new communications technologies. EFGA is a respected voice for the rights of users of online technologies. Become involved. Support EFGA and protect your future rights in the rapidly developing online community.

Electronic Frontiers Georgia is a non profit corporation organized pursuant to the provisions of the Georgia Non Profit Business Code.

The Corporation is a corporation not for profit and is organized for the purpose of general charitable, and civic betterment of the community focusing on educational involvement in the community and its betterment;

(a) To engage in the promotion of development of electronic communication networks and skills for the betterment of communities and such services related thereto;

(b) To engage in any lawful business or activity related thereto;

(c) To engage in any other lawful business or activity for which corporations may be organized under The Georgia Non Profit Business Corporation Code.

(d) The Corporation shall take no act inconsistent with the requirements of Section 501(c)(3) or similar section of the Internal Revenue Code as amended from time to time under which tax exempt status is granted provided exempt status is in effect at the time of any particular considered action.

The IRS has not yet granted 501(c)(3) status to Electronic Frontiers Georgia.

Electronic Frontiers Georgia
Suite A-205
4780 Ashford Dunwoody Road
Atlanta, GA 30338
Internet: efga@efga.org

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