As Meggle acknowledged, this PIN-pad based identification system could be also used as a way to identify users that send encrypted messages in private communications. Well before the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on the constitutionality of the CDA, David Sobel, EPIC's legal counsel, reminded the electronic community that the Court handed down a decisive decision two years ago. These records would be accessible to law enforcement agencies and prosecutors investigating alleged violations of the statute. Such a regime would constitute a gross violation of Americans' rights to access information privately and anonymously. Two years ago, the Supreme Court upheld the right to anonymous speech in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission.
Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority.
Whether the millions of individuals visiting sites on the Internet are seeking information on teenage pregnancy, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, classic works of literature or avant-garde poetry, they enjoy a Constitutional right to do so privately and anonymously. The Communications Decency Act seeks to destroy that right. If upheld, the CDA would render the Internet not only the most censored communications medium, but also the most heavily monitored. EPIC is confident that upon review of the legislation and its impact upon free speech and privacy rights in emerging electronic media, the Supreme Court will affirm the lower court decision invalidating the CDA as fundamentally at odds with the Constitution. The event will be cybercast live via RealAudio on the World Wide Web.