There's only one thing that Linda Chavez likes less than pornography, and that's when she finds it on the Internet.
The conservative queen of syndicated outrage, who happens to be George W. Bush's pick to head the Department of Labor, has repeatedly warned of what she describes as the perils of sexually explicit material online and urged government action against it.
If the Senate gives her the nod, Chavez will not have any day-to-day responsibilities dealing with online speech. But her nomination signals the approach that a Bush presidency is likely to take toward sexually explicit material online.
One example: Chavez, currently a weekly columnist, jumped into a dispute in 1998 over the use of filtering software in a Virginia public library.
After a federal judge ruled that Loudoun County's restrictive filtering policy was too broad and violated the First Amendment, Chavez showed up at the library board's next hearing and urged the members to appeal the courtroom defeat.
"Judge Brinkema's decision goes far beyond any reasonable interpretation of the 'free speech' clause of the First Amendment and sets dangerous legal precedent that if left unchallenged will debase the political freedoms of citizens in a democracy to enact sensible policies designed both to protect children and uphold community standards of decency and decorum in public places," Chavez said in a written statement.
In a column at the time, she blasted U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema's ruling, saying Loudoun County will be where "the constitutional right to view child pornography, bestiality and snuff films in a public library was first established, thanks to a federal court ruling last week."
She also condemned a Supreme Court decision last year to strike down some rules governing cable TV scrambling on free speech grounds.
Another column complained about her "unwanted brush with gay pornography" when she was channel-surfing late one night in a Manhattan hotel room.
In other appointments:
The House Republicans on Friday chose committee chairmen for the 107th Congress.
Taking over the Commerce committee is Rep. Billy Tauzin, another Washington pornophobe.
"Frankly, I think the Justice Department's record on prosecuting obscenity and indecency on the Internet is appalling," Tauzin (R-Louisiana) said last May.
Tauzin, who was the telecom subcommittee chairman, has also complained that under the Clinton administration, dot-gov firms did not adequately protect online privacy. Last month he attacked the FCC for embarking "on a pernicious form of regulation using the process of licensing approval and renewal, or whatever gets someone in front of them, to get whoever it is to stay in that room until they agree to the commission's policies."
Tauzin has supported restrictions on Internet gambling and won an award from the Business Software Alliance last year for backing the controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Microsoft update: Microsoft tipped us off late Friday that two new lawyers will represent the Department of Justice and the state attorneys general in the next phase of the antitrust case.
Superstar attorney David Boies has bowed out of the proceedings, and taking his place are David Frederick and Jeffrey Minear. Both are members of the DOJ's solicitor general's office.
Frederick was born in 1961 and was admitted to the bar in 1989, after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin's law school. He appears to have been the same David Frederick of Austin who represented the Sierra Club in a dispute with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over the Endangered Species Act.
Minear was born in 1955 and attended the University of Michigan's law school, passing the bar in 1983. He has frequently represented the Clinton administration in court as assistant to the solicitor general in cases such as prisoner free speech rights.
Richard Urowsky from Sullivan and Cromwell, who has represented Microsoft intermittently before U.S. District Judge Thomas Jackson, will be arguing for the company before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Microsoft says he has appeared before the appeals court twice before in suits involving the DOJ.
TechNet CEO: Rick White, a former congressman from Washington state who was defeated in his 1998 reelection bid, has found a new job.
On Friday, TechNet said White, a Republican, will head the Silicon Valley political organization.
"Rick White has a long list of accomplishments when it comes to technology policy," John Doerr, a partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, said in a statement. "He was one of the first on Capitol Hill to understand the importance of the new economy. In Congress, he worked closely with Republicans and Democrats to support policies that minimize government regulation and foster innovation."
Could it be that White's latest gig -- he was counsel for startup firm Onename.com -- didn't look particularly promising after the dot-com downturn?
Reno on Internet piracy: Attorney General Janet Reno says that music piracy is theft and has links to organized crime.
In a short essay published in The Industry Standard last month, Reno complains that "criminal organizations appear to be using the proceeds of (intellectual property)-infringing products to facilitate a variety of enterprises, including guns, drugs, pornography and even terrorism. Invariably, when there is intellectual property crime, there is tax evasion and money laundering.
Her article was adapted from a recent White House report on international crime.
Fans of Napster and music-trading services don't seem to be impressed.
Some parody lyrics, modeled after the classic lines from the Rocky Horror Picture Show are already circulating: "The future is ours, so let's slam it, Janet. So please don't tell me to can it, Janet. Ban it, Janet, I want you to."
So here's a challenge to Wired News readers: Complete the song, and we'll feature your contribution in next week's Capitol Letters column.
