Minor Threat's letter to the media

DATE: July 9, 1997
FROM: Chris Lamprecht (mthreat@paranoia.com)
  TO: All interested journalists	 
SUBJ: Lamprecht challenges Internet ban on First Amendment grounds

Dear Journalist:

      On May 5, 1995, I was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison. The
judge ordered that upon my release I shall not use the "Internet or any
other computer network." I became the first person to be banned from the
Internet. Additionally, the judge prohibited me from getting a job as a
computer programmer (my hobby since age 9, and my career throughout high
school and college). If I violate these conditions I could be sent back 
to prison.

      Although hacking was a "hobby" of mine for several years, I have 
never had a criminal charge for hacking, and my current crime has nothing 
to do with computer programming or the Internet. I admit that I have 
committed undisputed crimes involving theft and sale of telephone equipment
(stolen from Southwestern Bell Telephone). And for this I will spend five
years in prison as punishment. But banning me from the Internet and from
programming computers when I am released from prison is unjust and will
not help foster my rehabilitation into society.

      So on April 22, 1997, I filed a Federal habeas corpus petition
challenging my Internet ban on First Amendment (and other) grounds. I
claimed that banning me from the Internet is a Free Speech violation in
light of recent cases dealing with the Communications Decency Act (CDA),
ACLU v. Reno, currently in the Supreme Court. The government has been 
ordered to respond to my petition by July 11, 1997. If I do not win in
the district court, I will appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals and, if 
necessary, to the United States Supreme Court.

      I am writing this letter for this reason: Attorney George Lasko
recently contacted me, and will be helping me fight my computer restrictions 
pro bono. However, we want to publicize what the government is doing 
with this absurd "Internet ban" restriction as a Free Speech violation.

     While I may be the first person banned from the 'Net, I won't be
the last. Recently, I learned through the Freedom of Information Act that
the U.S. Department of Justice and the Parole Commission plan to add 
restrictions to ban parolees from the Internet and to prohibit parolees
from using or possessing encryption software (like PGP, or even PKZIP, 
since it has an option to encrypt).

      My story has been covered in magazines such as Texas Monthly (January
1996), Internet Underground (December 1996), SWING (March 1997), and on
three television shows: TV.COM (CBS), Extra (ABC), and the KVUE-24 local
Austin news. But the media attention so far hasn't been focused on the
legal implications of an Internet ban on one's right to Free Speech on any
medium, including the Internet.

      If you are interested in helping, or want more information, please 
visit www.paranoia.com/~mthreat/ on the Web. To contact me in prison, mail
me at this address:

	      Christopher Lamprecht
	      #61153-080
	      Houston Unit
	      PO Box 1010
	      Bastrop, TX 78602-1010

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Chris Lamprecht
a.k.a. Minor Threat