THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 9, 1996 TAG: 9602090449
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LON WAGNER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
All that this Norfolk-based Internet service wanted to do was give the online world a chance to spread some love - or sarcasm - to U.S. Sen. Jim Exon.
The Nebraska lawmaker authored the controversial provision in the telecommunications bill that bans indecency on the Internet.
But the 1,000 or so people who have sent electronic Valentine's Day cards to Exon via InfiNet have fallen victims to unrequited love.
This tale of love, protest, e-mail and frustration began Monday, when InfiNet started a ``Kiss Off Competition.'' A person could go to InfiNet's web site, pick out a card and send e-mail to his or her loved one telling them where the card could be found on the Internet.
But one feature had a twist. Many Internet loyalists think the Communications Decency Act that Exon attached to the telecommunications bill infringes on free speech on the Internet. So they responded.
InfiNet selected three classic nude artworks - Michelangelo's ``David'' was one - and allowed people to send them to Exon. The cards read: ``Dear Senator Exon, in honor of Valentine's Day, I thought I would send you an example of some of the nudity I found on the Internet.'' The person could then add his or her own message.
Later that day, the fun began. Exon doesn't have e-mail; nor does anyone in his Senate office. So InfiNet had to forward Exon's electronic mail to the Senate ``webmaster,'' the main e-mail address for the Senate.
Not long thereafter, the webmaster - there really is such a person - e-mailed Infinet and asked it to, well, knock it off.
``Poor guy, he's sitting there and he's probably up to 900 or 1,000 e-mails saying Sen. Exon's got these cards waiting to be picked up,'' said Gordon Borrell, vice president of InfiNet, a company owned in part by Landmark Communications, parent of The Virginian-Pilot.
Sympathy for the webmaster aside, Borrell said he didn't consider removing the Valentines. For one thing, they're gaining momentum on the Internet. The popular World Wide Web magazine, Web Review, has begun publicizing the cards.
Russ Rader, Exon's press secretary, said he had not seen the cards and categorized them as just one ``of many protests going on. There have been so many organized protests by people who misunderstand the senator's legislation.''
Exon's office suggested that InfiNet print out the messages and mail them to Exon in the traditional, U.S. Postal Service manner.
``I don't want to make a political statement,'' Borrell said, ``but he's not on the Net and he doesn't have an e-mail address. . . . How can he represent himself that way in the telecommunications bill?''
InfiNet offered to set up a free e-mail account for Exon, but still hasn't gotten a response. ILLUSTRATION: Photo of cards
InfiNet, a Norfolk-based Internet service, provided its users with
three classic nude artworks to send as Valentine's Day cards to Sen.
James Exon.
by CNB