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Groups decry Congress' new e-mail filters

Jun 20 ,Technology


More than 100 advocacy groups of all political stripes called on Congress Tuesday to shut down a new e-mail screening mechanism.

The organizations complained in a letter that the "logic puzzle" system prevents citizens from e-mailing their individual congressmen and raises freedom-of-speech issues.

"This tool would block millions of constituent messages from people who expect you ... to listen to them," said the letter, which was sent to members and signed by groups ranging from the ACLU and AFL-CIO to the American Lung Association and the Consumer Federation of America.

The logic puzzle program requires a constituent to answer a random question before their digital missive will be delivered to their representative's mailbox. The advocacy groups contend that effectively blocks messages that originated with e-mail programs provided by a particular advocacy group.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

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