Pubdate: Sun, 07 May 2000 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2000 San Jose Mercury News Contact: 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190 Fax: (408) 271-3792 Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Author: Jake Halpern Note: Jake Halpern wrote this article for the New Republic (www.thenewrepublic.com). Note: Hatch-Feinstein Meth Bill discussed in second half of article HIT-AND-MISS CRACKDOWN ON WEAPONS BOOKS Ban on bomb information is lopsided, shaky WANT TO BUILD a pipe bomb? Assemble a land mine? Construct a flamethrower? Go to the Internet -- where booksellers offer dozens of anti-social how-to manuals. You can probably get the books within 24 hours and be blowing things up the next day. Worrisome? Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Orrin Hatch thought so, and so last year they pushed through the Senate a bill that bans the publication or dissemination of information on bomb-making. Web site operators, newspapers, publishing houses or booksellers that violated the ban would face up to 10 years in prison. Internet sellers react The impact of the ban was immediate -- especially online. As soon as President Clinton signed Feinstein and Hatch's bill into law in August, Paladin Press, a publisher and bookseller that promotes itself as ``home of the action library,'' removed 75 books on explosives and extreme weapons -- with titles like ``How to Destroy Bridges'' and ``Breath of the Dragon: Homebuilt Flamethrowers'' -- from its online store. Loompanics, another niche publisher and bookseller, also took explosives-related books off its Web site. ``This is a powerful set of amendments, which I am convinced can do a great deal to reduce criminal violence in America,'' Feinstein said. Don't be so sure. Log on to the Web right now and you can find another online vendor that sells almost all the titles Paladin and Loompanics no longer do. What's more, unlike those two companies, which operate relatively bare-bones sites, this bookseller includes helpful reviews from previous customers. ``Breath of the Dragon'' draws this rave: ``I just bought this book two months ago and built a flamethrower, boy it is one hell of a hobby weapon.'' Another reader gushes about ``Chemistry of Powder and Explosives'': ``I read this book and realized I could become an expert bomber.'' Why isn't this online bookseller also running for cover? Because the seller in question is Amazon.com, and it, along with other big-time booksellers, is virtually immune from the new law. All of which makes Feinstein and Hatch's legislation something of a sham. Good intentions The problem is that in trying to ensure that their legislation wasn't so broad as to be unconstitutional, Feinstein and Hatch applied it only to sellers who ``intend'' the bomb-making information to be used to commit crimes. Booksellers like Amazon (not to mention Barnes & Noble and Borders) sell every kind of book imaginable, from ``Curious George'' to ``Mein Kampf'' -- so they can plausibly argue that they intend only to amass profits and satisfy customers. Paladin and Loompanics, on the other hand, publish carefully selected collections aimed at highly specific niche markets; both companies have mission statements that stress, among other things, self-defense, military preparedness and survivalism. Proving their ``intent'' isn't hard -- as a federal court demonstrated three years ago, when it ruled that the family of a man killed by someone who had read the Paladin title ``Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors'' could sue the company. But, in trying to separate wholesome, mainstream booksellers from fringe outfits, Feinstein and Hatch have not only created a loophole big enough to fit a flamethrower through, they've also subverted their efforts at constitutionality. Without the ``intent'' clause, the bill is unconstitutionally broad. But with it, the bill discriminates against some sellers, which probably also makes it unconstitutional. ``The problem with judging intent is that it can create favoritism and selective censorship,'' said Professor Laurence Tribe of the Harvard Law School. From bombs to drugs Given these problems, you'd think the Feinstein-Hatch duo might call its efforts to a halt. Quite the opposite: Using their bomb-making law as a model, the two recently wrote another piece of legislation -- this one about making drugs. As part of a larger bill that targeted methamphetamine manufacturers, Feinstein and Hatch inserted a measure to ban the publication and dissemination of all information on illegal drug-making. In November, the bill sailed through the Senate. It is now before the House. Like their bomb-making legislation, Feinstein and Hatch's drug bill relies on ``intent.'' And once again, not surprising, niche publishers and booksellers are scared. Michael Hoy, the president of Loompanics, has already vowed to remove from the company's Web site his entire stock of drug-making books, which includes titles such as ``Indoor Marijuana Horticulture'' and ``Opium for the Masses,'' if the bill becomes law. ``I don't want to go to prison for 10 years,'' he said. The famously pro-marijuana magazine High Times, which in recent years has operated a lucrative online bookstore, is currently consulting its lawyers. ``Our entire Web site may have to come down,'' says multimedia director John Holmstrom. (Even the magazine itself might be imperiled if the bill becomes law.) Meanwhile, across the Web at Amazon.com, all but two of Loompanics' drug books are offered. You can still buy the company's classics such as ``Hydroponic Heroin,'' which is paired with a glowing reader review: ``Learn how to easily make your own heroin. . . . I made a batch of opium seed tea the first night I read the book! I wigged hard! Thanx.'' Other Loompanics titles such as ``Opium for the Masses'' have equally appreciative reviews: ``After 30 minutes of reading this book, I was so excited about opium I could barely contain myself!'' Amazon actually boasts a prodigious collection of books about drugs, with 332 titles on marijuana alone, yet it has no plans to take any of these off its virtual shelves. ``We sell the whole range of books,'' explains Amazon representative Patty Smith, ``and I can't see how this law would impact our practices.'' That's the problem. - --- MAP posted-by: Greg