|
In our 558th issue:
Technology that acts behind your back to betray your privacy is not a science fiction vision of the future. Digital cameras are embedding metadata into photos, printers are incorporating a secret code into every page they print, and Apple's creepy patent could be used to record your voice, take a picture of your location, or even record your heart beat. Traitorware secretly spies on you and gives your personal data away to a third party.
Adult publisher Perfect 10 is trying to squelch fair use of copyrighted materials by Chilling Effects -- and EFF is fighting back. The online intellectual property resource Chilling Effects gathers and analyzes legal notices alleging online copyright infringement -- a vital resource for public education and study. But adult publisher Perfect 10 alleges that Google is infringing on copyright by sharing its notices. EFF joined other founders and participants in the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse in filing an amicus brief to urge the court to reject this attempt to block Google's contribution to the site.
Wikileaks isn't the only site struggling because service providers are pulling their support. It appears that at least one person who wants to provide mirror access to Wikileaks documents is having the same trouble. EFF was contacted by a user who mirrored Cablegate documents on his website -- only to have his hosting provider, SiteGround, suspend his account. SiteGround explained the decision by claiming they were worried about potential DDOS attacks. That's right: they cut off his service for a hypothetical future event.
EFF Updates
Case Closed? Court Issues Final Judgment in NSA Spying Case, Al-Haramain v. Obama
The court has granted plaintiffs a $2.5 million award in a long-contested case regarding NSA's warrantless wiretapping of an Islamic charity's lawyers.
Lawmakers Must Respect Freedom of Expression in Wikileaks Debate
A broad coalition of advocacy organizations sent an open letter to U.S. lawmakers calling on them to respect freedom of expression in the debate over the whistle-blower website Wikileaks.
Sending Money Overseas? The Government Wants to Know.
The rules proposed by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network would require banks and money transmitters to report to the government any cross-border electronic funds transfer.
Genachowski Wins on Net Neutrality, Sort of
After a down-to-the-wire push, the Federal Communications Commission approved its long-awaited regulatory proposal on net neutrality -- and, despite good intentions, we may up with a lose/lose situation.
EFF Announces Intellectual Property Legal Team
We are proud to announce our new lineup for focusing on intellectual property issues: Director Corynne McSherry, Attorney Abigail Philips, and Attorney Julie Samuels, with Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl continuing his dual role on the civil liberties and intellectual property teams.
Help EFF Defend Against Righthaven Trolls
Attorneys! Join EFF in our fight against copyright troll Righthaven, which has brought over 190 cases against bloggers, online journalists, and others this year.
New EFF Member Cards
EFF is introducing new annual membership levels and benefits -- so there's never been a better time to show your commitment to online civil liberties.
2010 Year In Review
Last January, EFF staff made a dozen predictions about what the coming year would bring for law, technology, free speech, privacy, and intellectual property. At the close of 2010, our staff revisited each of these predictions and analyzed how close our prognostications were to what really occurred over the course of the year. In some cases we were right -- and in other cases, there was just no way to predict what happened in 2010. Check out the 12 trends we identified:
1. Attacks on Cryptography
Our predictions on this front were solid -- technology researchers in 2010 showed the many ways that encrypted communications aren't as safe as users expect.
2. Books and Newspapers
Copyright troll Righthaven lurched down the RIAA's dark
path by launching hundreds of lawsuits against individual
bloggers, while iPad entered into the fray of digital
books.
3. Global Internet Censorship
Big media corporations are pushing the government to adopt
website blacklists, and the backlash to Wikileaks show how
informal government pressure can shut down free speech.
4. Hardware Hacking
Jailbreaking has become more mainstream and the court found that violations of license agreements do not always amount to copyright infringement -- so a good year for hardware hacking indeed!
5. Location Privacy
EFF brought home two major court victories that strengthened your rights against location tracking by the government.
6. Net Neutrality
The FCC approved a final set of regulations concerning net
neutrality -- which may have some worrisome loopholes and
exemptions.
7. Online Video
Consumer interests are overshadowed by the goals of media corporations that want to perpetuate DRM both online and off.
8. Congress
It's no surprise that civil liberties faced a tough year on the Hill, but the COICA Internet censorship bill is bad legislation we couldn't have predicted.
9. Social Networking Privacy
It was a watershed year for social networking privacy -- with Facebook igniting controversy with the Instant Personalization and Connections features, and EFF responding with our Social Network Users' Bill of Rights.
10. Three Strikes
IP rightsholders and global policy-makers have realized that Three Strikes automatic disconnection laws and policies are a short-term measure, and are now focusing their efforts on Internet intermediary obligations to block webpages.
11. Fair Use of Trademarks
Activists, parodists, and online content creators continue to fight for their rights to fair use against improper trademark threats.
12. Web Browser Privacy
Advances in hard-to-delete supercookies and browser fingerprinting leave consumers with few ways to easily protect their privacy online.
Dream Job Alerts!
Criminal Defense Staff Attorney
EFF is seeking a senior staff attorney with a focus on criminal law matters to join our legal team.
Responsibilities will include litigation, public speaking, media outreach, and legislative and regulatory advocacy all in connection with civil liberties and our Coders Rights Project.
For the full announcement and information on how to apply:
https://www.eff.org/about/opportunities/criminal-defense-staff-attorney
Administrivia
ISSN 1062-9424
EFFector is a publication of
the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
454
Shotwell Street
San Francisco, CA
94110-1914
USA
+1 415 436 9333
+1 415 436 9993 (fax)
eff.org
Editor:
Rainey Reitman, Activist
rainey@eff.org
Membership & donation queries: membership@eff.org
General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries: information@eff.org
Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent
the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles
individually, please contact the authors for their
express permission.
Press releases and EFF announcements & articles may be
reproduced individually at will.
Back issues of EFFector
Change your email address
This newsletter is printed from 100% recycled electrons.
EFF appreciates your support and respects your privacy. Privacy Policy.
Unsubscribe or change your subscription
preferences |
