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In our 563rd issue:
Documents received in response to EFF's FOIA requests detail the FBI's fully-formed and well-coordinated plan to expand existing surveillance laws and develop new ones. Since 2006, the FBI program has been lobbying the White House and Congress for additional funding and legal authority. The recently-received documents provide rare insight into the agency’s multi-year strategy to increase its power to surveil our communications.
The EFF joined the ACLU and others last week in trying to block government attempts to obtain Twitter account records about three individuals in connection to its Wikileaks investigation. We also asked the judge to reveal whether any other companies had received similar orders from the government. The judge did not issue an order from the bench Tuesday, but will release a written order soon.
Two hearings - one in court and one in Congress - highlight
the brewing debate over whether Congress should expand
federal surveillance laws to force Internet communications
service providers like Facebook, Google and Skype to build
technical backdoors into their systems to enable government
wiretapping. Law enforcement representatives appeared
before the House Judiciary Committee to argue for expanded
Internet wiretapping capabilities, while in California EFF
Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch argued in court for an end to
the government’s stalling on the release of documents about
the government's Internet surveillance plan.
EFF Updates
What's Better than an "Internet Kill Switch"? Regular Security Updates
The government is deliberating about how to approach the
"cyber" security problem -- but the government needs
common-sense security practices, not sweeping authority
over the Internet.
Trial of Independent Media Pioneer Chiranuch Premchaiporn
Begins in Thailand
Free expression is under attack in Thailand, where
Chiranuch "Jiew" Premchaiporn faces prosecution for
overseeing a news site where pseudonymous visitors
submitted comments and posts that the Thai government
considered inappropriate.
Secretary Clinton Unveils New Funding for Activism
Technology, Rhetorical Refresh in Internet Freedom Speech
Even as the U.S. government entertains policies that will
attack fundamental freedoms on the Internet, Secretary
Clinton argued for online free speech and announced plans
to award $25 million in grants to support Internet freedom.
Will the Rise of Wikileaks Competitors Make Whistleblowing Resistant to Censorship?
A new generation of Wikileaks-inspired websites is
populating the Internet -- decentralizing the concept of
whistleblowing and making it harder to shut down speech
merely by cutting off services to one site.
Privacy in the Wake of Olympic Security: Wikileaks Sheds Light on How the U.S. Pressured Brazil
Wikileaks has released cables that detailed how the United
States lobbied Brazil about security and
information-sharing strategies after the latter was chosen
to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
Don't Mess With Texas: Thousands of Defendants Severed
A federal judge in Texas stood up for due process, severing
thousands of Doe defendents from mass copyright lawsuits
and forcing the plaintiff to re-file against each defendent
individually.
ICE Seizures Raising New Speech Concerns
According to reports, DHS agents temporarily shut down
84,000 websites, possibly by accident, in the name of
shutting down just ten websites that allegedly contained
child pornography.
DMCA Copyright Policies: Staying in the Safe Harbors
While Protecting Your Users
The DMCA requires that sevice providers implement policies
to cut off repeat copyright infringers. But while
terminating the accounts of repeat DMCA offenders can help
punish (or at least impede) large-scale infringers,
improper termination can have drastic consequences for
legitimate users.
EFF Appoints Jonathan Zittrain to the Board of Directors
EFF is extremely pleased to announce a new addition to our
Board of Directors: Harvard Law and Computer Science
Professor Jonathan Zittrain.
miniLinks
PATRIOT Act Extended for 3 Months
Congress passed a three month extension on PATRIOT Act,
meaning liberty-loving citizens have ninety days to speak
out against this bill's unchecked powers.
Decentralizing the Internet So Big Brother Can't Find You
The "Freedom Box Foundation" designs compact computers that
respect freedom, privacy, and user rights.
Justice Department Assertion: FBI Can Get Phone Records Without Oversight
The Justice Department asserts that the FBI can obtain
telephone records of international calls made from the U.S.
without any formal legal process or court oversight.
Administrivia
ISSN 1062-9424
EFFector is a publication of
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