MetaFilter posts tagged with eff

Who owns The Man?

scalefree — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:14:30 -0800

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a criticism of Burning Man, LLC's Terms and Conditions, saying that the automatic rights assignment to BMOrg for photos & video taken during the event is "creative lawyering intended to allow the BMO to use the streamlined “notice and takedown” process enshrined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to quickly remove photos from the Internet" and that this is corrosive to our freedom of speech. Burning Man responds.

Surveillance Self-Defense

homunculus — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:11:51 -0800

The SSD Project. "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created this Surveillance Self-Defense site to educate the American public about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States, providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it." [Via]

Room 641A

homunculus — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:05:51 -0800

The Secret Room: EFF Designer's Cartoon on Illegal Spying. [Via] Appeals Court Punts on AT&T Spying Case Appeal Rights Group Suing AT&T for Spying Will Sue Government Too

Great new way to prevent liability or hurdle to fair use?

Arbac — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:32:53 -0800

Google has announced plans to implement a filter for copyrighted works on youTube. They have been receiving criticism from all sides. Content owners would prefer an industry wide approach to the problem. The EFF feels the filter would create a hurdle to fair use since it could block legitimate content. The EFF has compiled what they consider a test suite of content that is a legitimate fair use but that could be blocked by the content filter. Some of those videos are great!

The Internets is Serious Business

revmitcz — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 14:52:40 -0800

"Dear Internet, I'm Sorry..." Meet Michael Crook, being billed as "the most hated man on the internet". First coming in to view when taking a really bad idea to it's ridiculous extreme, he appears on Fox's Hannity & Colmes to lambast members of the military for being "worthless pukes" and whining about their compensation. One site decides to give him a taste of his own medicine, which he clearly didn't like.

You had to live -- did live, from the habit that became instinct and the assumption that every sound you made was overheard.

homunculus — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:33:17 -0800

For Your Eyes Only? Allegations that the government is reading your e-mails, with the help of AT&T. The latest episode of NOW did a good piece on the NSA's domestic surveillance program (previously discussed here.) It can be viewed on their website. Meanwhile, Canadian human rights attorney Maureen Webb has written a new book on the scope of government surveillance, and found that the use of sophisticated methods to search for terrorists is not identifying the right suspects.

Your world, delivered to the NSA

homunculus — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 21:59:02 -0800

AT&T Ducks Accountability. Lawsuits, Questions Follow NSA Surveillance Approval.

John McCain Wants To Regulate Blogs

ericb — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 07:42:15 -0800

Senator John McCain (R. - AZ) has introduced legislation [PDF] that would hold blogs responsible for all activity in their comments sections and user profiles. Provisions of the proposed bill include: (1) commercial websites and personal blogs "would be required to report illegal images or videos posted by their users or pay fines of up to $300,000," (2) bloggers with comment sections may face "even stiffer penalties" than ISPs, and (3) any social-networking site must take "effective measures" to remove any Web page that's "associated" with a sex offender. "Because 'social-networking site' isn't defined, it could encompass far more than just MySpace.com, Friendster and similar sites." The list could include any site that allows comments, authot and personal profiles. Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes that this proposal may be based more "on fear or political considerations rather than on the facts." "McCain’s legislation could deal a serious blow to the blogosphere. Lacking resources to police their sites, many individual blogs may have to shut down open discussion."^*

Glickman v. Barlow

Mwongozi — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 08:59:56 -0800

Dan Glickman, president of the MPAA, and John Perry Barlow, Greatful Dead lyricist and co-founder of the EFF, debate movie piracy in this interview (RealVideo) on the BBC's "Click".

AT&T-NSA documents leaked

Ryvar — Mon, 22 May 2006 05:24:48 -0800

Wired News has obtained a copy of a file detailing AT&T's involvement with the NSA that was sealed in the EFF's class-action lawsuit against AT&T. At 2AM EST this morning they have published that file on their site for anyone to download (this is the fixed link, the one on Wired is currently broken).[via]

EFF Whistleblower Wiretapping Suit Halted by Nuclear Option

squirrel — Tue, 02 May 2006 19:47:00 -0800

Bush administration signals intent to invoke the obscure state secrets privilege in order to stop the EFF lawsuit against AT&T, (previously discussed here) for providing the NSA direct access all 312 terabytes of its customers' telephone and internet traffic since 2001, (including those Good Vibrations charges you racked up). In a nutshell, according to legal experts, invoking the privilege kills the judicial process dead: the courthouse doors are closed, and there's nothing but grownup stuff to see here; move along, kids.

AT&T-->NSA. WTF? -EFF

jikel_morten — Fri, 07 Apr 2006 07:27:06 -0800

EFF Accuses AT&T of diverting internet traffic to NSA. "More than just threatening individuals' privacy, AT&T's apparent choice to give the government secret, direct access to millions of ordinary Americans' Internet communications is a threat to the Constitution itself. We are asking the Court to put a stop to it now." More details from the EFF.

Is the EFF harmful to online rights?

bshort — Tue, 06 Dec 2005 10:07:36 -0800

In a sardonic new editorial, the Register asks whether the EFF is harming the very causes that it's supposedly fighting for. This isn't coming out of left field. The EFF has lost numerous cases that could have been won, and in doing so is helping to creating precedents that make fights for civil liberties harder to wage.

What is the sound of a "No Hearing Hearing"?

dinsdale — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:58:05 -0800

California holds a "No Hearing Hearing" on Diebold certification. "In June, over 200 people traveled to Sacramento to voice their concerns at a public hearing before a panel of advisors to the Secretary of State on voting systems. Since then, every scheduled meeting of the Voting Systems Panel has been cancelled, and now the Secretary has simply disbanded the VSP without notice, without hearings, without any type of due process." This isn't the only jurisdiction in which Diebold is attempting to circumvent legal requirements - in North Carolina they filed for and received a broad exemption from new disclosure rules recently passed into law. The EFF are now suing to force Diebold to comply with the law. As if that wasn't enough, an official Certification Test (PDF) for Diebold's Optical Scan voting machines confirms an earlier threat analysis test (PDF) that the memory cards on these machines run uncertified and arbitrary executable code, a charge that Diebold has vigorously denied.

Barlow's War

digaman — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 14:22:54 -0800

Is John Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Grateful Dead lyricist, a threat to national security? "On September 15, 2003, I boarded Delta Flight 310, scheduled to depart San Francisco International Airport for JFK at 7:20 that morning. I was still feeling slightly singed from Burning Man and the hour was one I prefer to see from the other side. I was almost back to sleep when, roughly two minutes before pull-back, I was approached by a Delta employee who informed me that there was 'a problem' of some sort and that it would be necessary to get off the aircraft..."

Cory Doctorow's new novel released and free to download

stevengarrity — Wed, 04 Feb 2004 05:55:10 -0800

Cory Doctorow's new novel, Eastern Standard Tribe, has been released. You can buy the book through traditional means, or, as with his last novel, you can download the entire book for free with no obligation to purchase. Doctorow is a fine novelist and living the principles he espouses with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He has also written a short essay explaining the rationale behind the free distribution.

Broadcast flag blues?!

insomnia_lj — Mon, 27 Oct 2003 06:58:18 -0800

Broadcast flag blues?! The EFF seems to be fighting a losing war against the FCC's proposed "broadcast flag" initiative (Salon), but they're making a big last-minute push to get more people to spread the news and contact the FCC. Will the broadcast flag initiative become a "gateway regulation", leading us to a future where Hollywood dictates to manufacturers what they can and cannot create? Mass exodus to Tokyo, anyone?!

100,000 years is a long time

majcher — Sun, 08 Jun 2003 23:41:42 -0800

John Gilmore , co-founder of the EFF , is suing a couple of airlines, the FAA, the FBI, the TSA, the DHS, and a Mr. John Ashcroft. Why? May I see your papers, please?

mathowie — Wed, 31 Jul 2002 18:17:54 -0800

The EFF is throwing a party, and it's gonna be a good one. Being thrown at jwz's DNA Lounge, the featured event is some celebrity boxing. The combatants? Wil Wheaton vs. Barney and his lawyers.

pzarquon — Thu, 28 Feb 2002 13:44:47 -0800

Morpheus is broken. The Netherlands-based provider of the technology used by Kazaa and Grokster upgrades their system, but leaves out Streamcast Networks' (formerly Music City) Morpheus network, and suddenly, everyone is locked out. Kinda punches a giant hole in their EFF-backed battle with the RIAA, which hinges on the assertion that their network is 'decentralized' and impossible to stop.

pixelgeek — Mon, 18 Feb 2002 21:07:25 -0800

Corporate censorship in China (via slashdot). I guess censorship and collusion in the repression of people is okay if you're making profits for your shareholders. An eye-opening look into the way that corporations are helping to facilitate censorship on the Internet in China. AOL and Yahoo's attitudes to what I thought were universal human rights is nothing short of sickening.

mathowie — Sun, 23 Dec 2001 10:35:52 -0800

Kuro5hin's xmas gift to the EFF. Rusty and the gang over at k5 have decided to donate all their site's income to the Electronic Frontier Foundation from now until midnight, December 25th. The EFF fights for high profile cases like Dmitry, but also to protect the rights of everyday citizens.

skallas — Thu, 25 Oct 2001 18:05:34 -0800

The EFF catalogues the chilling effect of anti-terrorism. Like Google clearing its cache of certain pieces of information and a fellow who was banned from flying because of the books he was carrying.

skallas — Mon, 24 Sep 2001 08:33:13 -0800

The register chimes in on new anti-terrorist bills that attack due process, the fourth amendment, and encryption. Sample letters and information on how to contact your reps are available at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Act quickly, because congress sure will.

Jairus — Fri, 14 Sep 2001 10:25:27 -0800

A quick break from all the WTC stuff... Considering the recent events, it's probably been overlooked. Canada is proposing a Consultation Paper on Digital Copyright Issues which is similar to the DMCA in the US. All comments on it have to be received by Sept. 15th. You can read the EFF Alert, for more information.