EFF.org UpdatesThe Electronic Frontier Foundation: Defending your rights in the digital world.EFF to Testify at Congressional Hearing on Electronic Searches at U.S. Borders- June 23, 2008 Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, June 25, at 9 a.m., members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary hearing will hold a public hearing on laptop searches and other privacy violations faced by Americans at the U.S. border. Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation will appear at Wednesday's hearing to urge more congressional investigation and oversight of the Department of Homeland Security's border search practices and policies. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that...http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/23 Wanted: Prior Art to Bust Seer Patent- June 23, 2008 The Patent Busting Project fights back against bogus patents by filing requests for reexamination against the worst offenders. We've successfully pushed the Patent and Trademark Office to reexamine five of the ten patents on our Most Wanted list. We're proud to have tackled half of the list, but now we need your help to bust another. A company called Seer Systems has a patent on a system for joining different musical data types together in a file, distributing them over the internet, and...http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/wanted-prior-art-bust-seer-patent EFF Releases Updated White Paper on Best Practices for Online Service Providers- June 21, 2008 Today EFF released a revised white paper on Best Practices for Online Service Providers, an update of the 2004 OSP Best Practices white paper. In the white paper, EFF offers some suggestions, both legal and technical, for the best privacy practices for collecting, storing and disclosing data that balance the needs of OSPs and their users' privacy and civil liberties. OSPs are vital links between their users and the Internet, offering bandwidth, email, web, and other Internet services. In the.http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/osp-best-practices House Falls Down on the Job- June 20, 2008 The House of Representatives today has fallen down on the job. By passing the FISA Amendments Act (293-129, with 105 Democrats in favor), they voted to give this lame duck President an undeserved parting gift by passing immunity for telcoms that helped the President violate the Constitution by participating in the NSA's massive and illegal spying program. While Speaker Pelosi and President Bush describe it as a "balanced bill" with "bipartisan support," the millions of Americans whose privacy...http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/house-falls-down Tell The Senate to Vote Against Immunity- June 20, 2008 Now the bill moves to the Senate. Passing it would amount to a Congressional seal of approval on illegal surveillance. The bill would destroy our best chance for a judicial ruling on whether the President can grant corporations permission to break the law with impunity. Some have called the bill a balanced compromise between extremes, but this is pure spin. In reality, it's nothing less than a complete cave to the phone companies' and White House's demands. Please contact your Senators, remind..http://www.eff.org/action/stopthespying EFF Urges Judge to Grant New Trial for Jammie Thomas- June 20, 2008 San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of consumer and industry groups have asked a judge to grant a new trial to Jammie Thomas, who was hit with a $222,000 judgment in a file-sharing lawsuit based in part on the recording industry's bogus "making available" theory. Thomas' trial and the staggering financial penalty made headlines around the world. In the case, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sought to hold Thomas liable for unauthorized...http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/20-0 House Caves, Approves Fake 'Compromise' on Telecom Immunity- June 20, 2008 Washington, D.C. - Privacy rights and the rule of law took a serious blow today when the House of Representatives passed blanket retroactive immunity for phone companies that participated in the president's warrantless surveillance program. The FISA Amendments Act, H.R. 6304, which House Leadership rushed to the floor today after its introduction yesterday, passed by a vote of 293 to 129. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill next week. The bill was touted as a bipartisan "compromise" on...http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/20 Republican Senators: It's About Immunity- June 20, 2008 The dangerous and unconstitutional FISA bill coming up before the House Friday appears to have support, with Speaker Pelosi describing it as a "balanced bill". The bill is far from balanced when it comes to immunity for telecoms, as the bill was written to guarantee dismissal -- a fact the Speaker's Republican colleagues are quite up front about: House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., said the only result that could occur from a court review of the lawsuits...http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/rebublican-senators-its-about-immunity Microsoft to MSN Music Customers: Your Music is Still Good Till 2011- June 20, 2008 Last April, Microsoft met with criticism when it announced that it would deactivate all music purchased from MSN Music. Customers rightly protested that the decision to pull the plug on the Digital Rights Management (DRM) servers that allow MSN Music customers to reauthorize music files would render their purchases useless At the time, EFF announced an open letter to Microsoft, urging them to make things right with their customers by giving refunds or replacing DRM-crippled music, and by...http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/microsoft-msn-music EFF Urges Congress to Reject Final 'Compromise' on Telco Immunity- June 19, 2008 Washington, D.C. - EFF calls on members of the House of Representatives to vote "NO" on H.R.6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which the House is expected to vote on tomorrow. The text of the bill was released today, and it contains blanket retroactive immunity for telcos that broke the law by cooperating with the NSA's warrantless surveillance program. "Whatever gloss might be put on it, the so-called 'compromise' on immunity is anything but: the current proposal is the exact same blanket..http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/19 |