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EFFector - Volume 22, Issue 11 - Boston College Student’s Computer, Cell Phone and Other Property Seized

EFFECTOR

EFFector - Volume 22, Issue 11 - Boston College Student’s Computer, Cell Phone and Other Property Seized

EFFector Vol. 22, No. 11  April 17, 2009 editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

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In our 506th issue:

* A BOSTON COLLEGE STUDENT'S COMPUTER, CELL PHONE, AND
OTHER PROPERTY WERE SEIZED as part of an investigation into
who sent an e-mail to a school mailing list identifying
another student as gay. Not only is there no indication
that any crime was committed, the support for the search
warrant is at times laughable. Some of the supposedly
suspicious activities listed include: the student being
seen with "unknown laptop computers," which he "says" he
was fixing for other students; the student uses multiple
names to log on to his computer; and the student uses two
different operating systems, including one that is not the
"regular B.C. operating system" but instead has "a black
screen with white font which he uses prompt commands on."

During its March 30th search, police seized (among other
things) the student's computers, storage drives, cell
phone, iPod Touch, flash drives, digital camera, and Ubuntu
Linux CD. None of these items have been returned. His
personal documents and information are in the hands of the
state police, which continue to examine them without
probable cause, searching for evidence to support
unsupportable criminal allegations.

For the full blog post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/boston-college-prompt-commands-are-suspicious

For the press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/04/13

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EFF Updates

* Wanted: Your Stories of Disability Versus Copyright Law
In preparation for WIPO's initiative on Exceptions &
Limitations to Copyright, the US Copyright Office is
currently soliciting comments on the topic of "facilitating
access to copyrighted works for the blind or persons with
other disabilities.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/wanted-your-stories-disability

* NY Times Reports New Revelations About Wiretapping Program
The New York Times reported this week that the NSA "had
been engaged in 'over-collection' of domestic
communications of Americans."
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/ny-times-reports-new-revelations-about-wiretapping

* New Wiretapping Revelations Should Prompt New Action
The revelations about the NSA's activities in this week's
NY Times article underline the need for new action on NSA
surveillance abuses, both from Congress and from the White
House.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/new-revelations

* Federal Authority Over the Internet?
There's a new bill working its way through Congress that is
cause for some alarm: the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 risks
giving the federal government unprecedented power over the
Internet without necessarily improving security.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/cybersecurity-act

* New Scholarship on Copyright Damages
Copyright scholars Pamela Samuelson and Tara Wheatland have
published a paper arguing that large statutory damage
awards in copyright cases violate Congressional intent and
basic rights of due process.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/new-scholarship-statutory-damages

* Jewel v. NSA Media Roundup
The Obama Administration's decision to assert Bush-era
arguments in its motion to dismiss EFF's case, Jewel v.
NSA, has gotten a lot of attention from the mainstream
press.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/jewel-v-nsa-roundup-media-obamas-position

* Stanford Law School Machinima Conference, April 24-25
On April 24-25, 2009, Stanford Law School will be hosting
"Play Machinima Law," a timely conference examining
machinima copyright issues, where EFF's Fred von Lohmann
will be speaking.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/stanford-play-machinima-law-conference

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miniLinks

~ Which Congressman Was Wiretapped?
New reports that the NSA spied on a Congressman has people
wondering which one it might be.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/16/which-member-of-congress_n_187784.html

~ Goldman Sachs v. Blogger
Goldman Sachs is trying to silence a blogger who has
criticized the bank.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/5137489/Goldman-Sachs-hires-law-firm-to-shut-bloggers-site.html

~ Rachel Maddow MSNBC Clips Removed from YouTube
Clips from Rachel Maddow's show criticizing an anti-gay
groups' videos disappeared due to copyright claims.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgC5ANURIYc

For more miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/minilinks-2009-02-17

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Announcements

* Come See EFF at RSA and MySQL!

Come visit the EFF booth and grab some schwag at the RSA
conference on April 20-24, and/or the MySQL conference on
April 21-22.

For more information on RSA:
http://www.rsaconference.com/2009/us/index.htm

For more information on MySQL:
http://www.mysqlconf.com/mysql2009

* Seth Schoen at LinuxFest Northwest

EFF Technologist Seth David Schoen will be speaking at the
10th Anniversary of LinuxFest Northwest in Bellingham, WA!
Seth will be giving two talks (see below), so be sure to
stop by and find out what EFF is up to!  Event admission is
free and open to the public.

Saturday, April 25: 1:30-2:15
"Information Security Discovers Physics"
Details: http://blug.org/fest2009/spkr-record.dxp?id=10

Sunday, April 26: 1:30-2:15
"An EFF Update"
Details: http://blug.org/fest2009/spkr-record.dxp?id=81

For more information: http://linuxfestnorthwest.org

* Send EFF to CFP!

EFF is looking for donations of airline tickets for the
Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference and other
conferences and speaking engagements. We need at least one
round trip ticket from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.,
for CFP, and we'll certainly need additional tickets
throughout the year. If you have enough airline miles for a
free ticket and would like to send an EFF staffer to a
conference, let us know, and we will help you with the
process of making the reservation. Please note that at this
time, we are unable to combine miles from multiple
individuals.

In exchange for a ticket, we can offer a free membership
and a mention in EFFector (if you'd like). Please contact
info@eff.org if you have a ticket to donate.

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Administrivia

EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org/about

Editor:
Sara Bassett, Membership Services Assistant
sara@eff.org

Membership & donation queries:
membership@eff.org

To support EFF:
secure.eff.org/donate

General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries:
information@eff.org

Back issues of EFFector are available at:
http://www.eff.org/effector/

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