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EFFector - Volume 22, Issue 12 - EFF Urges the Kentucky Supreme Court to Uphold Free Speech and Due Process

EFFECTOR

EFFector - Volume 22, Issue 12 - EFF Urges the Kentucky Supreme Court to Uphold Free Speech and Due Process

EFFector Vol. 22, No. 12  April 24, 2009 editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

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In our 507th issue:

* EFF URGES THE KENTUCKY SUPREME COURT TO UPHOLD FREE
SPEECH AND DUE PROCESS in a friend-of-the-court brief filed
last week. The brief, filed jointly with other leading
public interest and industry trade groups, advocates that
the Kentucky Supreme Court uphold an appeals court ruling
that blocked state officials from ordering out-of-state
registrars to turn over control of over 100 overseas
Internet domain names accused of violating state gambling
laws.

The case began in September when the commonwealth of
Kentucky convinced a state court judge to order the seizure
of 141 domain names, claiming that the names were "gambling
devices" banned under Kentucky law. A Kentucky appeals
court later overturned the ruling, but state officials
appealed the order. EFF and others argue that the
commonwealth's attempt to regulate overseas websites is
fatally flawed and, if successful, would violate the First
Amendment, the Commerce Clause, and the Due Process Clause.

For the press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/04/20

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EFF Updates

* Obama's Transparency Promise: We're Still Waiting
The FBI's failure to change course in the Investigative
Data Warehouse case is not the only situation in which the
Obama administration's actions are not yet living up to its
pro-transparency rhetoric.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/obamas-transparency-

* Government Rules that Proxies Don't Merit Extra Jail Time
The Sentencing Commission has decided, at least for now,
not to classify the use of proxies as a sign of
sophistication.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/us-governmentt-rules-use-proxies-does-not-merit

* Rep. Jane Harman Changes Her Tune on Wiretapping
When countless ordinary Americans are being wiretapped
without warrants, Harman declares the program "both
necessary and legal." But when Harman herself is victim to
a court-approved wiretap, she decides it's "a gross abuse
of power"?
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/harman-changes-tune

* Specter: "The Need to Roll Back Presidential Power Grabs"
Senator Arlen Specter published a detailed opinion column
proposing "legislation to keep the courts open to suits
filed against several major telephone companies that
allegedly facilitated the Bush administration's warrantless
wiretapping program."
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/senator-specter-need

* Testing YouTube's Audio Content ID System
An enterprising YouTube user has completed a fascinating
set of tests to figure out how sensitive the audio
fingerprinting tools are in YouTube's Content ID system.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/testing-youtubes-aud

* Wikipedia Threatens Artists for Fair Use
Wikipedia has demanded that a group of artists give up
their domain name (wikipediaart.org) peaceably or it will
attempt to take it by (legal) force.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/wikipedia-threatens-

* LA Times on Latest Congressional P2P Witch Hunt
The L.A. Times Technology Blog hits the nail on the head in
responding to government employees and contractors who use
P2P software accidentally sharing information on networks
like Lime Wire.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/la-times-latest-cong

* Doctorow's Law: Who Benefits from DRM?
Cory Doctorow recently appeared before leaders of the
publishing industry to explain why DRM on digital books is
bad for customers, bad for authors, and bad for business.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/doctorows-law

* Remembering First Amendment Champion Judith Krug
The free expression community lost a giant with the passing
last weekend of Judith Krug, longtime director of the
American Library Association's Office of Intellectual
Freedom.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/remembering-first-amendment-champion-judith-krug

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miniLinks

~ EU Parliament Approves 70 Year Copyright for Recordings
Sound recordings would be copyrighted for 70 years under a
new proposal passed by the parliament -- not the 95 years
that had been sought -- but the Council of Ministers has
yet to agree.
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/17744.cfm

~ Where's the Downloadable Movie Service?
The technology exists, the demand exists. So why aren't
most movies available for instant download for a monthly
fee? Slate explains the issue.
http://www.slate.com/id/2216328/

~ Why Open Source Is More Secure
Sun Federal COO Bill Vass explains why organizations that
require security are turning to open source operating
systems.
http://blogs.sun.com/BVass/entry/the_no_1_reason_to

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Announcements

* 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.

* 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

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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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