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In our 609th issue:
The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that there may be as many as 30,000 drones in the U.S. by the year 2020. The FAA's loosened restrictions -- coupled with the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice issuing grants for local police forces to buy unmanned aircraft -- means it's imperative that local governments act swiftly to ban surveillance drones outright or institute robust safeguards for their citizens. Americans cannot afford to wait for the FAA or Congress to act.
New legislation in the Netherlands makes it the first country in Europe to establish a legal framework supporting net neutrality. Additionally, the law contains language that restricts when ISPs can wiretap their users, and limits the circumstances under which ISPs can cut off a subscriber's Internet access altogether. The Dutch law comes after vigorous campaigning by civil society groups, including influential digital rights group Bits of Freedom.
Fifty leading U.S. legal scholars have cast fresh doubt on the constitutionality of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in an open letter to the Senate Finance Committee. At issue is whether the Office of the United States Trade Representative had authority to enter into the controversial IP enforcement agreement on behalf of the United States when the Deputy U.S. Trade Ambassador signed ACTA in October 2011. The law professors say no, and call on the Senators to "exercise your constitutional responsibility to ensure that ACTA is submitted to the Senate for approval as an Article II treaty, or to the Congress as an ex-post Congressional-Executive Agreement."
EFF Updates
With New Privacy Policy, Twitter Commits to Respecting Do Not Track
Under a new privacy policy, Twitter will be suggesting accounts for Twitter users to follow based on data collected from an individual's browsing habits on websites that have embedded Twitter buttons. While this is sure to garner scrutiny from the press and public, Twitter is also taking a pioneering step toward respecting users' privacy choices: it has committed to respecting Do Not Track -- a simple browser setting users can turn on to tell website they don’t want to be tracked.
Swedish Telcom Giant Teliasonera Caught Helping Authoritarian Regimes Spy on Their Citizens
According to a recent investigation by the Swedish news show Uppdrag Granskning, Sweden's telecommunications giant Teliasonera is the latest Western company revealed to be colluding with authoritarian regimes by selling them high-tech surveillance gear to spy on its citizens. Teliasonera has allegedly enabled the governments of Belarus, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Kazakhstan to spy on journalists, union leaders, and members of the political opposition.
Hey ITU Member States: No More Secrecy, Release the Treaty Proposals
This December, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will hold the World Conference on International Telecommunications, an all-important treaty-writing event where ITU Member States will discuss the proposed revisions to the International Telecommunication Regulations (ITR). But media reports indicate that some proposed amendments to the ITR -- a negotiation that is already well underway -- could potentially expand the ITU's mandate to encompass the Internet.
This Week in Internet Censorship
Iran continues its march towards a "Halal Internet"; Ustream underscores its commitment to freedom of expression and responds to a crippling DDoS attack of expression and adding a Russian-language option; and a Brazilian newspaper uses trademark law to silence a parody website.
miniLinks
Jamming Tripoli: Inside Moammar Gadhafi's secret surveillance network
In Wired magazine: To expose and intimidate dissidents, Gadhafi's spy network tracked every communication in and out of Libya. But the insurgents knew how to fight back.
Supreme Court will hear ACLU case challenging warrantless wiretapping law
The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether plaintiffs represented by the ACLU have the right to challenge the constitutionality of a controversial law that authorizes the National Security Agency to conduct dragnet surveillance of Americans' international emails and phone calls.
Exporting copyright: Inside the secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership
Ars Technica covers TPP, or "ACTA plus", and what activists and civil society groups are doing to stop it.
Administrivia
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