In our 574th issue:

• UPDATES
• MINILINKS
• ANNOUNCEMENTS

Department of Justice Documents Fail to Justify Expanding CALEA

The government claims it needs Congress to expand surveillance law and mandate back doors in communications services like Skype, Google Talk, or Facebook. However, documents brought to light by an EFF Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit have failed to provide any specific details on any current surveillance problems. The records are heavily redacted and many are still being withheld, but the information we can glean so far fails to make the case for expansion of the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

New Music Locker Services Fail To Recognize Full Potential

Google has announced it will join Amazon in offering consumers a cloud-based music locker service, allowing users to upload their own music files and then access those files from either the Internet or devices equipped to run those companies' programs. But do music locker services violate current copyright laws? And will they keep fans happy while getting artists paid for their work?

EFF Updates

A Syrian Man-In-The-Middle Attack Against Facebook

An ongoing man-in-the-middle attack on the HTTPS version of Facebook in Syria puts users there at risk. The attack is not extremely sophisticated: the certificate is invalid in user's browsers, and raises a security warning. Unfortunately, because users see these warnings other times for reasons not related to an actual man-in-the-middle attack, they have often learned to click through them reflexively. In this instance, doing so would allow the attackers access to and control of their Facebook account.

Criminal Justice Blog Moves to Dismiss Sham Copyright Troll Lawsuit

The publisher of a criminal justice blog that provides resources for difficult-to-prosecute murder cases has asked a judge to dismiss the sham infringement lawsuit filed against him by copyright troll Righthaven LLC. Recently unsealed documents show that Righthaven is not the true owner of the copyright of the news article that is the basis for the lawsuit. EFF and the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati are representing the defendant in this case.

New FBI Documents Provide Details on Government’s Surveillance Spyware

EFF recently received documents from the FBI that reveal details about the depth of the agency's electronic surveillance capabilities. The documents we received were sent to us in response to a FOIA request we filed back in 2007 after Wired reported on evidence that the FBI was able to use "secret spyware" to track the source of e-mailed bomb threats against a Washington state high school.

FBI Chastised by Court for Lying About Existence of Surveillance Records

An order from a district court in California has revealed the FBI lied about the existence of records requested under FOIA, taking the position that it's allowed to withhold information from the court whenever it thinks this is in the interest of national security. This case may prove relevant in EFF's ongoing FOIA litigation against the FBI.

Reader Privacy Bill Passes California Senate

California took another big step towards updating reader privacy: the State Senate unanimously passed SB 602, the Reader Privacy Act, which would bring book privacy law into the digital age. The bill prevents the disclosure of information about readers from booksellers without a warrant in a criminal case or a court order in a civil case, and also requires booksellers to report the number and type of requests that they receive so that we can track government demands for reader information.

EFF to Council of Europe: Live Up to Your Internet Rights Commitments

The Council of Europe is one of the most influential inter-governmental organizations shaping Internet policy—its actions can have influence well beyond Europe's borders. But the Council of Europe's track record on Internet privacy and human rights is mixed. One big concern is its adoption of a draconian Cybercrime Treaty, giving overbroad surveillance powers to law enforcement.

This Week in Internet Censorship

This past week has been a difficult one for Internet censorship in a number of countries, including news of filtering in Tunisia and a potential Facebook ban in Pakistan. And then there's China, where a new central agency has been established to oversee the Internet—a move that some experts have said would allow for tighter regulations.

EFF Welcomes New International Team Member Jillian York

EFF is thrilled to announce the newest member of our international team, Jillian York. Jillian is the Director for International Freedom of Expression—an always-critical issue that has come into sharp relief over the last few months with the events in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, and beyond.

miniLinks

iFixit and Wired Take Apart an FBI Tracking Device

The fascinating teardown of a car-mounted FBI tracking device reveals a GPS unit, an RF transmitter, D-cell batteries, and more.

Revelations About the Growth of Government Surveillance in 2010

The government issued almost two times as many National Security Letters in 2010 as it did in 2009. And that's only the beginning.

"10 Tools of Online Oppressors" from the Committee to Protect Journalists

Former EFF staffer Danny O'Brien catalogs the various methods of online oppression used against journalists, bloggers, and citizens.

Administrivia

ISSN 1062-9424

EFFector is a publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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Editor: Parker Higgins, Activist
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