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EFFecting Change Livestream August 28

EFFector - Volume 23, Issue 19 - EFF Urges Court To Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters

EFFECTOR

EFFector - Volume 23, Issue 19 - EFF Urges Court To Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters

EFFector Vol. 23, No. 19 July 16, 2010  editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a
desired change.

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In our 541st issue:


* EFF URGES COURT TO BLOCK DRAGNET SUBPOENAS TARGETING
ONLINE COMMENTERS

This week EFF served a motion to quash dragnet subpoenas
that put privacy and anonymity at risk for the operators of
dozens of Internet blogs and potentially hundreds of
commenters. In the motion served on Monday, EFF urged the
Supreme Court for Kings County, New York, to quash the
subpoenas for failing to satisfy the requirements imposed
by the First Amendment.

For the full press release and link to the motion:

https://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/07/13


* SUPREME COURT SHOULD UPHOLD THE FIRST SALE DOCTRINE

EFF joined with Public Knowledge and other groups to urge
the Supreme Court to reject a bogus copyright theory and
uphold your right to resell or even give away the products
you own --- even if they were originally sold abroad. At
issue in Costco v. Omega is Costco's sale of genuine Omega
watches at a discount from the regular U.S. price.

For more about Costco v. Omega visit:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/supreme-court-should-
uphold-first-sale-doctrine


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EFF Updates

* FTC: Don't Sell or Use Customer Information of Gay Youth
During a contentious bankruptcy proceeding filed by the
publisher of XY Magazine, the Federal Trade Commission had
some strong words for the former publishers of a defunct
magazine and website for gay youth: don't sell or use
personal information provided by your customers. It's
probably illegal.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/ftc-dont-sell-or-use-
customer-information-about

* The Internet Responds To ASCAP's Deceptive Claims
We were disappointed to read of deceptive comments made
last month about EFF by ASCAP, the American Society of
Composers, Authors and Publishers. ASCAP's attacks were
echoed a few days later by David Israelite, President of
the National Association of Music Publishers (NMPA).
Fortunately, the claims were laughable to anyone who's
actually been paying attention to our work.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/internet-responds-
ascaps-deceptive-claims


* China Gives License To Redirected Search of the Free and
Open Internet
Ever since Google's January 2010 decision to cease
censorship of its Chinese-language search engine, the world
has watched closely to see what would happen next. Would
Google cease all operations in China? Would China block
access to Google altogether? These questions came to a
climax on June 30, when Google's license to operate as an
Internet Content Provider (ICP) from China's Ministry of
Industry and Information Technology was up for renewal.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/china-gives-license-
redirected-search-free-and


* Judge Cuts Damages In Sony v. Tenenbaum
Many were shocked last year when a Massachusetts jury
awarded  $675,000 in damages against Joel Tenenbaum, who
had been found liable for copyright infringement after
using peer-to-peer networks to download and share 30 Sony
songs. Federal district court Judge Nancy Gertner held that
the jury's award -- which equaled $22,500 per song -- was
unconstitutional and reduced it dramatically. But the most
interesting aspect of the ruling may be the court's
conclusion that Congress never intended copyright's
extraordinary statutory damages provisions to apply to
noncommercial users of peer-to-peer networks, even if they
are found liable for willful infringement.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/07/judge-cuts-damages-
sony-v-tenenbaum


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miniLinks

~ Latest ACTA Draft Text Leaked
Allies keeping an eye on the secretive copyright treaty
have published the text from the recent Lucerne round of
negotiations, including the names of the negotiating
parties along with their positions.
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/new-acta-leak-2010-07-13-
consolidated-text-luzern-round

~ Blizzard Backs Down on Forcing Users to Use Real Names in
Forums
The community of gamers rallied to defend their anonymity,
ultimately convincing Blizzard to abandon plans to unmask
forum users.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=
25968987278&sid=1

~ BBC: German Officials Launch Legal Action Against
Facebook
German privacy officials are concerned about the social
network's storage of personal data about people who do not
use the site, but whose details are uploaded by by peers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8798906.stm

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Announcements

* EFF at "The Next HOPE" in NYC This Weekend

Join EFF at The Next HOPE (Hackers On Planet Earth)
conference at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City.
Keynote speakers include Julian Assange of Wikileaks and
security expert Dan Kaminsky, perhaps best known for
discovering the 2008 DNS cache poisoning vulnerability.
Check out the membership specials at EFF's vendor area
booth, and catch the following talks with EFF Staff
Technologist Seth Schoen:

-Friday, 7/16 at 6 PM
Tor and Internet Censorship

-Saturday, 7/17 at 11 AM
Behind the Padlock: HTTPS Ubiquitous and Fragile

-Sunday, 7/18 at 10 AM
The Need for a Computer Crime Innocence Project

You can register for The Next HOPE at
http://store.2600.com/nexthope.html . Admission to the
conference is $85 online and $100 at the door. For all of
the latest info, keep checking http://www.hope.net and
http://wiki.hope.net . You can also subscribe to thenexthope
Twitter feed and join the Hope.Net Facebook page. And to
participate in an ongoing discussion with all sorts of
other people, join the Hope Forums at http://talk.hope.net .

July 16-18, 2010
The Next HOPE
The Hotel Pennsylvania
401 7th Avenue
New York, NY 10001-3412

* Sita Sings The Blues: A Benefit Screening Hosted by Nina
Paley on July 20, 2010

Join EFF and the Cartoon Art Museum as we screen Nina
Paley's award-winning animated feature film "Sita Sings the
Blues," described by the creator as "the greatest breakup
story ever told." Paley animated and produced the film
single-handedly over the course of five years on a home
computer, and will be on hand to take filmgoers behind the
scenes.

Nina will also screen three of her Minute Memes, a series
of animated shorts about intellectual freedom, including
the big screen premiere of a new cartoon created by Nina
especially for EFF.

The benefit screening will take place at the Delancey
Street Foundation Screening Room at 600 The Embarcadero,
San Francisco, CA 94107, on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. Doors
open at 6:30 PM. Film begins promptly at 7 PM. Advance
tickets may be purchased online for $25 at
http://action.eff.org/ninapaley or for $30 at the door the
night of the screening. No food or drink is permitted in
the screening room.

* EFF at OSCON in Portland, OR

Visit the EFF booth at OSCON while you peruse the latest in
open source innovation and business!

Exhibit Hall Hours:
Wednesday, July 21
10:00AM - 4:30PM
6:00PM - 7:00PM - Expo Hall Reception

Thursday, July 22
10:00AM - 5:00PM

Conference organizer O'Reilly Media is offering 20% off
registration for EFF supporters! Please use discount code,
os10s20d, when registering at:
https://en.oreilly.com/oscon2010/public/register

* Nominate a Pioneer for EFF's 2010 Pioneer Awards!

EFF established the Pioneer Awards to recognize
leaders on the electronic frontier who are extending
freedom and innovation in the realm of information
technology. This is your opportunity to nominate a
deserving individual or group to receive a Pioneer Award
for 2010. The International Pioneer Awards nominations
are open to individuals and organizations from any
country. Nominations are reviewed by a panel of judges
chosen for their knowledge of the technical, legal,
and social issues associated with information technology.

https://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/

How to Nominate Someone for a 2010 Pioneer Award:
You may submit as many nominations as you wish! This year
we've made it possible for you to nominate someone
using our online nomination form. We also welcome
nominations via email, but please use one form or email
per nomination. If emailing entries, please submit your
entries via email to pioneer@eff.org. We will accept
nominations until August 9, 2010.

Simply tell us:
1. The name of the nominee,
2. The phone number, email address or website by which
the nominee can be reached, and, most important,
3. Why you feel the nominee deserves the award.

Nominee Criteria:
There are no specific categories for the EFF Pioneer
Awards, but the following guidelines apply:

1. The nominees must have contributed substantially
to the health, growth, accessibility, or freedom of
computer-based communications.

2. To be valid, all nominations must contain your
reason, however brief, for nominating the individual or
organization and a means of contacting the nominee. In
addition, while anonymous nominations will be accepted,
ideally we'd like to contact the nominating parties in
case we need further information.

3. The contribution may be technical, social, economic,
or cultural.

4. Nominations may be of individuals, systems, or
organizations in the private or public sectors.

5. Anyone may nominate a potential Pioneer Award
recipient, and you may nominate more than one
recipient. You may also nominate yourself or your
organization. Please send separate email messages for
each nominee.

6. Anyone can receive a Pioneer Award except:
- current members of EFF's staff
- current members of EFF's operating board
- current Pioneer Award judges
- past Pioneer Award recipients

7. Persons or representatives of organizations receiving
an EFF Pioneer Award will be invited to attend the
ceremony at EFF's expense.

More on the EFF Pioneer Awards:
https://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer/

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* Dream Job Alert! EFF is looking to fill the following
positions:

~ Senior Copyright Lawyer

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is seeking a
senior-level copyright attorney. Responsibilities will
include litigation, public speaking, blogging, media
outreach, and legislative and regulatory matters related
to a variety of high technology legal issues.

Qualified candidates will have at least five years
of experience working in copyright law, including an
in-depth knowledge of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA) sections 512 and 1201. Candidates should also have
significant experience in at least one of the following
specialties: trademark law, trade secret law, and/or
patent law. Litigation experience is required, including
significant experience managing both overall case strategy
and day-to-day projects and deadlines. Candidates should
have good communication skills and an interest in working
with a team of highly motivated lawyers and activists
in a hard-working nonprofit environment. Strong writing
and analytical skills, as well as the ability to be
self-motivated and focused, are essential. Tech savviness
and a familiarity with Internet civil liberties and high
tech public interest issues is strongly preferred. This
position is based in San Francisco.

Interested applicants should submit a resume and
references to ipjob@eff.org.

~ Open Government Attorney

EFF is seeking a staff attorney to join its
FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government (FLAG)
Project. Responsibilities will include filing Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests and handling follow-up
litigation, public speaking, media outreach, and
legislative and regulatory advocacy, all in connection
with the FOIA and open government issues. The staff
attorney will also directly supervise a deferred associate
or volunteer working on the FLAG Project.

The ideal candidate will possess these qualifications:
- Demonstrated interest in, and knowledge of, civil
liberties issues involving emerging technologies.
- At least four years of litigation experience, including
significant experience managing cases, overall case
strategy and day-to-day projects and deadlines. Specific
FOIA litigation experience is desirable, but not
required.
- Excellent writing and communications skills, preferably
with a track record of blogging, investigative
reporting, or other similar activity.
- Ability to manage and organize large quantities of
documentary materials.
- Familiarity with basic information technology tools.

Candidates should have good communication skills and
interest in working with a team of highly motivated
lawyers and activists in a hard-working nonprofit
environment. This position is based in San Francisco.

Interested applicants should submit a resume, writing
sample, and references to FOIAjob@eff.org.

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