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. : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : 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 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : 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 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : 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 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : 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/ : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * 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.
