EFFector Vol. 21, No. 21 June 26, 2008 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : In our 474th issue: * THE SENATE DELIVERED AN UNEXPECTED REPRIEVE ON TELECOM IMMUNITY THURSDAY NIGHT, deciding to delay the vote on the FISA Amendments Act until after the July 4th recess! Earlier in the week, the mainstream press was reporting that the immunity bill would see swift and uncontested approval. Senate leaders emphasized that passing an immunity bill this week was one of their highest priorities. And yet, in the end, the bill simply wasn't as uncontested and noncontroversial as the pundits and politicians thought it was. Overwhelming grassroots action and the efforts of Senators Dodd, Feingold, and Bingaman were critical in giving allies a broader window of opportunity to make an impact on telecom immunity legislation. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/senate-delays-vote-immunity * EFF ARGUED FOR A NEW TRIAL FOR JAMMIE THOMAS, responding to the judge's concern that he might have made a mistake when he followed the RIAA's "making available" reasoning in his jury instructions. EFF and a coalition of consumer and industry groups contend that the law simply does not allow lawsuits over "attempted copyright infringement." Thomas was hit with a massive $220,000 judgment in a very public file-sharing case in 2007. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/20-0 * ALSO THIS WEEK, EFF PUBLISHED "BEST PRACTICES FOR ONLINE SERVICE PROVIDERS," an updated white paper featuring legal and technical suggestions for the best privacy practices for collecting, storing, and disclosing data that balance the needs of OSPs and their users' privacy and civil liberties. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/osp-best-practices : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : EFF Updates * Check the Deeplinks blog for extensive analysis of this week's FISA rollercoaster: ~ DNI and AG Fear Court Ruling on Warrantless Wiretapping In a letter to Senator Reid, Director of National Intelligence McConnell and Attorney General Mukasey confirm that telecom immunity is about avoiding judicial scrutiny of the Administration's warrantless wiretapping program itself. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/dni-and-ag-fear-court-ruling ~ Senators Dodd and Feingold Stand Strong Against Immunity The Senators' powerful floor statements demonstrate a patriotic, principled stand against telecom immunity. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/senators-dodd-and-feingold ~ House Falls Down on the Job The House caved and passed blanket retroactive immunity for phone companies that participated in the president's warrantless surveillance program. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/house-falls-down ~ Republican Senators: It's About Immunity House and Senate Republicans concede that the "only result" of the Senate bill is immunity for the telecoms. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/rebublican-senators-its-about-immunity * New Ninth Circuit Case Protects Text Message Privacy From Police and Employers The court issued its opinion in Quon v. Arch Wireless, holding that "users of text messaging services such as those provided by Arch Wireless have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their text messages." http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/new-ninth-circuit-case-protects-text-message-priva * Congress Must Investigate Privacy Violations at U.S. Borders This week, EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien testified in a Senate hearing, outlining the dangers of random and invasive searches of travelers' digital devices, and urged more congressional investigation and oversight. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/congress-must-investigate-privacy-violations-u-s-b * Wanted: Prior Art to Bust Seer Patent It's patent-busting time: Seer Systems has a patent on a system for joining different musical data types together in a file, distributing them over the Internet, and then playing that file. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/wanted-prior-art-bust-seer-patent * Microsoft to MSN Music Customers: Your Music Is Still Good Till 2011 Microsoft has made a u-turn, deciding to keep its DRM key-licensing servers active until 2011. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/microsoft-msn-music * Charter Communications ISP Halts Traffic Inspection/Advertising Plan An ISP halts plans to engage in surveillance of users' Internet traffic to boost advertising revenue. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/charter-communications-isp-halts-traffic-inspectio : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : miniLinks ~ Schwarzenegger Asks ISPs to Block Newsgroups The California Governor and Attorney General have asked ISPs to jump on the newsgroup-blocking bandwagon -- an attempt to stop child porn that will likely block legitimate speech as well. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080624-california-wants-more-isps-to-limit-usenet-access.html ~ Prince v. Tribute to Prince A Norwegian tribute album featuring covers of Prince songs by various artists is the latest object of the musician's wrath. http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/06/prince-sues-to.html ~ George Carlin: Dead But Still Kicking the FCC Comedian George Carlin has passed on, but the legal battle over the FCC's power to regulate speech triggered by Carlin's famous "7 words" monologue carries on. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/42068.html For more miniLinks: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/minilinks-2008-06-26 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Announcements (no announcements this week) : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Administrivia EFFector is published by: The Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org/about Editor: Richard Esguerra, EFF Activist richard@eff.org Membership & donation queries: membership@eff.org General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries: information@eff.org Back issues of EFFector are available at: http://www.eff.org/effector/
