EFFector Vol. 21, No. 23 July 9, 2008 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : In our 476th issue: * IN A TRAGIC, SHAMEFUL AFFRONT TO THE US CONSTITUTION, THE SENATE APPROVED THE FISA AMENDMENTS ACT passed by the House last month. The bill radically expands the president's spying powers and grants immunity to phone companies that cooperated in the illegal warrantless wiretapping program. Many senators courageously opposed telecom immunity, and several amendments were offered in an attempt to remove or modify the immunity provision, but they failed. Despite this serious setback, EFF vows that the fight for accountability over the president's illegal surveillance is far from over -- we will continue to fight in the courtroom and in Congress to defend the cause of liberty. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/07/09 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : EFF Updates * Check the Deeplinks blog for more on the run-up to the Senate's terrible final approval of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA): ~ The Senate's Final Debate on Retroactive Immunity Senator Feingold and others spoke at length against the FAA and in support of amendments to strip and delay telecom immunity. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/senate-begins-final-debate ~ Bush: Telecom Immunity More Important Than Surveillance Powers Despite claiming that the intelligence community urgently needs new tools, a Bush administration letter threatens to veto the FAA if telecom immunity is not granted. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/bush-telecom-immunity-more-important-then-surveill ~ Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg on FISA Former intelligence officer Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who released the Pentagon Papers in the '70s, speaks out against Senate's version of FISA reform and warrantless wiretapping. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/whistleblower-daniel-ellsberg-fisa ~ Cartoon: The Return of Snuggly, the Security Bear Cartoonist Mark Fiore brings back Snuggly, the Security Bear to comment on the FISA Amendment Act's "compromise" of the Constitution. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/mark-fiore-cartoon-compromise * Viacom's Statement on YouTube User Data Controversy Viacom claims that user data received from Google/YouTube pursuant to a court order "will not contain personally identifiable information." http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/viacoms-statement-youtube-user-data-controversy * Court Rejects Attempt to Expand the DMCA With help from an EFF amicus brief, a court distinguished between circumventing rights-controls and circumventing access-controls, ultimately keeping the DMCA in check. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/court-rejects-attempt-to-expand-the-dmca * A Real-Life Orphan Works Dilemma A New York Times article about a history teacher/part-time book publisher depicts the orphan works problem in living color. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/a-real-life-orphan-works-dilemma : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : miniLinks (no miniLinks this week) : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Announcements * Stop by the EFF Booth at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) Now in its tenth year, OSCON is a vibrant meeting ground for the open source community, taking place on July 21-25 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. http://en.oreilly.com/oscon2008/public/content/home * Visit EFF at the 2008 Usenix Security Symposium Join us in San Jose, CA, July 28 - August 1, for the 17th USENIX Security Symposium. http://www.usenix.org/events/sec08/sec08.html * EFF is IN at Black Hat USA 2008! Look for us or stop by our booth between August 2-7 in Las Vegas at Black Hat USA, the world's premier technical security conference. We'll be giving out useful legal information to assist security researchers with intellectual property and free speech issues that affect their work. We'll also be available to consult with individuals or companies who want more information about how the law might affect their current research and upcoming presentations. To make an appointment for a consultation, please email Alyssa Ralston, Development Assistant, at alyssa@eff.org, or drop by the table. EFF supporters receive a $100 discount off the prevailing registration rate by inserting BHUS8SUAS in the box marked "coupon" on the web registration page! http://www.blackhat.com/ * Visit EFF at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo from August 4-7 Thinking about going to the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco? You can use the priority code "VPL616" for a Free Exhibit Hall Pass or 20% off the conference package of your choice. Stop by our booth to say hello and update your membership! http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/ While you're there, check out the LinuxWorld session "Cold Boot Attacks on Hard Drive Encryption" by EFF Staff Technologist Seth Schoen and Tor Project Developer Jacob Applebaum. They will demonstrate attacks in which encryption keys are recovered from memory chips quickly taken from powered down computers, and they will discuss countermeasures that users can take to protect themselves. http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/conference//tracks/tracksessions/Security/QMONYB00BIQG : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : 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/
