EFFector Vol. 21, No. 24 July 17, 2008 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : In our 477th issue: * THOUGH CONGRESS PASSED IMMUNITY FOR TELECOM LAWBREAKERS LAST WEEK, EFF recognizes that the year-long battle was made possible by record-breaking resistance from a fearless cadre of organizations and individuals. This resulted in far more opposition than immunity proponents were bargaining for when they initially sought to hide from accountability for cooperation with warrantless spying. In spite of the support of powerful corporations, and incessant political posturing by the Executive branch, wave after wave of public opposition delayed passage of immunity over and over and over again. Though telecom immunity was eventually passed in the FISA Amendments Act, the fight is far from over. We have shown that there is a constituency -- a loud, organized, and active constituency -- that will passionately defend the Constitution, privacy rights, and the rule of law. Lawmakers risk their offices in ignoring this principled, tireless, permanent movement. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/little-victories-battle-against-telecom-immunity Also, EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston guest blogged for The Hill, declaring that "our long war against warrantless wiretapping has only just begun." http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/repeal-immunity-movement-begins-today * VIACOM AND GOOGLE UPPED COMMITMENTS TO USERS' PRIVACY THIS WEEK in response to concerns aired by EFF after a court order that could have exposed the viewing habits of YouTube users. While the proposals are not perfect, they represent a sensitivity to users' privacy, even amidst controversial litigation. Viacom and Google have agreed that user IDs and IP addresses will be replaced with a "unique substituted value," and also that the parties will not try to reverse-engineer real identities from the unique identifiers. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/viacom-narrows-request-youtube-information In addition, Viacom's General Counsel sent EFF a letter promising not to change the plan to protect users' privacy without informing EFF -- which leaves a chance for EFF to air privacy concerns in court if need be. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/viacom-letter-eff-re-google-youtube-data-privacy : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : EFF Updates * You Bought It, But You Don't Own It In a blow to users' rights, an Arizona federal court has ruled that software users can be guilty of copyright infringement if they violate the end user license agreement by loading the software in RAM, when the software is "licensed" and not sold. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/you-bought-it-you-dont-own-it * Tiffany v. eBay: Court Rejects Tiffany's Expansive Trademark Infringement Theories A ruling in a case about eBay's advertising of Tiffany jewelry confirms that trademark law is about consumer protection, not about squelching speech. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/tiffany-v-ebay-court-rejects-tiffanys-expansive-tr * FCC Chairman Hints at Order Against Comcast FCC Chairman Kevin Martin signaled that the FCC may issue an order against Comcast in the wake of the scandal over their use of packet forgery to interfere with BitTorrent, Gnutella, and other Internet protocols. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/fcc-chariman-hints-order-against-comcast * Sixth Circuit Dodges Constitutional Question on Email Privacy The appeals court decided not to address a critical question: Does the Fourth Amendment require the government to obtain a search warrant based on probable cause before secretly rifling through your Yahoo! mail or Gmail accounts? http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/sixth-circuit-dodges-constitutional-question-email : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : miniLinks ~ Apple Sues Psystar The Psystar OpenMac has incurred the wrath of the "Closed Software Movement." http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/07/15/apple_finally_sues_unauthorized_clone_maker_psystar.html ~ Prosecutor Flagged by US Terror Watch List Air travel is difficult for Assistant Attorney General Jim Robinson, who has been put on a secret list by mistake. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iBtqltI8L9tX_XoTheJc_XZxtfSgD91TREMO0 ~ A Foreign Correspondent Speaks Out About the FISA Amendments Act Chris Hedges is a long-time reporter on the Middle East and says his ability to report the news will be compromised. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-hedges11-2008jul11,0,1553314.story For more miniLinks: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/minilinks-2008-17-07 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : 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, Portland Oregon. 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 at Black Hat USA, August 2-7 in Las Vegas, 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" with EFF Staff Technologist Seth Schoen. He 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 * Vegas 2.0 presents theSummit: Fundraiser for EFF and The Hacker Foundation Kick off DEFCON right at the 4th Annual theSummit fundraiser on Thursday, August 7th, 2008. Organizers plan to have 50+ featured guests from the hacker community. Past guests have been DEFCON/Black Hat speakers, high profile hackers, and security book writers. https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=380 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : 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/
