EFFector Vol. 22, No. 03 February 6, 2009 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : In our 498th issue: * CA ACTION ALERT: SAY NO TO BIOMETRICS IN CALIFORNIA DRIVERS' LICENSES. The California DMV is attempting to bring biometric information to California IDs through an obscure, rushed exception to the ordinary budget process. Though the impact on California citizens' privacy would be tremendous, the DMV would be able to bypass the public and begin implementation of its biometrics plan unless the budget committee actively rejects the request by February 11, 2009. Contact the Senate President Pro Tem and encourage the legislature to reject the DMV's attempt to implement its new biometrics proposal without genuine public scrutiny. Contact California State Senator Steinberg: https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=416 * ACTION ALERT: TELL THE NEW CONGRESS TO OPEN THE SECRET IP PACT. New revelations about the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) have emerged, and the news is not good for technology users or their digital rights. Instead of concentrating on physical fakes and fraud, leaked draft language suggests ACTA will provide expansive powers to customs authorities worldwide to search and seize digital technology at the border on suspicion of IP infringements and globally widen the criminalization of IP law way beyond profit-seeking pirates. An entire section of the trade agreement would create new regulations over the Internet and DRM -- but those details remain secret. Write to your representatives now to demand that Congress bring transparency to this clandestine pact: http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=420 Learn more about ACTA: http://www.eff.org/action/act-on-acta : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : EFF Updates * EFF Leads Call of Support for Live Webcast of RIAA Hearing EFF, representing a coalition of media and public interest nonprofits, urged a federal appeals court to allow the live webcasting of a hearing in one of the thousands of lawsuits that have been brought against users of peer-to-peer file-sharing systems. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/28 * Thousands Sign Petition Demanding Cell Phone Freedom EFF submitted a petition to the U.S. Copyright Office signed by more than 8200 people demanding that the office lift the legal cloud hanging over cell phone customers who modify their phones. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/02/02-0 * Parody Site Back Up After Settlement of Bogus IP Claims Savitri Durkee's website is back online after a copyright lawsuit and other legal action brought by Union Square Partnership led to a nearly six-month shutdown. http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/02/02 * YouTube's January Fair Use Massacre This is what it's come to: teenagers singing "Winter Wonderland" being censored off YouTube. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/youtubes-january-fair-use-massacre * More Bad Law in WoW Glider Case Ars Technica has an update on the latest chapter in the MDY v. Blizzard case, which pits the maker of World of Warcraft against the maker of Glider. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/more-bad-law-wow-glider-case * Google Book Search Settlement EFF recommends two articles for those who want more in-depth analysis of the October 2008 settlement. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/google-book-search-settlement-two-articles-read : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : miniLinks ~ Google Executives Face Jail Time for Italian Video Italian prosecutors are holding Google executives accountable for the posting of an objectionable video. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/google-executives-face-jail-time-for-italian-video/?hp ~ AP Alleges Copyright Infringement Over Obama Image The Associated Press says artist Shepard Fairey's remix of an AP photo is copyright infringement -- but Stanford's Fair Use project thinks otherwise. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090204/ap_en_ot/obama_poster ~ "Managed" Copies? New software enables users to make copies from DVDs -- but manages those copies with DRM. http://www.contentagenda.com/blog/1500000150/post/100040010.html For more miniLinks: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/minilinks-2009-02-05 For global miniLinks: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/global-minilinks-2009-02-04 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Announcements * Come see EFF at SCaLE! The 7th Annual Southern California Linux Expo will be February 20-22, 2009, at the Los Angeles Airport Westin Hotel. EFF will have a booth on the expo floor, which is open on the 21st and 22nd. Stop by to say hello, and update your membership! For more information on SCaLE: http://scale7x.socallinuxexpo.org/ * EFF Updates Privacy Policy On January 26, 2009, EFF updated our privacy policy, clarifying EFF's data collection and retention practices. As explained in detail in the policy, EFF temporarily logs standard technical information, such as the IP addresses of the visitors to our website, for up to 48 hours, in order to assist EFF in diagnosing technical problems and defending against attacks on the site. After 48 hours, EFF anonymizes, obfuscates, aggregates and/or deletes unneeded technical information. In addition, EFF's policy reflects that EFF no longer uses Google to provide third-party search functions, using Yahoo! instead. To protect your privacy, no information from your browser (including your IP address or any cookies) is transmitted to Yahoo! The EFF Privacy Policy was last updated in February 2007. For the full policy: http://www.eff.org/policy : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Administrivia EFFector is published by: The Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org/about Editor: Sara Bassett, Membership Services Assistant sara@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/
