EFFector Vol. 21, No. 03 January 24, 2008 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 456th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert: Your Photos and Videos Needed at StopTheSpying.org! * Opposition to Telecom Immunity Swells * AT&T's Proposed Net Filtering Plan Gets Attention * Time Warner Puts a Meter on the Internet * DHS Issues REAL ID Standards; Congressional Leaders Respond * Filtering and Copyright Extension Fail to Find a Home in EU * Cyberlaw and Cyberlawgs * Come See EFF at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference! * miniLinks (4): DoJ, ACLU Cool to Specter's FISA Deal * Administrivia For more information on EFF activities & alerts: http://www.eff.org/ Make a donation and become an EFF member today! http://eff.org/support/ Tell a friend about EFF: http://action.eff.org/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1061 effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a desired change. : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Action Alert: Your Photos and Videos Needed at StopTheSpying.org! Let's show our elected representatives that we the people -- concerned Americans and voters from across the country -- oppose telecom immunity. Visit StopTheSpying.org for details on making photos and videos to drive the point home: no immunity for lawbreaking telecoms! http://www.stopthespying.org The Senate has begun discussing telecom immunity and the FISA Amendments Act on the Senate floor, and by many indications a vote is imminent. Congress needs to hear from citizens like you on this issue! It is likely that there will be several rounds of amendments and filibusters in the Senate. In addition, the House version of the surveillance bill does not include immunity for telecoms, setting the stage for an inevitable reconciliation of differences in the House and Senate bills if the Senate does pass retroactive immunity. Congressional champions that have so far remained resolute in rejecting telecom immunity to defend the rule of law and privacy rights need your support now more than ever! So visit StopTheSpying.org now to speak out against telecom immunity! http://www.stopthespying.org For the campaign's Flickr page featuring submitted photos: http://flickr.com/photos/stopthespying : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Opposition to Telecom Immunity Swells With Congress back in session and the Presidential election season in full swing, the fight to prevent the Administration from granting immunity to the telecoms for illegal spying is heating up once again. Activists and bloggers alike are keeping the heat on. First, Credo Mobile (formerly Working Assets) urged its members to write to Senators Clinton, Obama and McCain, the three presidential candidates who are still in the Senate and who have said that they would oppose immunity. The results were tremendous: 67,000 emails were sent to the Senators. Meanwhile, Jane Hamsher from Firedoglake has been urging folks to write to former Senator Edwards. Edwards can make telecom immunity a debate issue for the presidential candidates who still have a vote in Congress. And of course, the amazing Glenn Greenwald continues to point out how Senator Harry Reid has the power to help stop the immunity train by supporting Senator Dodd and the handful of others who are willing to lay down on the tracks, but instead, Senator Reid seems to be shoveling in more coal. Additionally, the Melman Group, a national polling organization commissioned by the ACLU, recently published a poll finding that 57 percent of likely voters opposed immunity for the telecommunications carriers that participated in the government's warrantless surveillance program, while only a third supported letting the telecoms off the hook. For the Melman Group poll: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/strong-majority-voters-oppose-telecom-immunity For the complete post by EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/strong-majority-voters-oppose-telecom-immunity For this complete post by EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/bloggers-and-others-push-presidential-candidates-immunity : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * AT&T's Proposed Net Filtering Plan Gets Attention The Internet brought us three terrific discussions about AT&T's plan to filter the internet this week. First, over at Slate.com, Tim Wu asks: "Has AT&T Lost Its Mind?" pointing out that the company risks losing its immunity from copyright liability if it takes an active role in selecting which content can travel over its network. He says: "An Internet provider voluntarily giving up copyright immunity is like an astronaut on the moon taking off his space suit." Second, filtering was discussed again in lively debate on the New York Times Bits Blog between Tim Wu and Rick Cotton of NBC Universal. Finally, in an act of media heroism, Joel Johnson of Boing Boing Gadgets went on the AT&T-sponsored The Hugh Thompson Show and did the unspeakable: instead of discussing gadgets he talked about AT&T's plan to filter the Internet and asked the audience whether they wanted AT&T to be reading their emails and instant messages. Not surprisingly, even the AT&T-picked studio audience thought turning the phone company into Big Brother was a bad idea. The producers stopped the interview after a few minutes, then sanitized it with another take, but Joel had a friend tape the original and posted it. Let's hope this is the start of a trend. The tombstone on this bad idea should read: "Internet Filtering: Killed by the Power of the Internet." For Tim Wu's article "Has AT&T Lost Its Mind?": http://www.slate.com/id/2182152/ For the online debate between Tim Wu and Rick Cotton of NBC Universal: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/bits-debate-should-internet-providers-block-copyrighted-works/ For the video of Joel Johnson discussing filtering on an AT&T sponsored show: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/01/21/talking-about-atts-i.html For this post by EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/3-things-ts-proposed-net-filtering-plan : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Time Warner Puts a Meter on the Internet Time Warner Cable has confirmed that it will be rolling out metered pricing for Internet access in Beaumont, TX. On balance, we think this is a fair choice among a bunch of bad options. Providing transparent, metered access is certainly preferable to Comcast's arbitrary, undisclosed practice of selectively hobbling particular protocols. Overall, business models that keep ISPs thinking of themselves as "pipe" rather than "content" are good. Better that your ISP worry about the tolls to pay for the highway, rather than scheming to force you to use their preferred offramps and eat in their preferred diners. Transparency also encourages innovation and competition. Already, Verizon is gloating publicly, saying that its more modern FIOS fiber-optic service will not have caps. This also may encourage new broadband technology providers to enter the market, as they will have another way to differentiate their offering from cable broadband. However, there are some serious potential drawbacks, too. First, if metered Internet access becomes widespread, it may discourage users from indulging in new, high-bandwidth activities, thereby foreclosing innovative new technologies and markets. For example, we might never have had a YouTube or a Napster if people were fretting about their bandwidth consumption. Second, much will depend on the pricing of these new metered plans. The new plans could beneficially be used to bring basic broadband in at a lower price, or it could be used badly as a cover for price increases on existing customers. And the pricing for "overages" should bear some relation to costs, rather than being exploited for windfall profits. Broadband industry observer Dave Burstein has pointed out that the wholesale price to Time Warner for 40gb for a month amounts to about $3. The last word goes to Harold Feld: "The real solution, of course, is policies that build out more capacity so that it becomes too cheap to meter." Now if only we had a real national broadband policy to get us there. For Howard Feld's blog post about Time Warner and metered pricing: http://www.wetmachine.com/totsf/item/1006 For the complete post from EFF Senior Staff Attorney Fred von Lohmann: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/time-warners-puts-meter-internet : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * DHS Issues REAL ID Standards; Congressional Leaders Respond On January 11, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the final regulations for the implementation of the REAL ID Act, the flawed plan to create a national identity card system. The REAL ID Act was signed into law in 2005 and forces states to standardize drivers' licenses in a way that turns them into a national ID. The Real ID Act will create grave dangers to privacy and impose massive financial burdens without improving national security in the least. Several congressional leaders, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, spoke out against the Real ID regulations, arguing that the provisions pass the cost to taxpayers, do not improve national security, and do not protect the privacy of Americans. For more about the REAL ID Act: http://www.eff.org/issues/real-id For this complete post: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/dhs-issues-real-id-standards-congressional-leaders-respond : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Filtering and Copyright Extension Fail to Find a Home in EU The EU's Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) recently voted on the final form of its report on the Cultural Industries in Europe and chose to listen to their constituents, not the music industry's lobbyists. Amendments proposing ISP filtering and blocking, as well as a last-minute request for an EU directive extending copyright terms, were either voted down or withdrawn by their proposers. It's not quite over -- the report still has to pass a plenary meeting of the Parliament, where there could be a final attempt to introduce yet more loaded language into the document. But thanks to the many EU citizens who called and emailed their representatives, many more politicians across Europe now understand that these "feasible and reasonable" proposals, as IFPI called ISP spying in its lobbying documents, are nothing of the sort. As ever, the more who hear from you, the better the chances for sensible IP policies in every part of the world. For the complete post by EFF International Outreach Coordinator Danny O' Brien: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/filtering-and-copyright-extension-fail-find-home-eu : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Cyberlaw and Cyberlawgs Eric Menhart may call himself a cyberlawyer, but we think he has a lot of learn about cyberlaw -- and common sense. Menhart is the author of a blog about cyberlaw issues called, logically if not innovatively, "Cyberlawg." (As he says in the top right corner, "Cyberlawg = Cyberlaw + blog.") And he is "principal attorney" in a firm called "CyberLaw P.C." OK, OK, we get it, he practices technology law. Based on this, he's applied for a trademark on the use of the term "cyberlaw" in connection with the practice of, um, cyberlaw. That's like a soda company claiming a trademark in the use of the word soda in connection with the sale of soda. Or an apple farmer claiming a trademark in the use of the term apple in connection with the sale of apples. Or ... well, you get the picture. What is worse, he's threatening other lawyers with legal action based on this silly "mark." I wish I could say I was surprised by this one, but such overreaching invocations of intellectual property (IP) rights are all too common -- even where, as in this case, there are no actual "rights" to speak of. But an IP lawyer should know that courts (and trademark examiners, and many tech companies that might be potential clients) don't look kindly on efforts to abuse trademark law to control everyday language. Here's hoping Menhart figures that out fast. For the complete post by EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/01/cyberlaw-and-cyberlawgs : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Come See EFF at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference! Heading to San Diego for the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (ETech) in March? Plan to catch EFF's "On A Brighter Note..." panel, where EFF lawyers and activists will put on their rose-tinted spectacles and describe our best case scenarios: near-future technology that will help you defend your rights, real world policy initiatives that could help save the Net, and techniques and tricks that you can bake into your work now that will help preserve all our freedoms, for now and for good. Also, don't forget to come to EFF's Pioneer Awards ceremony on March 4. And don't forget to visit our booth and grab some EFF schwag during exhibit hours. The O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference (ETech) takes place March 3-6 in San Diego, CA. ETech hones in on the ideas, projects, and technologies that the alpha geeks are thinking about, hacking on, and inventing right now. From robotics, health care, and space travel to gaming, finance, and art, ETech explores promising technologies that are influencing everyday life and inspiring the future. The good folks at O'Reilly are offering a discount to EFFector readers; enter code "et08eff" when you register online to save 20%! http://www.oreilly.com/go/et3cheff For more about ETech: http://conferences.oreillynet.com/ For more information about O'Reilly: http://www.oreilly.com : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * miniLinks The week's noteworthy news, compressed. ~ DoJ, ACLU Cool to Specter's FISA Deal Parties on both sides of the issue are unenthusiastic about Senator Specter's offer of a compromise on FISA reform. http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/doj-aclu-cool-to-specters-fisadeal-2008-01-17.html ~ Supreme Court Declines To Hear Orphan Works Case An appeal brought by Open Content Alliance founders was turned down by the Supreme Court. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6523163.html ~ Are the 59 Million Users of Facebook Suckers? UK Guardian reporter says Facebook was founded by right wingers with an agenda. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook ~ Social Networking Gets Political A new website aims to give ordinary people the same knowledge currently limited to lobbyists and insiders through social networking. http://www.opencongress.org/ : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Administrivia EFFector is published by: The Electronic Frontier Foundation 454 Shotwell Street San Francisco CA 94110-1914 USA +1 415 436 9333 (voice) +1 415 436 9993 (fax) http://www.eff.org/ 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 Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles individually, please contact the authors for their express permission. Press releases and EFF announcements & articles may be reproduced individually at will. Current and back issues of EFFector are available via the Web at: http://www.eff.org/effector/
