EFFector Vol. 19, No. 34 September 12, 2006 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 395th Issue of EFFector: * Action Alert - Tell Congress to Say No to DOPA * EFF Project to Uncover Government Surveillance and Privacy Invasions * Six Tips to Protect Your Online Search Privacy * Another Court Refuses to Dismiss NSA Spying Case * Podcasters Oppose WIPO Broadcasting Treaty * Spread the Word and Tell CA Governor to Sign SB 768! * miniLinks (5): MS, Customers Play DRM Cat and Mouse * 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 - Tell Congress to Say No to DOPA Passed by the House in July 2006, the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) would require public schools and libraries to block access to social networking sites and other communication tools as a condition for receiving certain government funding. Protecting children online is important, but letting federal bureaucrats arbitrarily censor legitimate speech is the wrong way to go. Take action now, and tell your Senators to oppose DOPA: http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=253 Cutting off social networking's legitimate uses is bad enough, but DOPA would also give the FCC wide latitude to define the block-list. It potentially covers IM, blogs, wikis, discussion forums, and other sites far beyond MySpace. Despite its limited exceptions, DOPA will restrict children's and adults' online research, distance learning, and use of community forums, among other activities. Two Congressionally-commissioned studies say education, not blocking access, is the most effective way to keep kids safe online. What's more, several new surveys indicate that education is already working: online sexual solicitation rates are reportedly dropping (or were overestimated to begin with), while kids typically ignore solicitations or block the offending user. By hampering educators' abilities to teach such basic Internet safety skills, DOPA may put children more at risk. This isn't the first time Congress has meddled with school and library computers. EFF fought hard against the Children's Internet Protection Act, which required use of Web filtering. If DOPA passes, where might this slippery censorware slope lead next? Write to your Senator using the form below and help stop this dangerous bill: http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=253 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * EFF Project to Uncover Government Surveillance and Privacy Invasions Two Noted Attorneys Lead New FLAG Project in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched a project to shed light on government surveillance activities. The FLAG Project, based at EFF's new Washington, D.C., office, will use Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and litigation to expose the government's expanding use of technologies that invade Americans' privacy. The Freedom of Information Act is a statute that compels the government to disclose details about its activities. EFF's FOIA requests will zero in on collection and use of information about Americans, the increasing cooperation between the government and the private sector, and federal agencies' development and use of new information technologies. The FLAG Project -- FOIA Litigation for Accountable Government -- is spearheaded by two experienced Freedom of Information specialists: Senior Counsel David Sobel and Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "National security and law enforcement demand some level of government secrecy, but too much can enable abuses of power," said Sobel, who will direct EFF's new project. "The NSA's illegal spying program and other recent revelations show that the government has radically expanded its surveillance of ordinary Americans, obtaining untold access to the details of our everyday lives." "While the government has increased its monitoring of its citizens, it's also stepped up efforts to block public scrutiny," said Hofmann. "The public deserves to know what the government is doing, so that it can keep abuses of power in check and challenge violations of privacy." In his 25-year career, Sobel has handled numerous cases seeking the disclosure of government documents on privacy policy, including electronic surveillance, encryption controls and airline passenger screening initiatives. He served as co-counsel in the challenge to government secrecy concerning post-September 11 detentions and participated in the submission of a civil liberties amicus brief in the first-ever proceeding of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review. In 1994, Sobel co-founded the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). Hofmann is the former Director of EPIC's Open Government Project, where she was lead counsel in several FOIA lawsuits. Documents made public though her work have been reported by the New York Times, Washington Post, National Public Radio, Fox News, and CNN, among others. "EFF is thrilled to be working with David and Marcia," said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele. "They have a peerless track record of uncovering and widely publicizing government activities that raise significant privacy and civil liberties issues, and they will enable EFF to have more of a Washington, D.C., presence. We're so happy they have joined our legal team." EFF will make significant FOIA disclosures available to the public, the media, and policymakers. EFF will also strategically litigate FOIA lawsuits against government agencies to develop precedents that will benefit all FOIA requesters. To reach the FLAG Project: Electronic Frontier Foundation 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 650 Washington, DC 20009 +1 202 797-9009 For more on the FLAG Project: http://www.eff.org/flag For this release: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_09.php#004893 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Six Tips to Protect Your Online Search Privacy How to Defend Yourself from Privacy Invasions Like AOL's Search Data Disaster San Francisco - In the wake of AOL's publicly revealing customers' Internet search histories, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has published "Six Tips to Protect Your Online Search Privacy." AOL's recent disclosure of its users' search logs exposed the private lives of more than a half-million customers. But all the major search engines -- not just AOL -- record search queries and maintain massive databases that reach into the most intimate details of users' lives. When revealed to others, these details can be embarrassing and even cause great harm. In the white paper released today, EFF instructs users on how to follow six privacy tips: * Don't put personally identifying information like your name, address, credit card number, or Social Security number in your searches. * Don't use a search engine operated by your Internet service provider (ISP). * Don't log in to your search engine or its related services. So, if you have accounts with services like GMail or Yahoo! Mail, don't use Google or Yahoo!'s search engines, respectively. Or, use one browser for your searches and a different browser for your other activities. * Block "cookies" from your search engine. * Vary your IP address. * Use web proxies and anonymizing software that mask your IP address and other information that can be used to track you. "These six steps provide a strong shield against the most common and probable threats to your Internet search privacy," said EFF Staff Technologist Peter Eckersley. Protecting search privacy is a particularly acute problem because of ambiguity in current law and the lack of transparency in search providers' data logging practices. Recently, EFF asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate AOL and require changes in its privacy practices. "Until Congress clarifies the law and strengthens protections for this sensitive data, self-defense is the best defense," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "Congress should hold hearings and demand clear answers from the search providers about how they handle search histories." For the full white paper: http://www.eff.org/Privacy/search/searchtips.php For more on the AOL data release: http://www.eff.org/Privacy/AOL/ For this release: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_09.php#004900 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Another Court Refuses to Dismiss NSA Spying Case Last week, a federal judge in Oregon rejected the government's attempt to block a lawsuit against the NSA's massive and illegal spying program. This is a huge victory in the fight to stop the illegal spying -- like Judge Walker in EFF's case against AT&T and Judge Taylor in the ACLU's case in Michigan, Judge King rejected the government's motion to dismiss on the basis of the "state secrets" privilege. But some Congressmen are still trying to squash this vigorous judicial oversight. Fortunately, Senator Specter's surveillance bill was once again stalled before it could reach a vote last week. Keep your phone calls to Congress coming, and stop the surveillance bills: http://action.eff.org/fisa For more on EFF's case against AT&T: http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/ : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Podcasters Oppose WIPO Broadcasting Treaty This week, EFF took to WIPO an open letter from over 200 podcasters that oppose the Broadcasting Treaty. If adopted, the treaty would lock down your digital media devices and grant to broadcasters and cablecasters broad new IP-like rights over anything they transmit. That's bad enough, but some countries at WIPO have also supported expanding the treaty to cover various Internet transmissions. Read the statement here: http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/broadcasting_treaty/podcasting.php : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Required Reading for Digital Media Reviewers The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has published a white paper setting out criteria on which DRM-restricted products and services should be judged. The paper should be required reading for every product reviewer who evaluates digital media products and services, suggesting specific questions that reviewers should be asking when examining DRM-restricted offerings. Too many product reviews fail to mention DRM restrictions (where were the reviewers when Sony-BMG's rootkit CDs showed up?), much less test and evaluate DRM-laden products against unrestricted alternatives. (For example, comparing DRM-laden products like TiVo against unrestricted alternatives like MythTV.) The point is not to rail against DRM, but rather to inform potential customers so that they can make informed buying decisions. Of course, this will require that reviewers do their homework, since the press release and product manual likely won't describe what the product has been designed not to do. But asking manufacturers hard questions is what we pay reviewers to do for us. (And some of them have been doing a great job, like The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro and Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk.) There are a few places where CDT pulls its punches (failing to mention that DRM is often used to force us to pay a second time for media we've already bought once) and others where it falls prey to the Hollywood propaganda machine (pretending that DVD ripping is rare when DVD Shrink and Handbrake are being reviewed in places like PC Magazine and MacWorld). But overall, the paper is a timely clarion call. EFF hopes the product reviewers and their editors are paying attention. For the paper: http://www.cdt.org/copyright/20060907drm.pdf For EFF's review of DRM in major online music services: http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/guide/ For the release: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004897.php : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Spread the Word and Tell CA Governor to Sign SB 768! Recently, the California legislature passed tough new privacy safeguards for use of "tag and track" devices known as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips embedded in state identification cards. You can help this bill, SB 768, clear its last hurdle -- the governor's signature. If you live in California, follow this link and send a letter of support to the governor's office immediately. Regardless, forward that link to friends and family who live in California and urge their support: http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=125 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * miniLinks The week's noteworthy news, compressed. ~ MS, Customers Play DRM Cat and Mouse Engadget reports on the continuing saga of FairUse4WM, a Windows Media DRM evasion tool. http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/08/microsoft-now-patching-for-fairuse4wm-1-2/ ~ NYT: Music Fans Turning Away From Traditional Gatekeepers "All told, music consumers are increasingly turning away from the traditional gatekeepers and looking instead to one another -- to fellow fans, even those they've never met -- to guide their choices." http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/arts/music/03leed.html?ex=1314936000&en=3c5131708083caf9&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland ~ Fan-to-Fan Recommendations in MySpace Over two million unsigned bands can now sell music via their fans' pages on MySpace. http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-media-myspace-songs.html ~ Amazon's UnBox Is Underwhelming Yet another DRM-laden online video service. http://reviews.cnet.com/4531-10921_7-6636289.html?subj=blog&part=rss&tag=6636289 ~ Democracy Player Is Unreal In a good way -- a one-of-a-kind, free, open source Internet TV platform. http://www.getdemocracy.com/ : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * 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: Derek Slater, Activist derek@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. 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