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EFFector - Volume 21, Issue 43 - The Patent Office Has Granted EFF’s Request for Reexamination Of An Illegitimate Music Patent

EFFECTOR

EFFector - Volume 21, Issue 43 - The Patent Office Has Granted EFF’s Request for Reexamination Of An Illegitimate Music Patent

EFFector Vol. 21, No. 43  January 13, 2008  editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

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In our 495th issue:

* THE PATENT OFFICE HAS GRANTED EFF'S REQUEST FOR
REEXAMINATION of an illegitimate music patent, patent No.
5,886,274. Seer Systems was awarded this patent for a
system and method for joining different musical data types
together in a file, distributing them over the Internet,
and then playing that file. In the reexamination request,
EFF, along with the law firm Day Casebeer Madrid &
Batchelder, show that descriptions of this technology were
published a number of times before Seer Systems made its
claim - including in a book written by Seer's own founder
and the named inventor of the patent, Stanley Jungleib.

This reexamination request is part of EFF's Patent Busting
Project, which combats the chilling effects bad patents
have on public and consumer interests. Four more patents
are under review and one patent has been revoked by the PTO
due to the Patent Busting Project's efforts.

For the full press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/07

For more on EFF's Patent Busting Project:
http://w2.eff.org/patent/

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EFF Updates

*Calling All iPhone Developers: Support EFF's DMCA Exemption
iPhone application developers have until February 2, 2009,
to submit comments to the Copyright Office. Please support
EFF's proposal for a DMCA exemption for iPhone owners who
want to "jailbreak" their iPhones to gain the freedom to
install applications of their choice.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/iphone-developers-support-effs-dmca-exemption-jail

* Apple Shows Us DRM's True Colors
At last week's Macworld Expo, Apple announced that by
April, music from the iTunes Store will no longer be
shackled by digital rights management (DRM). An inventory
of Apple's remaining DRM armory makes it vividly clear that
DRM (backed by the DMCA) is almost always about eliminating
legitimate competition, hobbling interoperability, and
creating de facto technology monopolies.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/apple-shows-us-drms-true-colors

* Fox News Censors Political Expression
Citizen Media Law Project reports that YouTube cancelled
Progress Illinois' YouTube channel after Fox News sent
three notices of copyright infringement. Fox demanded the
takedown of Progress Illinois' videos, which apparently
used short clips of Fox News coverage of local and national
political events to set up political commentary about those
events.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/fox-news-censors-political-expression

* Al-Haramain Warrantless Spying Case Can Proceed
The 9th Circuit held that the case of Al-Haramain Islamic
Foundation can proceed, and the court set up a process to
allow the Al-Haramain plaintiffs to prosecute the case
while protecting classified information. Al-Haramain had
sued the Bush Administration for the illegal surveillance
of the organization and its attorneys as part of the NSA
warrantless wiretapping program.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/government-motion-dismiss-al-haramain-spying-case-

* UMG v. Veoh: Another Victory for Web 2.0
Video hosting site Veoh won another victory under the DMCA
safe harbors, this time against Universal Music Group
(UMG). This is good news not just for Veoh, but also for
YouTube and every other site that hosts material uploaded
by users.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/umg-v-veoh-another-victory-web-2-0

* Year-end 2008, Darknet Assumptions = True
The infamous Darknet assumptions - three big reasons that
DRM copy protection will never work, as set forth in 2002
by a team of Microsoft engineers - continue to be proven
true by events.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/year-end-2008-darknet-assumptions-true

* Keith Henson Appeal: Time to Undo an Injustice
Keith Henson, a well-known Scientology protestor, has filed
an appeal of his criminal conviction in 2001 of misdemeanor
"interfering with a religion" for picketing in front of a
Scientology "base" in Hemet, CA.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/12/keith-henson-appeal-time-undo-injustice

* Larry Lessig on The Colbert Report
Last week, Larry Lessig appeared on The Colbert Report.
Watch the video on the Deeplinks blog.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/larry-lessig-colbert-report

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miniLinks

~ Mobile Phone Searches - Warrant Required?
Courts are weighing the question of whether searches of
handheld devices during arrests require a warrant.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10140373-38.html

~ Inside a DHS Travel File
Sean O'Neill made a FOIA request for the travel dossier
kept on his travels by the Department of Homeland Security.
http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2008/12/whats_in_your_government_trave.html

~ An Analysis of Obama's DOJ Pick
President-elect Obama has selected David Kris to head the
National Security division at the Department of Justice.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/law.ars/2009/01/07/the-kris-crossover-will-make-you-jump-jump

For more miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/minilinks-2009-1-12

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Announcements

* @EFF Is on Twitter!
We've just started an EFF account on Twitter, the popular
micro-blogging service. Expect to see everything from
breaking news to random trivialities to conversations
between EFF members and supporters.

If you have an account, follow us, ask a question, or let
us know what's on your mind.
http://twitter.com/eff

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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

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