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EFFector Vol. 20, No. 38 September 26, 2007
editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424
In the 442nd Issue of EFFector:
* Newsweek Exposes Telcos' Secret Lobbying Campaign
* StopTheSpying.org: Call Congress to Oppose Telco
Immunity!
* Outrage at the Possibility of Democratic Concessions on
Wiretapping
* DOJ Testimony Alludes to Massive Scope of Wiretapping
* EFF Joins Representative Markey in Urging FCC to
Investigate Telcos
* MySpace and Facebook Plan to Use Personal Data for
"Targeted Advertising"
* Film Schools Teach Wrong Copyright Lesson
* NPR Covers RIAA Folly; VCL Plans Entering the Mainstream
* Censorship in the Anglosphere: the UK and Australia
* Vote for EFF on the Working Assets 2007 Donations
Ballot!
* EFF Seeks Intellectual Property Staff Attorney
* Save the Date: October 10 for EFF's Compliance Bootcamp
* miniLinks (8): Censor Yourself (in German)
* 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.
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* Newsweek Exposes Telcos' Secret Lobbying Campaign
Newsweek's top story this week exposes the desperation of
the telecommunications companies in light of cases like
EFF's class-action lawsuit against AT&T, which accuses the
telecom giant of assisting in the illegal surveillance of
millions of Americans. The telecoms and the Administration
are heaping pressure on Congress to get a 'get out of jail
free' card for their role in helping the government spy on
their customers:
"The campaign---which involves some of Washington's most
prominent lobbying and law firms---has taken on new urgency
in recent weeks because of fears that a U.S. appellate
court in San Francisco is poised to rule that the lawsuits
should be allowed to proceed.
"If that happens, the telecom companies say, they may
be forced to terminate their cooperation with the U.S.
intelligence community---or risk potentially crippling
damage awards for allegedly turning over personal
information about their customers to the government without
a judicial warrant."
The telecoms' worries are telling. Our case is representing
a class of U.S. residential customers and does not include
any terrorists - just ordinary folks who use the phone and
email. The per person penalties are quite reasonable. If
the telecoms were not spying on millions of innocent
Americans, there is no way for the liability to become
"crippling."
Moreover, the Administration obtained prospective immunity
in the so-called Protect America Act earlier this year. If
the telecoms are only operating under the extremely broad
parameters of the PAA, there is no liability reason to stop
cooperating moving forward. And yet they are so worried
about liability, they threaten to terminate their
cooperation.
To achieve in Congress what they could not achieve in
court, the telecoms are not holding back:
"Among those coordinating the industry's effort are two
well-connected capital players who both worked for
President George H.W. Bush: Verizon general counsel William
Barr, who served as attorney general under 41, and AT&T
senior executive vice president James Cicconi, who was the
elder Bush's deputy chief of staff.
"Working with them are a battery of major D.C.
lobbyists and lawyers who are providing 'strategic advice'
to the companies on the issue, according to sources
familiar with the campaign who asked not to be identified
talking about it. Among the players, these sources said:
powerhouse Republican lobbyists Charlie Black and Wayne
Berman (who represent AT&T and Verizon, respectively),
former GOP senator and U.S. ambassador to Germany Dan Coats
(a lawyer at King & Spaulding who is representing Sprint),
former Democratic Party strategist and one-time assistant
secretary of State Tom Donilon (who represents Verizon),
former deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick (whose law
firm also represents Verizon) and Brad Berenson, a former
assistant White House counsel under President George W.
Bush who now represents AT&T."
Against these lobbyist Goliaths, we need as much grassroots
support as we can muster. Join EFF, and call Congress today
and demand that they stop the spying:
http://www.stopthespying.org
Read Newsweek's report:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20884696/site/newsweek/page/0/
For more on EFF's case against AT&T:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att
Join EFF now and support us in this critical case:
http://secure.eff.org/att
For this post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005453.php
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* StopTheSpying.org: Call Congress to Oppose Telco
Immunity!
For at least six years, President Bush has authorized the
NSA to conduct dragnet surveillance on our domestic
telecommunications networks, vacuuming up the private
communications of millions of ordinary Americans with no
warrants or other meaningful oversight.
Yet instead of reining in this intolerable attack on your
Constitutional rights, the Democratic leadership caved to
the president's demands for even more spying authority by
passing the so-called "Protect America Act" in August. Now
the Administration wants to make its power grab permanent,
prevent any court from stopping the illegal spying, and let
companies like AT&T, which participated in this illegal
spying program, off the hook.
It's going to take massive public outrage to make Congress
grow a backbone to check the president's abuse of power and
to resist the influence of well-connected D.C. lobbyists.
The time is now to demand a strong, clear commitment from
your representatives, as well as Speaker of the House Nancy
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to protect
your rights.
Key congressional committees will begin assembling
legislation next week. Please don't wait before picking up
the phone and making your voice heard. You can find phone
numbers and background information for your call at:
http://www.stopthespying.org
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* Outrage at the Possibility of Democratic Concessions on
Wiretapping
Should telecom companies like AT&T be given blanket
immunity for their illegal participation in the Bush
administration's warrantless wiretapping program? That's
what Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and
Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Ken
Wainstein asked for last week in a House committee.
Strangely enough, it appears that Congressional Democrats
are seriously considering playing along. As the New York
Times reported in an article on the House committee
hearings, "Democratic Congressional aides say they believe
that a deal is likely to provide protection for the
companies."
Of course, EFF isn't the only group outraged by the
willingness of Congressional Democrats to buckle at a
moment's notice...
Daily Kos:
"The Bush Administration and [Mike] McConnell are
demanding retroactive immunity for past violations by
telecommunication companies of the law by engaging in
warrantless spying of American citizens. In essence, it
would codify the notion that these companies can break the
law merely because the president tells them to.
"Ridiculous, right?
"Well, Democrats appear ready to agree."
TPM Muckraker:
"Wainstein and McConnell are holding firm that no civil
liberties are adversely impacted by the Protect America
Act. In that context, Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) asked a good
question: Why, then, seek to codify in the law a
prohibition on suing telecommunications companies from
complying with government surveillance?
"Wainstein's answer? It's "just not right" not to
provide that immunity for a company cooperating with the
FBI or NSA on surveillance."
Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald:
"Granting retroactive immunity to telecom companies for
past lawbreaking is so plainly unjustifiable, even
dangerous, that it ought to require no real debate. That
Congressional Democrats are even considering submitting to
this demand, let alone that they are likely to do so,
dispels any doubt about what they really are."
Read the Daily Kos blog,
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/9/19/115558/638
See what TPM Muckraker had to say:
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004220.php
Read Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald's article:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/09/19/democrats_fisa/index.html
For the New York Times report:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/19/washington/19nsa.html?ex=1347854400&en=cd45d61a0c33aad4&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
For the complete post and related links:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005450.php
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* DOJ Testimony Alludes to Massive Scope of Wiretapping
In a recent House Judiciary hearing, Department of Justice
Assistant Attorney General Ken Wainstein testified in
support of the Administration's request to give the telecom
companies retroactive immunity for their participation in
warrantless wiretapping. Wainstein breathlessly warned that
the telecoms might otherwise face "crushing liability." But
the statutory penalties for warrantless wiretapping are
relatively small per person -- even if AT&T was ordered to
pay the maximum penalty, a few hundred illegal wiretaps
would amount to less than a rounding error in the phone
companies' quarterly statements (AT&T reported revenues of
$29.4 billion for the quarter ending June 30). If the NSA
was truly limiting its spying to suspected terrorists, the
potential liability would be like an annoying gnat on an
elephant. So why are the companies so worried? Perhaps the
telecoms are actually concerned because they helped the
feds intercept the communications of millions of ordinary
Americans.
See DoJ Assistant Attorney General Ken Wainstein's
testimony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc6JNk6s7kY
Read more about the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance
program:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/NSA/
For this post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005446.php
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* EFF Joins Representative Markey in Urging FCC to
Investigate Telcos, Offers Help
Last week, EFF sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin
offering our assistance and urging him to finally act on
the repeated suggestions of Representative Edward J. Markey
to launch an investigation into violations of customer
privacy by the major telecommunications companies.
Under the Communications Act, the FCC has a responsibility
to ensure that the law is followed and the power to
investigate when it is not. Representative Markey made his
original request in May of 2006, and Chairman Martin
rejected it, claiming that the FCC could not investigate
because any relationship between the phone companies and
the NSA to disclose your phone records was, you guessed it,
a state secret. Representative Markey's latest letter
rightly points out that the Administration's recent string
of admissions about its activities and about the role of
the phone companies severely undermines that claim now.
Representative Markey also noted that his concern had
spread to include the FBI as well as the NSA, due to the
revelations of the FBI's illegal use of NSL letters to
reveal the "community of interest" of phone customers.
For EFF's letter:
http://action.eff.org/site/DocServer/fcc_martin_letter.pdf
You can read all of Representative Edward J. Markey's
correspondence, including Commissioner Martin's response in
2006 to his first request and a letter Commissioner Martin
wrote to then-Attorney General Gonzales that was ignored,
here:
http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/Markey%20and%20Martin%20Letters_privacy%20violations.PDF
Read EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn's entire post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005449.php
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* MySpace and Facebook Plan to Use Personal Data for
"Targeted Advertising"
Personal data is a hot commodity. All sorts of businesses
trade in data concerning what we buy, how much credit we
have, where we live, what our interests are. This
information is sold to advertisers, who then eagerly use it
to more precisely target people whom they hope will be
interested in their products, leading to all of those
annoying catalogs that litter your doorstep, for example,
or the junk emails that choke your inbox every day.
Luckily for the advertising industry, modern web users have
begun voluntarily providing all of their personal details
on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Users
of these sites happily upload all sorts of personal
information about what books and music they like, where
they shop, who their friends are, and where they live.
While users of these sites may imagine that they control
the information on their profile pages, advertisers are
salivating at the thought of all that personal data just
waiting to be processed, analyzed, and turned into profit.
Recently, both Facebook and MySpace have announced plans to
do just that.
Find out more in our post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005454.php
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* Film Schools Teach Wrong Copyright Lesson
The University of Hawaii's Academy of Creative Media claims
that it is "more than just a film school" because it seeks
to "empower students to tell their own stories of Hawaii"
through film and digital media. Too bad that empowerment
stops once the student has completed his or her project.
Taking a page from the University of Southern California,
UH is requiring film students to sign a lengthy agreement
assigning copyright in their student works to the
university. If students won't sign, they are kicked out of
their film production classes. If they do sign, UH gets
exclusive rights to their work---they can't sell it, rent
it, show or display it, copy it or make "derivative" works
from it. What is worse, UH won't even promise to identify
the student as the author of the work. As Professor Larry
Lessig points out, this theory makes students into little
more than artistic sharecroppers.
Why the draconian requirement?
Find out in EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry's complete
post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005451.php
For Lawrence Lessig's article: "On Teaching Artists'
Rights":
http://lessig.org/blog/2007/08/on_teaching_artists_rights.html
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* NPR Covers RIAA Folly; VCL Plans Entering the Mainstream
For years now, EFF has been arguing against the strongarm
tactics of the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) and its vain attempt to stop filesharing by dragging
music fans into court. At the same time, we've also been
tirelessly promoting the idea of Voluntary Collective
Licensing (VCL) as a solution that could give fans what
they want while ensuring that musicians get paid. Lately,
these formerly fringe ideas are garnering broader respect
after a few mainstream stories about the RIAA lawsuits and
VCL.
Take the excellent series on the RIAA lawsuits from
National Public Radio (NPR)'s Marketplace. While
responsibly airing perspectives from several major players,
the show nevertheless presents an unflattering portrait of
the music industry's tactics. RIAA lawsuit victim Tanya
Anderson, EFF Senior Staff Attorney Fred Von Lohmann and
RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol are each featured in extensive
interviews, and the simple facts of the story are allowed
to speak for themselves. The RIAA's effort to intimidate
fans by randomly targeting a few individuals is clearly
futile and unnecessarily punitive.
Meanwhile, VCL schemes are beginning to attract interest
from some influential music industry players. The new co-
chief executive of Columbia Records, Rick Rubin, has been
talking about subscription-based music services. "You would
subscribe to music," Rubin told the New York Times
Magazine. "You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music
will come anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there
will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your
car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your
television. Anywhere." And Rubin isn't the only one.
Find out more in our post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005456.php
Listen to NPR's three-part Marketplace show, "Music biz's
future rests on key changes":
Part 1:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/09/17/face_music_part1/
Part 2:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/09/18/face_the_music_2/
Part 3:
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/09/19/face_music_3/
For EFF's page "A Better Way Forward: Voluntary Collective
Licensing of Music File Sharing":
http://www.eff.org/share/collective_lic_wp.php
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Censorship in the Anglosphere: the UK and Australia
In the United Kingdom, two prominent blogs went dark last
week after publishing accusations regarding the Uzbek
billionaire, Alisher Usmanov. Lawyers representing Usmanov
contacted the blogs' webhost, Fasthosts, and after threats
to sue under Britain's expansive libel laws, the blogs were
removed. The sites included Tim Ireland's popular
"Bloggerheads" site, and the site of Craig Murray, the ex-
Ambassador for Uzbekistan. Murray's hosting provider even
intervened to take down individual entries and alter the
text of Murray's blog to avoid further legal action.
And in Australia, the government recently introduced the
Communications Legislation Amendment (Crime or Terrorism
Related Internet Content) Bill. This bill would
essentially let the Australian government intervene in the
Internet speech of all of its citizens on the flimsiest of
pretexts. If passed, entire sites could be banned in
Australia for the slightest suspicion of potentially
assisting a crime.
Find out how Electronic Frontiers Australia is standing up
to this chilling threat to Australian speech and access to
the Net:
http://www.efa.org.au/
Read the bill:
http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au/piweb/Repository/Legis/Bills/
Linked/20090706.pdf
Read EFF International Outreach Coordinator Danny O'Brien's
full analysis here:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005455.php
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* Vote for EFF on the Working Assets 2007 Donations Ballot!
A telecommunications company wants to support EFF!
That's right. You heard us correctly.
Working Assets offers long distance, wireless and credit
card services that donate a portion of customers' charges
to progressive organizations at no extra cost. Since 1985,
Working Assets has raised over $50 million for worthy
groups like EFF. Now, the good folks at Working Assets are
continuing to do their part to make our world a better
place by generously supporting us as a recipient in their
2007 end-of-year donation campaign.
Are you or your friends Working Assets customers who
rounded up your phone bill all year? Well it's time to
spread the love.
When you fill out your Working Assets 2007 Donations
Ballot, vote to allocate this year's funding to EFF. The
distribution of funds is determined solely by how many
votes each group receives. The more votes you give EFF, the
more money we get. It's that simple.
Voting for EFF is easy. Just go to:
http://www.WorkingAssets.com/vote
The voting deadline is December 31, so act quickly!
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* EFF Seeks Intellectual Property Staff Attorney
We're hiring!
EFF is seeking an intellectual property staff attorney for
its legal team. Responsibilities will include litigation,
public speaking, media outreach, plus legislative and
regulatory advocacy, all in connection with a variety of
intellectual property and high technology matters.
Qualified candidates should have at least four years of
legal experience, with knowledge in patent law and at least
one other IP specialty (copyright, trademark, trade
secret). Litigation experience is preferred, including
significant experience managing cases, both overall case
strategy and day-to-day projects and deadlines. Candidates
should have good communication skills and interest in
working with a team of highly motivated lawyers and
activists in a hard-working nonprofit environment. Strong
writing and analytical skills as well as the ability to be
self-motivated and focused are essential. Tech savvy and
familiarity with Internet civil liberties and high tech
public interest issues preferred. This position is based in
San Francisco.
Interested applicants should submit a resume, writing
sample, and references to: ipjob@eff.org.
For this post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005444.php
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* Save the Date: October 10 for EFF's Compliance Bootcamp
Does your interactive company have to contend with the maze
of laws dealing with user privacy and publishing user
content? Want to do the right thing by the online community
that gives your business value and still fulfills your
legal obligations?
EFF is hosting a one-day session for Web 2.0 workers who
handle issues arising from users and user-generated
content. From DMCA to CDA to ECPA, the law surrounding
Internet content can be confusing, especially for the folks
who have to decide on the fly whether to let something stay
up or to take it down, or whether to give their customer's
name to the FBI agent on the phone. Let us help.
What:
One-day bootcamp. EFF's staff attorneys will be teamed with
private attorneys specializing in the various legal issues.
We'll give you the basics on the key topics, and you'll
leave better able to protect your customers, your company
and your job.
Topic areas include:
* Defamation, harassment, and other accusations of bad
behavior;
* Fair use, free culture, and the right to remix;
* Copyright takedowns and put-backs: understanding the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act;
* Responding to cops, crooks, and courts who want your
customers' communications and other private information;
* Avoiding becoming the next Napster and staying on the
safe side of the Copyright Wars;
* The rights of anonymous speakers;
* Porn, predators, and the pressure to police; and
* Lightning rounds on Creative Commons licenses,
webcasting and what to do when you've been hacked.
Who should attend:
People who do front-line or mid-level work for companies
and projects that rely on user-generated content and
communications. This includes compliance, customer service
and community management workers.
Why:
In the past year or so, we've met with several Web 2.0
companies, sometimes before -- and sometimes after --
embarrassing incidents when they found themselves out of
step with their communities or the law. We'd like to give
the people who make these important initial decisions the
tools they need to do the right thing by their companies
and their customers.
Where:
Fenwick and West Silicon Valley Center
Mountain View, California
How much:
Sliding scale of $100-200 per person. For individuals, some
portion may be deductible as a charitable donation. Space
is limited, so sign up soon. Email: bootcamp@eff.org.
For EFF's Bootcamp page:
http://www.eff.org/bootcamp
For this post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005444.php
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* miniLinks
The week's noteworthy news, compressed.
~ Censor Yourself (in German)
Hot on EU Commissioner Franco Frattini's threat to block
terrorist keywords online, here's some javascript to redact
your own blog.
http://www.spreeblick.com/2007/09/15/bombenidee/
~ Victorious RIAA Defendant Gets Attorneys' Fees
Tanya Andersen proved herself innocent of copyright
infringement -- now she's finally getting some cash.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070924-victorious-riaa-defendant-gets-attorneys-fees-turns-to-class-action-plans.html
~ Amazon Launches DRM-free Music Store
The service will allow download of 2 million tracks without
copy restrictions.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2007/09/drm_part_one
~ An Industry Allows Burned DVDs
Individuals can now burn studio movies and TV shows onto a
DVD.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117972409.html?categoryid=13&cs=1
~ Settlement in First GPL-Related Lawsuit
Monsoon Multimedia admits violating the GNU General Public
License.
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS3761924232.html
~ U.S. Register of Copyrights Is a Self-Proclaimed Luddite
The person responsible for administering Copyright law in
the US doesn't own a computer?
http://www.jasongriffey.net/wp/2007/09/18/technophobia-or-payola/
~ Is Anything Private Anymore?
In our digital world, it may be impossible to protect
personal information.
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_09-16-2007/APrivacy
~ Legal Mistakes for Web 2.0 Companies
Rafe Needleman talks about the mistakes Web 2.0 companies
can avoid at EFF's Web 2.0 Compliance Bootcamp.
http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9782365-2.html
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* 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:
Julie Lindner, Education Outreach Coordinator
julie@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/
This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons.
Source: www.eff.org EFFector Vol. 20, No. 38 September 26, 2007
editor@eff.org