EFFector Vol. 20, No. 31 August 7, 2007 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424
In the 435th Issue of EFFector:
- Action Alert: Push Congress Back Into the Wiretapping Fight to Restore Your Rights
- Online CD Seller Fights Universal's Bogus Infringement Allegations
- Senate Approves FOIA Reform Bill
- Review Spotlights Widespread Vulnerabilities; California Decertifies Flawed Election Equipment
- Op-Ed Outrage in the Aftermath of "FISA Modernization"
- Another Loss for Real ID
- CCIA Targets Bogus Copyright Warnings
- Virginia Movie Theater Throws the Book at Teenage Filmgoer
- Visit EFF at LinuxWorld
- Thank You, DEFCON!
- miniLinks (7): Zimbabwe's New Spying Laws
- Administrivia
For more information on EFF activities & alerts:
http://www.eff.org/
Make a donation and become an EFF member today!
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effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a desired
change.
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* Action Alert: Push Congress Back Into the Wiretapping
Fight to Restore your Rights
Last week, Congress passed horrible legislation that
broadly expands the National Security Agency's authority to
spy on Americans without warrants. Now Congress needs to
undo the damage as soon as possible, and to make it do
that, it needs to hear from you:
http://action.eff.org/fisa
By capitulating to the President's demands for sweeping new
surveillance powers, Congress not only trampled on your
Constitutional rights but also disregarded its own
Constitutional duties. The law permits warrantless
surveillance of "persons reasonably believed to be located
outside the United States," even when they are U.S.
citizens or are communicating with U.S. citizens, with no
prior court approval and only minimal court oversight.
Rather than setting meaningful boundaries on the Executive,
Congress essentially handed him a blank check to invade
Americans' privacy.
The most important check on government surveillance still
remains though. It's you. Tell your representatives to
repeal this legislation and restore your rights now:
http://action.eff.org/fisa
Congress' actions are particularly disgraceful given how
the Administration has concealed the truth about its
illegal spying. The President only revealed the so-called
"Terrorist Surveillance Program" when press reports forced
his hand in December 2005, and, after the Administration
deliberately evaded numerous Congressional inquiries, it
took the threat of possible perjury charges for the
Attorney General to concede last week that the program was
broader than first admitted. In its haste to pass
legislation, Congress was essentially flying blind, yet it
caved in to the Administration's fear-mongering anyway.
This is a knockdown -- but far from a knockout -- in the
battle to stop the government's warrantless domestic
surveillance. The fight is not over, and, if you push them
hard enough, Congress still has a chance to set things
right.
For our part, EFF's case continues forward against AT&T for
illegally collaborating with the government, with a hearing
before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals next Wednesday.
We'll keep battling in the courts to uphold the
Constitution and restore your rights.
We will also be taking the fight back to Congress, and for
that we need your help. It's up to you to hold your
representatives accountable for either allowing this
egregious change or supporting it outright. Don't let them
think for a second that this went unnoticed: send them a
letter, call them to voice your opposition, and visit their
home offices in your district during the August recess.
Spread the word to your friends and family about what
Congress has done and urge them to take action, too.
Fortunately, the law has a sunset date, and, more
importantly, Congressional leaders are already signaling
that they want to revise the law before then. Restoring
protections for your fundamental rights shouldn't wait even
a day. Neither should our efforts to make sure that happens
-- take action now:
http://action.eff.org/fisa
Read the Center for National Security Studies analysis of
the bill:
http://www.cnss.org/CNSS%20Views%20on%20S1927.htm
For EFF's case against AT&T:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att
For EFF's page on the NSA's Warrantless Domestic
Surveillance:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/NSA/
See EFF's earlier article, "Administration Concedes Open
Secret: NSA Spying Broader Than Previously Admitted":
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005386.php
For this post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005395.php
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* Online CD Seller Fights Universal's Bogus Infringement
Allegations
Record Industry Takes Aim at Right of 'First Sale'
San Francisco - An eBay seller is taking on Universal Music
Group (UMG) in court after the record industry giant
targeted his online music sales with false claims of
copyright infringement.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the San
Francisco law firm of Keker & Van Nest LLP are representing
Troy Augusto, whose online auctions included sales of
promotional CDs distributed by Universal. Augusto does
business on eBay under the name Roast Beast Music and
specializes in sales of rare and collectible music.
Copyright law's "first sale" doctrine makes it clear that
the owner of a CD is entitled to resell it without the
permission of the copyright holder. Nevertheless, Universal
demanded that eBay take down Augusto's auctions, claiming
that CDs marked as "promotional use only" remain the
property of Universal and thus can never be resold.
"When a consumer buys a CD, he gets certain rights,
including the right to resell it. Universal is mistaken if
it thinks that it can trump these rights simply by putting
a label on a CD," said Fred von Lohmann, EFF Senior
Intellectual Property Attorney. "Universal is trying to
unilaterally rewrite copyright law to the detriment of
Augusto's legitimate business and the public. Unless this
effort is blocked, it could jeopardize not only sales of
used CDs, but also libraries, used bookstores, and
businesses that rent movies and video games."
In May, Universal filed a copyright infringement lawsuit
against Augusto. Today, EFF filed papers with the federal
court in Los Angeles answering Universal's claims and
counter-suing the company for sending bogus "takedown
notices" to eBay that resulted in the unwarranted
suspension of Augusto's auctions.
This is not the first instance of Universal and its
affiliated companies abusing copyright law. Last month, EFF
filed suit against Universal Music Publishing Group on
behalf of a mom who had a home video yanked from YouTube
because a snippet of a Prince song could be heard in the
background. In May, UMG made baseless copyright complaints
about a video podcast by political blogger Michelle Malkin.
EFF has also fought other efforts to override the first
sale doctrine, arguing in 2004 that Lexmark should not be
permitted to use a "label license" to prohibit the resale
of laser printer toner cartridges.
For the answer and counterclaim:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/umg_v_augusto/20070806_augusto_answer.pdf
For more on this case:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/umg_v_augusto/
For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_08.php#005393
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* Senate Approves FOIA Reform Bill
The day before adjourning for August recess, the Senate
unanimously approved S.849, the OPEN Government Act, a
bipartisan bill that is the first significant update to the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in more than a decade.
When Congress is back in session, a conference will
reconcile the differences between this bill and similar
legislation passed by the House of Representatives in
March.
Revelations about the FBI's misuse of a key PATRIOT Act
power and other privacy-invasive initiatives clearly
demonstrate the importance of government transparency. This
law will make it easier for EFF's FOIA Litigation for
Accountable Government (FLAG) project and other FOIA
requesters to keep the government accountable to the
people.
For the bill:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.00849:
For more on EFF's FOIA Litigation for Accountable
Government (FLAG) Project:
http://www.eff.org/flag/
For this post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005392.php
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* Review Spotlights Widespread Vulnerabilities; California
Decertifies Flawed Election Equipment
The final reports of California's "Top to Bottom Review" of
its voting systems are in, and the results aren't pretty.
On Friday, the other shoe dropped. Secretary of State Debra
Bowen, who as a candidate promised to radically overhaul
California's election technology and related procedures,
did just that. In a statement made literally at the 11th
hour -- minutes before an impending statutory deadline
expired -- Bowen announced that all of the voting equipment
analyzed in the Top to Bottom Review would be prohibited
from further use in the state unless dramatically improved
security requirements were met.
California's blistering review exposed a wide range of
critical vulnerabilities and other design problems with
previously approved equipment from vendors Diebold, Sequoia
Systems and Hart InterCivic. These discoveries bolstered
criticisms levied by EFF and others that the country's
voting technology needs a massive overhaul if it is to earn
the legitimate trust of the voting public.
Get the highlights in EFF Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman's
analysis:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005391.php
Read the Source Code Reports:
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/elections_vsr.htm
For more about EFF's E-voting work:
http://www.eff.org/Activism/E-voting/
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* Op-Ed Outrage in the Aftermath of "FISA Modernization"
Op-ed pages and blogs around the country are bleeding with
palpable outrage, as the country wakes up to exactly what
happened when Congress radically expanded surveillance
powers. Most are asking the same question: faced with this
atrocious legislation, how could its many opponents shrink
from the moment and let it pass?
Dan Froomkin at the Washington Post has an excellent round-
up of editorials and news reporting since the weekend.
Check out our complete post for a few choice bits from
opinion pieces around the Web:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005394.php
Read Washington Post reporter Dan Froomkin's article,
"Who's Afraid of George W. Bush?":
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/08/07/BL2007080700888.html
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* Another Loss for Real ID
The REAL ID Act took another blow in the Senate last week,
hopefully putting legislators one step closer to ditching
the national ID mandate.
An amendment tacked onto the Department of Homeland
Security Appropriations Bill would have given $300 million
in federal funds to implement the Act. This measly sum
would have done nothing to make up for the $23 billion
burden states and taxpayers will be forced to bear.
So far, 17 state legislatures have already expressed their
opposition, and, just last month, an immigration reform
bill was scuttled as Senators refused to end debate on a
provision requiring every American to present a
standardized national ID in order to get a job.
That's great news, but unfortunately REAL ID isn't dead yet
-- keep the momentum going and tell Congress to repeal the
Act now:
https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=275
Read the News.com article, "Senate rejects extra $300
million for Real ID":
http://news.com.com/Senate+rejects+extra+300+million+for+Real+ID/2100-7348_3-6199220.html?tag=nefd.top
To learn more about what's wrong with REAL ID, see EFF's
issue page:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/ID/RealID/
For the ACLU's "Status of Anti-Real ID Legislation in the
States":
http://realnightmare.org/news/105/
For this post and related links:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005384.php
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* CCIA Targets Bogus Copyright Warnings
Copyright warnings -- like those "FBI Warnings" on DVDs,
stickers on CDs, and warnings flashed during NFL broadcasts
-- are becoming increasingly common. Trouble is, most of
these warnings are blatantly misleading claiming that any
and all unauthorized uses are forbidden by law. Of course,
copyright has always allowed lots of unauthorized uses,
including fair uses. They are also annoying, and in the
case of DVDs, unskippable.
Last Wednesday, the Computer & Communications Industry
Association (CCIA) filed a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC), asking the Commission to take a number of
major corporations to task for their misleading and
intimidating copyright warnings. Targets include: the NFL,
Major League Baseball, DreamWorks, Morgan Creek (producers
of "The Good Shepherd"), and the book publishers, Harcourt
and Penguin.
CCIA's also started a petition that will be sent to the FTC
-- sign it here:
http://defendfairuse.org/take_action.html
Read the CCIA complaint:
http://defendfairuse.org/ftc_complaint.html
For the full post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005385.php
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* Virginia Movie Theater Throws the Book at Teenage
Filmgoer
Use a digital camera in a movie theater -- even for only a
few seconds -- and you may be dragged from the theater,
arrested, and charged with a serious criminal offense.
That's what happened to Jhannet Sejas on her 19th birthday,
when two police officers interrupted the showing of
Transformers she was enjoying and placed her under arrest.
Sejas says she had no intention of selling or distributing
a pirated copy of the film. Her aim was simply to share a
few seconds of the Transformers movie with her younger
brother to get him excited about seeing the film. (Her
camera had recorded a miniscule 20 seconds of the film when
she was arrested.) Like any fan, Sejas was a paying
customer who only wanted to share her enthusiasm.
But apparently, the owners of the theater at Ballston
Commons Mall in Virginia didn't see her that way.
Read the full story here:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005389.php
Take action now to fight the Justice Department's copycrime
proposal:
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=299
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* Visit EFF at LinuxWorld
Come visit EFF at this year's LinuxWorld in San Francisco,
California. We'll be in the .org Pavilion, booth L.org 6
from Tuesday, August 7, through Thursday, August 9. Stop by
and grab some great schwag:
http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/live/12/
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* Thank You, DEFCON!
Another huge thank you to the folks at DEFCON and everyone
who participated last week in the dunk tank, parties, and
other events that raised funds for EFF. Also, we'd like to
extend a special thanks to Vegas 2.0 for continuing to
support us with their annual pre-DEFCON fundraising bash.
Every dollar goes to keeping up the fight for your digital
rights, and, this year, we raised more funds than ever
before. We look forward to seeing you all again at DEFCON
2008!
For more info about DEFCON:
http://www.defcon.org/
For more info about the Vegas 2.0 Summit:
http://www.vegassummit.org/
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* miniLinks
The week's noteworthy news, compressed.
~ Zimbabwe's New Spying Laws
Mugabe grants his government the right to intercept phone,
mail and Internet traffic.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/05/zimbabwe_mugabe_enac.html
~ House Panel Approves Legal Shield for Bloggers
The Free Flow of Information Act would protect journalists
and bloggers alike.
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6200188.html
~ Congress to Investigate Yahoo's Role in Chinese Rights
Case
What did Yahoo know about dissident Shi Tao when they
handed information to the Chinese government?
http://www.siliconvalley.com/portal/news/ci_6537733?nclick_check=1&_loopback=1
~ File-sharing, a "Petty Offense" in Germany
German prosecutors refuse to unmask alleged file-sharers.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070802-file-sharing-is-a-petty-offense-say-german-prosecutors.html
~ UK Study of Downloading Habits
More people are downloading music, and using social
networking sites to discover new music.
http://www.entertainmentmediaresearch.com/ADMINNews/templates/emr.asp?articleid=43&zoneid=1
~ Don't Sell Imports, or We'll Sue!
Universal threatens to sue retailers for selling an Amy
Winehouse import.
http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/08/universal-threa.html
~ "I Am the Real Fake Steve Jobs"
The blogger behind "The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs" was
revealed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/technology/06steve.html?ex=1344052800&en=8ab7e0cf79cf8e96&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
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* Administrivia
EFFector is published by:
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Editor:
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julie@eff.org
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