   Misc. ArchiveAugust 09, 2006MiniLinks is Moving[ Since the dawn of time, EFF has run a summary of news links from around the Web, both as a section in our regular newsletter EFFector, and as this mini-blog on our website. These days, many sites have rolled their own "linklogs" into their main blog feed, so we thought we'd do the same. If you've been subscribed to the miniLinks RSS feed, you might want to switch to DeepLinks (RSS feed here), where you'll find miniLinks now continuing as a regular feature. We'll be dropping updates of the separate miniLinks feed here shortly.]
Posted by Danny O'Brien at 02:08 PM
July 27, 2006Welcome to Telco Land
An instructive essay on telcos' inability to innovate.
Carr on Web Pro-Ams
Nick Carr offers some meta-commentary on the blogosphere and the shifting roles of amateurs.
The Other OSSJuly 10, 2006Parody of the MPAA "You Wouldn't Steal A Handbag" Campaign
"The video cost about $65, including the font, a few sandwiches, and a domain name -- we lose that much in an hour at the dog track."
July 05, 2006EFF Legal Director in Law Journal's Most Influential Lawyers in America
Cindy Cohn is "rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online."
AP on EFFEFF in Business 2.0's People Who MatterJune 26, 2006Seeking Volunteers to Investigate Congress
Investigate the 539 representatives whose disclosure forms have not been scrutinized.
Bill Gates' Piracy Confession
Billg watches unauthorised videos on YouTube. Perhaps he was escorted from the premises, after all?
June 13, 2006Pwning Washington
Cory of Linden Labs wonders if it isn't time gamers joined the lobbying effort.
June 07, 2006Quitting VerizonMay 31, 2006Forty-eight Million Americans Have Created Net Content
That's over a third of the US Internet-using population.
"The Generative Internet" by Jonathan Zittrain
Or, the future of the Internet and how to save it; Zittrain's take on the open PC-Internet "grid," and the emerging (inevitable?) backlash.
May 29, 2006Congress Duped By Fake "Terrorist" Game Video
Sound samples of the "Team America" satire pasted over standard EA game footage has Washington shocked and awed.
May 21, 2006Meeting of the Legal and Techie Clans
Scotland's global Computer Law conference returns this September to Edinburgh.
Protest Against AT&T in San Francisco
SF protestors will be demonstrating Wednesday against, among other issues, AT&T wiretaps.
May 18, 2006Future of Music Policy Summit This October
Musicians, fans, technologists, advocates meet this fall in Montreal.
The NSA Answers Your QuestionsWorst. AT&T. Campaign. Ever.
We're beginning to think there's a mole in their ad agency.
May 09, 2006Computers, Freedom, Privacy, and a Prozac, Please
Wendy Grossman writes on a maudlin-seeming CFP conference.
After GoodmailPotential CIA Head Doesn't Know Fourth AmendmentApril 27, 2006Watching the Watchers: Video of Congress With Metadata
Metavid is a UCSC project to providable a public, searchable archive of CPAN. Would the Broadcast Treaty kill this innovation?
Creative Commons SF Salon in May
Creative Commons is holding a salon on May 10th in San Francisco. Share the date!
Amateur-to-Amateur: The Rise of a New Creative Culture
"Let a thousand technologies bloom" -- Cato Institute continues its analysis of copyright and unleashing truly free markets.
April 14, 20062006 Underhanded C Contest
The competition for sneaky code-writing is back, and this year it's all about the "plausible deniability."
Ex-MPAA Anti-Piracy Enforcer Joins MySpace as "Chief Security Officer"
Hemanshu Nigam will be protecting the children for News Corp.
April 05, 2006MAFIAAApril 04, 2006Beware Zombies Bearing EULAs
Video store customer inadvertently hands over soul, becomes undead.
Sour Peas Taste Sweet Victory
The sweet pea serial trademark litigant drops its cases against 52 online defendants.
Smithsonian Locks the Public Out
The Smithsonian signs deal with Showtime, which means reduced access for documentarians and the entire public.
March 27, 2006Free Software's White Knight
ZDNet interviews Eben Moglen, the FSF's general counsel.
March 22, 2006RIAA Doesn't Get to Randomly Hunt Through Everyone's Computers
Judge lets a defendant hire her own forensics expert to examine her PC
March 03, 2006The Benefits of MySpace
While the media panics about its dangers, danah boyd takes a much-needed look at the social networking site's value.
Shareholder Value and Human Rights Aren't Mutually Exclusive
Boston Common Asset Management pushes companies to improve conduct in China.
The Illustrious Employment of "Sue Hollywood"
She's EFF's Fifth Beatle, but with more office chairs. At least that's what Zoominfo's search engine told us.
January 31, 2006Code Is Not A Crime (European Edition)
The UK considers banning software with possible malicious uses.
January 27, 2006Derek Slater to Join EFF
You can look forward to his work in the next few weeks.
Hint: Users Vote Too
Canadian MP Sam Bulte, days after railing against "pro-user zealots" and "EFF members," is kicked out of office.
January 20, 2006Banned Searches In Google And MSN
Search engines refuse some technical keyword searches, with the implication that it's to prevent viruses from spreading. Sounds like a dangerous road.
December 08, 2005Digital Rights Ireland Launches
Irish lawyers, academics and journalists join forces to publicize and defend civil liberties in a digital age.
December 01, 2005Open Hearings on Google's SF Wi-FI Project
City supervisors to hear from the public on December 12 and 16.
November 30, 2005Sony's Apparent Vandalism Continues
... this time, corporate graffitti sprayed to promote the Sony PSP. Did the local community accidentally click through a EULA?
TSA Would Allow Sharp Objects on Airliners
Note that internal studies show half of the Department of Security Theater staff's screening time is spent searching for cigarette lighters.
November 18, 2005The Price of Price Discrimination
Joel Spolsky on what the music industry is trying to do when it pushes for multiple iTunes prices.
Habitat Jam
A participatory internet-based discussion on the future of cities.
Doc Searls Saves the Net
The upcoming battle over network neutrality and censorship--and how to fight it.
November 11, 2005Kill Bill's Browser
The Downhill Battle folk apply their skills to moving net users to Firefox.
November 08, 2005Forrester Grieves for the Music Industry
Suggests they're passing through denial, anger, bargaining, depression--and hopefully, one day, acceptance.
Avenging Girl Geekdom
Ex-EFFer Annalee Newitz speaks this Thursday at Harvard on why the technical world isn't just a man's world.
November 07, 2005Godwin's Law SchoolNovember 04, 2005Websense Filter Censors Microsoft Download Page as Marijuana Advocacy Site
Prompting the question: what exactly are these filter builders on?
November 03, 2005The One-Time Only Web
James Boyle says lawyers would kill the web if it was suggested today.
November 01, 2005What Would Justice Do?
Donna Wentworth pulls together the clues on Alito's intellectual property stance.
October 24, 2005EULAs I Have Known
Tom's Guide takes a look at some of the more egregious EULA terms they've seen.
October 20, 2005DVD Jon Moves From Norway to USA
Joins Bunnie Huang in the reverse engineering mines of San Diego.
US Navy Bans WebmailOctober 18, 2005No one Suspects the National Clandestine Service!October 13, 2005The Window Vanishes
Is there a move to eliminate the gap between theatrical and DVD release dates?
Danish Justice Minister Says EuroMPs "not Adult Enough" to Invade Privacy
The European Parliament and Europe's ministers face off over data retention.
October 12, 2005User Modification Site Excluded From AOL Deal
The modding HackADay site is being excluded from the Time-Warner/Weblogs, Inc deal, apparently for fear of being silenced.
October 05, 2005Customize Google with Firefox Extension
An open source, anonymizing remixer for the Google site.
September 30, 2005Important Technologies Are Free Technologies
Don Marti signs off as editor of Linux Journal with a piece on two non-Net technologies that make the Net work.
September 20, 2005Don't Blame the User for Security Screw-ups
Jakob Nielsen says stop shouting at poor consumers for badly designed security software. Spoilsport.
September 10, 2005What's on Fred von Lohmann's iPod?
Our senior staff attorney confesses to his hi-fi obsessions, musical tastes - oh, and his views on the politics of intellectual property.
September 07, 2005EFF Costume at DragonCon
Some imposter tarnishing our precious intellectual property marks. Note he is not wearing any of our standard biometric identification markers or RFID beacons.
September 06, 2005Wizard Exploits
Bruce Schneier and commenters take a dim view of Hogwart's security policies.
August 25, 2005High-Tech Hot Spots
Copyfighters Nelson Pavlosky and Siva Vaidhyanathan go mainstream in Newsweek's look at the increasing tech smarts of college students.
An Illustrated Guide to IPSec
Today's visual brain-stretcher: a pictorial guide to IPSec, the secure standard for IP.
August 23, 2005Thomas Congressional Database to Be Revamped
All kinds of rumored new features. Only one thing is for sure: it's going to break all those web-scraping programs.
The Web of Law
Legal cites have the same scale-free network topology as scientific papers, the Web, and that dumb social-networking site you joined once.
August 19, 2005And that Diaper Pin - Definitely a Concealed Weapon
Babies as young as two years old are being identified and detained as potential terrorists by TSA officials just following the rules.
August 08, 2005Following the Movie Money
Slate finds out how the movie industry makes a good chunk of its money - off of unlocked, freely broadcast over-the-air content, as it happens.
August 03, 2005Risks Digest Celebrates 20 Years of Publication
From the Strategic Defense Initiative to RFIDs in social security cards, Peter Neumann's newsletter keeps spotting the flaws.
Coloc-lateral damage
When ISP Telus blocked its customers from viewing the website of the labor union it was fighting, it also blocked 766 other sites using the same IP address -- including a breast cancer charity.
August 01, 2005By Reading This License You Agree to Get Scared
Sun engineer reads his own company's license terms, gets freaked out enough to persuade Sun lawyers to drop it.
July 15, 2005State of the Schneier
Long, sprawling, fascinating-throughout interview with Bruce Schneier, the thinking person's security guy.
July 08, 2005Smart Counter-terrorism
Bruce Schneier with some timely thoughts on security in the wake of the London bombings.
July 07, 2005Progress, Freedom - and Godwin's Law
James DeLong defends calling collective licensing "socialist gulag," says the term is accurate when we must beg goverment "to exercise control of [ourselves], [our] creations, or property." Await use of "software patents gulag," "anti-circumvention archipelago."
June 29, 2005Teens Bypass School Filters; Threatened with Felony Charges
What's next -- arresting kids who sneak into the adult section of the library for trespassing?
June 28, 2005For the People's Eyes Only
The Center for Democracy and Technology has a cool project that makes the Congressional Research Service reports easily available to the people who paid for them -- you.
June 07, 2005Supreme Court Rejects Lexmark's Petition for Hearing
The Supreme Court this week denied Lexmark's petition for a hearing, thereby ending its attempts to use the DMCA to control aftermarket sales of toner cartridges. The scuttlebutt is that the company not only failed to impress the Court with its claims, it filed the petition a day late.
May 24, 2005FTC to Take On Zombies with Oversized Broomstick
Good news: the FTC sees malware-infected zombies. Bad news: it wants to solve the problem by getting ISPs to block ports and spy on customers. How about putting a little pressure on those insecure OS manufacturers?
May 16, 2005Open Wi-Fi Access Points and the Law
What's your liability for using an open wi-fi point? We don't necessarily
agree with all of the points examined in this legal paper, but it's an
interesting overview. (Via Bruce Schneier's Crypto-Gram.)
May 13, 2005Paying the Piper
The New Yorker quotes EFF co-founder John Perry Barlow on old and new ways for musicians to get paid for their work: "The value of songs falls, and the value of seeing an artist sing them rises, because that experience can't really be reproduced."
May 04, 2005Suspected Terrorists vs. Known Capricorns
Airline passengers soon will be asked to provide their full names and birth dates when they buy tickets, "to make it less likely they'll be confused with known or suspected terrorists." Spot the potential exploit.
April 27, 2005The Return of miniLinks
I'm back in the saddle after a week at WIPO and a stolen laptop. Here comes more of what's happening online in byte-sized pieces of HTML.
Posted by Ren Bucholz at 08:46 AM
March 23, 2005VoIP Lets Strangers Pick Up the Phone
Low- or no-cost Internet phone calls are letting people reach out and touch someone in other countries, even if they've never met.
February 17, 2005NSA to Play "Traffic Cop" on US Data Networks
A cop with surveillance expertise, code-breaking supercomputers, and an unlimited black budget. We really wish this was just an episode of "Alias."
Every Phone a Porn Portal
That's what some governments fear, so they're preparing to carry out cellular censorship for the newer, more lascivious mobile phones.
December 10, 2004Former Bush Campaign Official Indicted for Dirty Tricks
He apparently conducted a "low tech" denial of service
attack against Democratic offices during the 2002
election. Just how "low tech" was it? He repeatedly
called the offices and then hung up the phone.
When EULAs BiteNovember 10, 2004A Third of Net Traffic Devoted to BitTorrentiTunes "Update" Breaks Other Apps
The new version disables iPod Download, an application that lets people - *gasp* - take music off of their iPods (very useful if your computer crashes or you simply want to keep your songs on the 'Pod).
Homeland Security Targets Sales of Fake Rubik's Cube
You know that terrorists are on the run when HSA can send agents to investigate knock-off toys.
Bush Campaign Site Blocks Foreigners
Back when elections were all the rage, the Bush campaign blocked non-US IP ranges from accessing its site. Now everyone is free to surf again. We still don't get it.
October 26, 2004The Engadget Interview: Wendy Seltzer
EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer sat down with the fine folks at Engadget for this interview. They actually conducted the interview over email, but we're pretty sure that both parties were sitting down.
October 20, 2004ASCAP Approves Web Radio Licenses
The country's largest licensing agency has approved a $1.7 billion deal that allows radio stations to rebroadcast content over the Net.
October 05, 2004Cybersecurity Czar Resigns, Citing Frustration
Amit Yoran reportedly told friends that the government isn't doing enough to address computer security vulnerabilities.
September 30, 2004VeriSign Plans to ID Your Kids Online
How do you make kids safe from Internet predators? According to VeriSign and the government-funded i-Safe, you give them hardware keys that verify their age and gender!
September 29, 2004Innovating by EarIPac - Supporting Copyfighters in Congress
There's a brand new nonpartisan PAC that supports legislators who stand up to the entertainment industry on intellectual property issues - meaning you can help the good guys get elected.
September 23, 2004Microsoft - Net Radio Station K-O-P-Y
Microsoft is copying radio station playlist selections and broadcasting them sans DJ chatter -- even using the real station's call letters to identify the material.
What the Next President Thinks About Tech Policy
PC Magazine provides questions & answers from Bush and Kerry on the PATRIOT Act, broadband, file sharing, and a host of other techie topics.
September 15, 2004R.E.M. Guitarist Gives Away iPods Stuffed with MusicThe Story of Your Life...
...may be digitally recorded and kept on file by the Pentagon, if you're a soldier in the Advanced Soldier Sensor Information System and Technology (ASSIST) program.
September 01, 2004Non Pirate-Related Trouble on High Seas
Sri Lanka has accused an Indian ship of cutting an undersea fiber optic cable that happens to be the island nation's main Internet link.
Microsoft Ordered to Pull Anti-Linux Ad
It seems that the software giant is telling falsehoods in its anti-Linux ad campaign.
August 26, 2004Next on Fox - "CSI: Cyberspace"
Ever wonder what that would look like? Then check out "Forensic Examination of Digital Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement."
August 24, 2004Checking Out Wireless at the Public Library
A strange little story about a library, an open wifi network, and a very confused police officer.
And the Gold Medal for Stupid Linking Policies Goes to...
...the 2004 Olympic Games. Organizers issued a ridiculous "hyperlink policy" that requires other sites to ask permission before creating a link to their site. You know, like this one. And no, we did not ask for permission first.
August 09, 2004It's Free, It's Easy, It's...
OK/Cancel, with a cartoon on sites that require registration. Thankfully, you don't need to register to see it.
August 06, 2004Valenti-isms for the Ages
Tim Wu has compiled a fantastic list of quotes from Jack Valenti, the king of lobbyists and hero of hyperbole. See, e.g., Valenti on the nascent cable industry in 1974: “[Cable will become] a huge parasite in the marketplace, feeding and fattening itself off of local television stations and copyright owners of copyrighted material. We do not like it because we think it wrong and unfair.”
August 04, 2004Kerry On Tech
Declan McCullagh dissects Kerry's long history of votes on tech issues.
China: No Smut for You!
The world's largest country recently shuttered 700 porn sites, arrested more than 200 people, and won the censorship heavyweight title.
July 13, 2004"American Retailers Walk into a Bar..."
... A bar code, that is. That's bad, but if you forgive us we'll tell you about this NY Times story and the coming abandonment of America's Universal Product Code in favor of the European Article Numbering Code.
July 07, 2004Squatters Leave Kerry-Edwards Campaign Homeless on the Web
Domain name speculators have snapped up the most obvious choices for the Democratic ticket's web presence.
Leaky California Email System Sends Employee Data to... Sweden?
The strange story of a Swedish company that's been randomly receiving sensitive emails - employee salary data and financial info, for instance - from a California county for two years.
June 29, 2004Picketing the UK iTunes Music Store?
British fans are angry about the lack of independent labels in the recently launched UK version of the downloading service. In protest, they're making community playlists with pleas to add more labels - and then voting them to the top of the iTunes charts. Priceless.
June 16, 2004Tim Berners-Lee Awarded Large Wad of Cash
Oh, and the Millennium Technology Prize, which recognizes technologists who've dramatically improved the quality of life. This article points out that much of the Web-inventor's impact stems from his decision to forego patent protection on his ideas.
June 07, 2004Iraqis Vies for Control of ".iq" Domain, IraqJune 06, 2004Korea Launches "Clean Internet" Campaign
The government of South Korea, one of the most connected societies in the world, will launch a media blitz against Net-addiction, pornography, and spam.
June 03, 2004Babs Ordered to Pay Legal Fees in Bogus Privacy Suit
Ms. Streisand will pay $177,000 in legal fees after suing a retired software engineer for snapping an aerial photo of the section of California coastline where her house happens to sit.
May 14, 2004ICANN/VeriSign Kerfuffle Heads to Hearing
We're still hoping for a deus ex machina so neither party wins.
Raw Deals Writ Small
Ed Foster has a round-up of the nastiest end-user license agreements out there.
May 12, 2004Iraqi Prisoner Photos in a Connected World
"We owe their circulation and perhaps their existence to the popular technology of our day, to digital cameras and JPEG files and email. Photographs can now be disseminated as quickly and widely as rumors." Food for thought.
May 04, 2004Breaking the Band
Fascinating story on how new technology and alternative distribution channels are helping musicians get noticed.
April 30, 2004Chinese Court to Hear Cyber-Property Suit
A video gamer is suing to recover a virtual sword - worth about $120 - which was deleted by game administrators.
April 25, 2004Aarrgh-natomy of the Word "Pirate"
Ever wonder when swashbucklers and IP-absconders were first conflated? 1668.
April 22, 2004ICANN Goes SLAPP-Happy on VeriSign
ICANN is trying to convince a court that VeriSign is engaging in a "strategic lawsuit against public participation."
April 20, 2004NYC Party for "The Anarchist in the Library"
OpenDemocracy.net is opening a new office in New York with a book launch for Siva Vaidhyanathan and Alex Galloway.
And the Webby Goes to... EFF?
We're chuffed to be nominated for a Webby in "Politics," along with Howard Dean's Blog for America and others. Vote now and help us take home a People's Choice award.
April 16, 2004Flying Through Airline Security
A man recently flew round-trip between the UK and Italy, showing a passport several times. Unfortunately, security personnel didn't notice that it was his wife's passport.
April 07, 2004Lord of the Sims
Reason on unexpected patterns of social (mis)behavior in "The Sims Online."
Both Hands on the Wheel
The Tennessee legislature is considering a bill that would ban drivers from watching pornography in cars.
Weinberger's Three Horsemen of the Infopocalypse
The noted author says that DRM, digital identity technologies and trusted computing will significantly damage our ability to work with digital content.
France Moves Forward on "Digital Economy" Bill
The controversial legislation increases ISP liability for material that they host and lowers protections for email privacy.
April 01, 2004Circuit City Buys MusicNow for Undisclosed Sum
They didn't actually use the words "fire sale," but we're still guessing that they paid in nickels.
March 24, 2004Jack Valenti to Throw Smoke Bomb, Disappear Into Night
The head of the MPAA plans to quit his day job in the next three months.
March 23, 2004Fishy Use of RFIDS
Plates equipped with the shrimpy chips are being used to tally bills in sushi-boat restaurants.
March 22, 20043 Out of 4 Americans Has Access to the Net
Nielsen/NetRatings estimates that 204.3 million people have access to the Net at home.
March 19, 2004Ad Agency of Ill Repute
A Japanese ad exec was arrested for running advertisements for a brothel.
March 15, 2004ICANN: Hurry Up and Wait
A new service from the Net management group would allow people to get on waiting lists for domain names.
March 12, 2004Smartmob the Vote
Rock the Vote is using text messages to woo younger voters into polling places.
March 08, 2004Lott Fought the Blogs and the Blogs Won
A Harvard study focuses on the role of blogs in Trent Lott's political flameout.
Poetic Justice: SCO Draws Court that Runs Linux
A Nevada court that uses a Linux-based webserver will hear SCO's claims that such use is unlawful.
This Old Court
A California ISP claims that site operators for BobVila.com violated the CAN-SPAM Act.
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