EFF: miniLinks

March 06, 2005 - March 12, 2005 Archive

March 09, 2005

France Fines Programmer for Revealing Security Holes

When all security research is outlawed, only outlaws will conduct security research.

» link | Posted at 08:12 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Free Speech

Discontent in the Cult of Mac

Apple's attempts to squelch free speech have left some of the faithful pondering conversion.

» link | Posted at 08:07 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Free Speech

ChoicePoint Hires Privacy Chief

It's a little like hiring a quarterback *after* you lose the Super Bowl, but what do we know?

» link | Posted at 08:02 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Privacy

German Court Bans Some Links

A German news site has been banned from linking to a website that provides software for circumventing copy protections.

Filesharer Gets Jail Time Under State Law

A university student in Arizona will be the first to serve jail time under state law for filesharing.

» link | Posted at 07:47 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: P2P

CDT Files Complaint Against Barely Legal Download Sites

The DC-based policy group has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate music download websites that trick consumers with claims of legality.

» link | Posted at 07:44 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: P2P

Kenyan VoIP Ban Lifted by Court

The state-owned Telkom Kenya was ordered to restore the service offered by a private company and was blasted for being anticompetitive.

» link | Posted at 07:18 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Telecom Policy

Biting the Hand That Wants to Feed You

Record companies have asked an Australian judge to block the makers of KaZaA from paying labels that *choose* to use the P2P network for distribution.

» link | Posted at 07:16 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: P2P

Give Someone a Nastygram for Their Birthday

Next time you catch a child singing "Happy Birthday," make sure that the authorities are duly notified. The words are copyrighted, and the copyright holders will be relieved to know that you're looking out for their interests. The good folks at UnhappyBirthday.com have the details.

» link | Posted at 05:58 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Copyright | Free Culture

BitTorrent Could Make Everyone a Broadcaster

That's what a liberal activism group called CommonBits.org aims to do.

» link | Posted at 05:54 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Free Culture

Utah Governor's Wacky Interpretation of the First Amendment

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman wants to require ISPs to block sites deemed pornographic. This might be good politics in Utah, but even the state's own legislative counsel says, "the significant restrictions placed on constitutionally protected speech suggest that the adult content registry has a high probability of being held unconstitutional."

» link | Posted at 05:50 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Free Speech

Use BitTorrent to Get 2.6 Gigs of Free Music

And you won't get in trouble! The organizers of South by Southwest (SXSW), a popular music/film/Internet conference, are using BitTorrent to distribute thousands of songs from its roster of artists performing next week.

» link | Posted at 05:46 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Free Culture | P2P

Stop Before You Click

FairTerms.org is a site dedicated to educating people about the terrible things they're agreeing to when they click "I agree" on digital products.

» link | Posted at 05:35 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Spyware/Adware

Security Companies Blast Canadian "DMCA"

Canada is currently considering DMCA-like changes to its copyright law, including punishments for people who circumvent technical protection measures. Security professionals are the latest group to say that's a bad idea: "Anti-circumvention rights have anti-competitive applications. These have been well documented and should be familiar to you. We won't dwell on them here."

» link | Posted at 05:31 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Copyright | International IP

March 07, 2005

Michigan Takes the Blue Pill

State law enforcement officials announced that they'll be dropping out of "Matrix," a controversial interstate crime-fighting initiatives with serious privacy problems.

» link | Posted at 07:33 PM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Privacy | Surveillance

(Real) Blogger Gets White House Press Credentials

Garrett Graff of FishbowlDC decided to test - and write about - the alleged ease of obtaining White House press credentials.

» link | Posted at 09:14 AM by Ren Bucholz | Permalink | Other Links: Free Culture | Free Speech