The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the leading nonprofit group defending civil liberties and free expression in the digital world. As major entertainment companies have deployed their battalions of lawyers against peer-to-peer (P2P) technology, EFF has become increasingly involved in the fight to protect innovative technologies from these attacks.
EFF is a membership-supported nonprofit organization. In other words, we depend on your support to continue the fight for P2P. Please join EFF!
EFF is defending StreamCast Networks, the company behind the Morpheus P2P software, in an important lawsuit pending in federal court in Los Angeles. Twenty-eight of the world's largest entertainment companies brought this lawsuit against the makers of the Morpheus, Grokster, and Kazaa software products, aiming to set a precedent to use against other P2P technology companies. Now that Morpheus is based on the open Gnutella protocol, this case will be the first one to involve fully decentralized Gnutella P2P technologies. Recently filed court briefs explain the arguments of both sides in more detail.
EFF is working to educate P2P technology developers about copyright law, so that they can design their technologies with an eye toward surviving legal attacks. An EFF white paper explains the legal basics. EFF attorneys have given legal advice to dozens of P2P developers in an effort to help the P2P community resist the tide of litigation that has been filed against them by entertainment companies.
EFF has strongly condemned and is working to defeat legislation proposed by Rep. Berman (H.R. 5211) that would permit copyright owners to engage in vigilante hacking efforts against P2P networks. EFF's analysis of the bill provides more information on the proposed bill and its defects. Take action to defeat this bill at the EFF Action Center.
Coverage of studies showing that P2P is an opportunity, not a threat to copyright owners:
P2P background links: