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Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog

Gmail: A Rough Guide to Protecting Your Privacy

As we noted last week, Google has introduced a new beta email service called "Gmail" that raises a number of privacy concerns.While the media has largely focused on the fact that Gmail will scan the contents of your email messages in order to target ads, the more serious problem...

Electronic Frontier Foundation Files Comments on FBI Plan

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission opposing an FBI proposal that would extend a decade-old telephone surveillance law to the Internet. The Communication Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (CALEA) forced telecommunications carriers like your phone company to build...

Google's Gmail and Your Privacy -- The Scoop

Google's announcement last week of its new Gmail email service sparked widespread speculation about the possible impact it would have on users' privacy. Among the questions EFF has been asking: What information would Google pull from email? Would it log this information? For how long? Could your Gmail address...

Digital Imprimatur in a Nutshell

Via Howard Rheingold comes David Weinberger's NPR talk on emerging technologies that could significantly limit our ability to use and create with digital content -- the "triple threat" of content lockdown: Digital Rights Management (DRM), digital identity and trusted computing.
Rheingold observes that "This talk should...

From the Mouths of Babes

An attorney lets his 10 year-old install a computer game. Here's what happens:
So my 10 year-old took the lead and started installing the software. When he got to the license agreement, he quipped, "Let's see, it says I have to click 'accept' to continue. Well DUH! It's...

Privacy issue banner, a colorful graphical representation of a padlock

Gmail May Violate EU Privacy Laws

Reuters: "'This is not just 'buyer beware.' Consumers should be aware that there's a vast violation of European law occurring here,' said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, a citizens' group with offices in Britain and the United States. [...]Privacy groups said they were also concerned about Google's ability...

Due Process Halts RIAA's Bulldozer Litigation Strategy

In a victory for due process, a Pennsylvania judge has reaffirmed his previous finding requiring that record companies that seek to sue filesharers bring individual cases against the defendants, rather than lumping them all together.
Our favorite part of the ruling (PDF): when Judge Newcomer lists ways that...

The Wicked Player Piano II

Fred writes below that player pianos were the peer-to-peer file-sharing systems of their day; they spurred copyright holders to lobby Congress for what amounts to a monopoly over all machines capable of reproducing sound. Luckily for us, observes Fred, they failed -- and the modern-day recording industry was...

Humor Break

A few of our favorites from the day's foolish endeavors (in which we couldn't resist taking part):
Ed Foster introduces the Lexmark car:
"Printer manufacturer Lexmark is proud to announce it will enter the automotive market with a line of cars featuring its exclusive Aftermarket...

The Wicked Player Piano

When considering what to make of the recording industry's current rants against peer-to-peer file sharing software, it may help to remember how the record industry got its start -- by pirating the works of famous American songwriters. Consider this article, written by John Philip Sousa in 1906:
"I...

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