Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | December 23, 2018

Patent Progress and Its Discontents: 2018 in Review

In 2018, technologists and users continued to be plagued by abstract, ridiculous software patents. The good news is there are more ways than ever before to fight back against those patents—some of them pretty effective. Unfortunately, patent trolls and abusive patent owners are working overtime to knock down those recent...

Deeplinks Blog by Katharine Trendacosta, Ernesto Falcon | December 23, 2018

The Year Without the Open Internet Order: 2018 Year in Review

In the waning hours of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Order, ending net neutrality protections for the millions of Americans who support them. The fallout of that decision continued all throughout 2018, with attempts to reverse the FCC in Congress, new state laws...

Deeplinks Blog by Camille Fischer | December 22, 2018

Can the Government Block Me on Twitter?: 2018 Year in Review

In 2018, federal courts across the country have been asked whether members of the public have a First Amendment right to speak on government social media pages. Three of these cases have been bumped up to appellate courts for review prompting numerous people to write into EFF, their local papers...

Deeplinks Blog by Bill Budington, Bennett Cyphers, Alan Toner, Jeremy Gillula | December 22, 2018

Using Technology to Protect Online Privacy: 2018 Year in Review

In terms of technical approaches to protecting user privacy online, 2018 has certainly seen its ups and downs. On a positive note, we added a ton of new features to Privacy Badger, EFF’s anti-tracking browser extension for Firefox and Chrome. We started by revamping the experience for new users...

Deeplinks Blog by Stephanie Lacambra, Jeremy Gillula, Jamie Williams | December 21, 2018

Recidivism Risk Assessments Won’t Fix the Criminal Justice System

The First Step Act of 2018 (S. 3649) is now federal law. The criminal justice reform law has been widely hailed as long overdue, and rightly so. But as we turn to its implementation, we urge policymakers to take care with the central provision of the bill that...

Deeplinks Blog by Cindy Cohn, Michael Rosenbloom | December 21, 2018

Big Wins for Privacy and Free Speech: 2018 in Review

As 2018 draws to a close, we’ve gathered together some of EFF’s key legal wins this year. Some of these wins are only stops along the way to a larger goal, but each is hard fought, whether we’re serving as counsel or amicus curiae. Every one of these victories helped...

Deeplinks Blog by Cindy Cohn | December 21, 2018

2018 in Review

Your rights go with you when you go online. That’s the simple premise that has guided EFF’s work for 28 years. To make this premise real in 2018, we worked to ensure that law, corporate policies, and software are all hard-coded with the principles of free speech, privacy, and the...

Deeplinks Blog by Jamie Williams | December 20, 2018

EFF Urges California to Place Meaningful Restrictions on the Use of Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools

EFF has filed comments on two proposed rules in California regarding the use of pretrial risk assessment tools in courts, urging the Judicial Council to place meaningful restrictions on the use of pretrial risk assessment tools in the state. The California Judicial Council issued the draft rules...

Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | December 20, 2018

Stupid Patent of the Month: Trading By Tweet

We’ve written many times about how the patent system is a poor fit for software. Innovation in the U.S. software industry happens despite, not because of, the thousands of software patents that are granted each year. But software is not the only industry where patents make very little...

Deeplinks Blog by Cory Doctorow | December 20, 2018

Closed, Proprietary, Felonious: The Toxic Rainbow of Locked Technology

When is software free? Is it enough that the software be licensed under a free or open license? What about patents? Software as a service? Trade secrets? What about DRM? Is software ever free? There's a saying in the software freedom movement: "if you can't open it, it's not yours....

Deeplinks Blog by Karen Gullo, Jillian C. York | December 20, 2018

Facebook Responds to Global Coalition’s Demand That Users Get a Say in Content Removal Decisions

EFF and more than 100 civil society organizations across the globe wrote directly to Mark Zuckerberg recently demanding greater transparency and accountability for Facebook content moderation practices. A key step, we told Facebook, is implementation of a robust appeals process giving all users the power to challenge and...

Deeplinks Blog by Aaron Jue | December 20, 2018

Give to EFF in 2018 and Unlock Additional Grants

The world has had its share of dumpster fire years—let's take control of 2019. If you contribute to EFF before the end of December you will power crucial online rights projects and legal work, and you will also help EFF receive additional challenge grants totaling $40,000. Just as we...

Deeplinks Blog by Shahid Buttar | December 20, 2018

Cambridge, MA Joins Growing Ranks of Cities Requiring Civilian Control of Police Surveillance Tech

Last week, the City of Cambridge, MA became at least the tenth local jurisdiction in the U.S. to adopt a crucial measure enabling civilian control of police surveillance technology at the local level. The measure requires local police to obtain civilian permission before purchasing surveillance equipment...

Deeplinks Blog by Corynne McSherry | December 20, 2018

Want More Competition in Tech? Get Rid of Outdated Computer, Copyright, and Contract Rules

There’s a lot of legitimate concern these days about Internet giants and the lack of competition in the technology sector. It’s still easy and cheap to put up a website, build an app, or organize a group of people online, but a few large corporations have outsized power over the...

Deeplinks Blog by Hayley Tsukayama, Adam Schwartz | December 19, 2018

Facebook’s Latest Scandal Shows We Need Stronger Privacy Laws

Facebook, the world’s largest social media company, has shown yet again that it does not deserve our trust. A New York Times investigation revealed that Facebook shared its users’ private data, without its users’ consent, with other tech giants including Microsoft, Amazon, and Netflix. The...

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Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog

Patent Progress and Its Discontents: 2018 in Review

The Year Without the Open Internet Order: 2018 Year in Review

Can the Government Block Me on Twitter?: 2018 Year in Review

Using Technology to Protect Online Privacy: 2018 Year in Review

Recidivism Risk Assessments Won’t Fix the Criminal Justice System

Big Wins for Privacy and Free Speech: 2018 in Review

2018 in Review

EFF Urges California to Place Meaningful Restrictions on the Use of Pretrial Risk Assessment Tools

Stupid Patent of the Month: Trading By Tweet

Closed, Proprietary, Felonious: The Toxic Rainbow of Locked Technology

Facebook Responds to Global Coalition’s Demand That Users Get a Say in Content Removal Decisions

Give to EFF in 2018 and Unlock Additional Grants

Cambridge, MA Joins Growing Ranks of Cities Requiring Civilian Control of Police Surveillance Tech

Want More Competition in Tech? Get Rid of Outdated Computer, Copyright, and Contract Rules

Facebook’s Latest Scandal Shows We Need Stronger Privacy Laws

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