While U.S. officials are scrambling to pass domestic Internet censorship legislation in the name of curbing copyright infringement, they’ve been much more effective in their efforts to export these laws abroad. Previously, we’ve examined US attempts to pressure the prior Spanish presidential administration to enact harsh copyright laws....

In the face of mountains of evidence that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) will censor online speech, hurt Internet security and infrastructure, and criminalize tools used by human rights activists in oppressive regimes, supporters of the blacklist bills say one subject...

“[T]he ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas....That at any rate is the theory of our Constitution.” — Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, dissent in Abrams v. United States, 1919EFF has witnessed a growing number of calls in recent weeks for Twitter to ban certain accounts of...

EFF is pleased to announce the newest member of our legal team, Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz. At EFF, Mitch will focus on copyright, trademark, trade secrets, and patent issues and policy, including the DMCA exemptions we’ve requested from the Copyright Office, the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA, and...

Slowed Connections in Iran Spark Fears of Intranet Implementation
Late last week, the Iranian government descended deeper into authoritarianism, ordering the takedown of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's website. Rafsanjani, who heads an advisory body to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had previously refused to remove content critical...

Businesses have long known that offering better service and cheaper prices can lure customers, but many of today’s Internet companies are now learning that a commitment to free expression can also be a distinct market advantage. Namecheap saw clear evidence of this last week with their anti-SOPA campaign, in which...

2011 was an important year for court decisions interpreting the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Supreme Court issued two decisions that promoted government transparency and limited the scope of FOIA exemptions, while two district courts addressed how the government administers FOIA. All of those decisions will help shape FOIA...