Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog by Rebecca Jeschke | November 9, 2005

Non-Profit Coalition Wins Challenge to Federal Watch-List Policy

EFF and 12 other national non-profit organizations have won their battle against a government fundraising policy that required checking employees against terrorist government watch-lists. It's a big victory for free speech and privacy -- not to mention the non-profits and the federal employees who want to support them through...

Deeplinks Blog by Kurt Opsahl | November 9, 2005

Anti-Cell Phone Tracking Judicial Revolution Spreads to New York City

One more magistrate judge has refused to allow the government's practice of secretly using cell phones to track people without probable cause--this time in the Southern District of New York (Manhattan). The magistrate judge declined to grant the government's request "without further briefing from the Government concerning the propriety of...

Deeplinks Blog by Fred von Lohmann | November 9, 2005

Now the Legalese Rootkit: Sony-BMG's EULA

If you thought XCP "rootkit" copy-protection on Sony-BMG CDs was bad, perhaps you'd better read the 3,000 word (!) end-user license agreement (aka "EULA") that comes with all these CDs. First, a baseline. When you buy a regular CD, you own it. You do not "license" it. You...

Deeplinks Blog by Fred von Lohmann | November 8, 2005

Are You Infected by Sony-BMG's Rootkit?

As we've mentioned before, Sony-BMG has been using copy-protection technology called XCP in its recent CDs. You insert your CD into your Windows PC, click "agree" in the pop up window, and the CD automatically installs software that uses rootkit techniques to cloak itself from you. Sony-BMG has...

Deeplinks Blog by Cindy Cohn | November 7, 2005

Law Clinic Power: Homedepotsucks.com keeps domain

We were pleased to see the domain name arbitration decision in Homer TLC, Inc. v. GreenPeople last week. The University of San Francisco Internet and Intellectual Property Justice Clinic handled this case, on a referral from EFF, and won it for the gripe website homedepotsucks.com ...

Deeplinks Blog by Fred von Lohmann | November 7, 2005

Sony-BMG rootkit DRM in a Nutshell

Molly Wood over at CNET has done a wonderful job summarizing what Sony-BMG's "rootkit" CD copy-protection is all about, and why it's such a bad thing: So, let's make this a bit more explicit. You buy a CD. You put the CD into your PC in order to enjoy...

Deeplinks Blog by Kurt Opsahl | November 7, 2005

Senators React to Washington Post Report on National Security Letters

On the Sunday talk shows, several senators were pressed to comment on the Washington Post's investigative report showing that the FBI issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year. As reported in the New York Times, the Associated Press and a follow up story in the...

Deeplinks Blog by Kevin Bankston | November 6, 2005

New Evidence: PATRIOT Act's National Security Letters Used to Spy on Vast Number of Innocent Americans

Today's Washington Post contains a shocking (and breathtakingly thorough) investigative piece, worth reading in its entirety, which reveals how the FBI has been using its surveillance powers—greatly expanded under the USA PATRIOT Act—even more aggressively than we feared: The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a...

Deeplinks Blog by Rebecca Jeschke | November 4, 2005

Big Win for Fair Use in Colorado Court

For years, EFF has been following a case in Colorado District Court involving Family Flicks and Play it Clean Video -- companies that make and distribute copies of movies with sexual and violent content removed. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and a number of prominent Hollywood directors claim...

Deeplinks Blog by Fred von Lohmann | November 4, 2005

DMCA Used to Stymie Competition...Again

As we've noted before, the DMCA has increasingly been used to block competition, rather than to stop "piracy." First it was printer toner cartridges, then garage door openers, and today, in Storage Technology v. Custom Hardware Engineering, it's being used in an effort to tie...

Deeplinks Blog by Jason Schultz | November 3, 2005

Uproot Sony-BMG's Invasion of Your Privacy and Your Computer

For years now, copy-restriction software has been a looming threat to those who purchase music and want to make fair uses such as space-shifting it from one device or computer to another. Fortunately, early versions of the software were so cumbersome and easy to work around that consumers whole-heartedly...

Deeplinks Blog by Kurt Opsahl | November 2, 2005

Report from Hearing on National Security Letters

Today the Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard argument in the case of Doe v. Gonzales, considering whether National Security Letters (NSLs) are unconstitutional. NSLs are secret subpoenas for communications logs, issued directly by the FBI without any judicial oversight. These secret subpoenas allow the FBI to demand that online...

Deeplinks Blog by Kurt Opsahl | November 1, 2005

Judge Alito?s Decisions on EFF Issues

Bush's selection of conservative Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. for the Supreme Court is doubtless going to lead to an ideological battle in the Senate, focusing on Alito's position on hot button issues like abortion rights, federalism, and gun control. Given the divisiveness of these issues, there is a substantial...

Deeplinks Blog by Kevin Bankston | November 1, 2005

Let the Sun Set on Patriot

Apologists justified the broad, civil-liberties corroding powers granted to the government under the USA PATRIOT Act by arguing that they would be used to put terrorists behind bars. Yet several provisions can be used against Americans in a wide range of investigations that have nothing to do with terrorism...

Deeplinks Blog by Danny O'Brien | October 31, 2005

Halloween on the Hill

If you would like to join our jamboree There's a simple rule that's compulsory Mortals pay a token fee Rest in peace; the haunting's free - The Crypt, Disney's href="http://www.disneylandreport.com/disneyland_haunted_mansion_script.html">The Haunted Mansion Halloween is traditionally the time when the undead walk; preposterous monstrosities that no-one could imagine living stumble...

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Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog

Non-Profit Coalition Wins Challenge to Federal Watch-List Policy

Anti-Cell Phone Tracking Judicial Revolution Spreads to New York City

Now the Legalese Rootkit: Sony-BMG's EULA

Are You Infected by Sony-BMG's Rootkit?

Law Clinic Power: Homedepotsucks.com keeps domain

Sony-BMG rootkit DRM in a Nutshell

Senators React to Washington Post Report on National Security Letters

New Evidence: PATRIOT Act's National Security Letters Used to Spy on Vast Number of Innocent Americans

Big Win for Fair Use in Colorado Court

DMCA Used to Stymie Competition...Again

Uproot Sony-BMG's Invasion of Your Privacy and Your Computer

Report from Hearing on National Security Letters

Judge Alito?s Decisions on EFF Issues

Let the Sun Set on Patriot

Halloween on the Hill

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