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EFFector - Volume 22, Issue 14 - Fight Government Secrecy and Reform the State Secrets Privilege!

EFFECTOR

EFFector - Volume 22, Issue 14 - Fight Government Secrecy and Reform the State Secrets Privilege!

EFFector Vol. 22, No. 14  May 8, 2009 editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

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In our 508th issue:

* FIGHT GOVERNMENT SECRECY AND REFORM THE STATE SECRETS
PRIVILEGE! For years, the state secrets privilege was a
favorite tool of the Bush Administration. They used it to
avoid accountability for both the NSA's warrantless
wiretapping program and the CIA's "special rendition"
program. Recently, the Obama Administration has begun to
use the same tactic -- most notably, to attempt to dismiss
Jewel v. NSA, EFF's lawsuit against the NSA for warrantless
wiretapping.

In light of this continuing abuse, members of Congress have
introduced bills to ensure meaningful judicial oversight of
state secrets claims. The Senate version of the bill,
sponsored by Senators Leahy, Specter, Feingold and Kennedy,
will likely be facing a critical vote in the Senate
Judiciary Committee any day now. Your support could be the
deciding factor!

To take action:
https://secure.eff.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=431

* THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS STILL WITHHOLDING A THOUSAND
PAGES OF MATERIAL regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement (ACTA).  Although the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) released 36 pages of material in
April, most contain no substantive information, and there
are still a thousand pages that need to be released.

One of the documents released implies that treaty
negotiators are zeroing in on Internet regulation. Other
publicly available information shows that the treaty could
establish far-reaching customs regulations over Internet
traffic in the guise of anti-counterfeiting measures.

Litigation to get the rest of the pages continues, with the
USTR asking U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer to
uphold its decision to conceal virtually all of the
information that EFF seeks concerning the ACTA
negotiations.

For the full press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/05/06

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EFF Updates

* YouTube Restores a Fair Use
YouTube has restored another fair use video, this time
without keeping it off-line for the standard 10-14 business
day counter notice period.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/youtube-restores

* AGs v. Craigslist: Putting the Bully Back in Bully Pulpit
On Tuesday, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster
notified craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster that unless
craigslist removes its erotic services section within 10
days, "craigslist management may be subject to criminal
investigation and prosecution."
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/ags-v-craigslist-put

* Apple's Censorship Makes Case for DMCA Exemptions
Trent Reznor's latest version of his Nine Inch Nails-themed
application for the iPhone has been rejected by Apple on
the grounds that it contained "objectionable content."
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/apples-censorship

* White House Photos: Does the Public Need a License to Use?
The White House should reconsider its Creative Commons
licensing approach and work with Flickr to instead flag its
photo stream as work in the public domain.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/white-house-photos

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miniLinks

~ Justice Department Finds Flaws in FBI Terror List
Surprise! The exponential growth of the terror watch list
has led to errors - including 24,000 names included on the
basis of outdated or irrelevant information.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/us/07terror.html

~ Libraries Raise Concerns About GoogleBooks
Librarians submitted a letter to the court overseeing the
Google Book Settlement that raised concerns about how
Google's plans for digital books will affect privacy and
censorship.
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/libraries-warn-of-censorship-privacy-cost-in-googles-digital-library/

~ CAIR Defends Savage
When shock jock Michael Savage was banned from the UK for
allegedly hateful comments about muslims, an Islamic group
he had previously maligned came to his defense - on free
speech grounds.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/06/MN3617FA8K.DTL

~ Facebook's E-mail Censorship Legally Dubious, Experts Say
Does Facebook's decision to block Pirate Bay features for
their site violate wiretapping laws?
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/facebooks-e-mail-censorship-is-legally-dubious-experts-say/

For more miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/05/minilinks-2009-05-08

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Announcements

* EFF's Web 2.0 Compliance Bootcamp

Does your company have to contend with the maze of laws
dealing with user privacy and publishing user content? Want
to do the right thing by the online community that gives
your business value yet fulfills your legal obligations?

On May 11, 2009, EFF will reprise its successful one-day
session for Internet companies that handle issues arising
from users and user-generated content. From DMCA to CDA to
ECPA, the law surrounding Internet content can be
confusing, especially for the folks who have to decide on
the fly whether to let something stay up or take it down,
or whether to give their customer's name to the FBI agent
on the phone. We will also have additional sessions on open
source licensing and employment law for start-ups and small
Internet companies. The event is co-sponsored by the Golden
Gate University School of Law Intellectual Property Law
Center.

Topic areas include:
* Defamation, harassment, and other accusations of bad
behavior
* Fair use, free culture, and the right to remix
* Copyright take-downs and put-backs
* How to respond to cops, crooks, and courts who want your
customers' communications and other private information
* Anonymous speakers
* Porn, predators, and the pressure to police
* Open source issues
* Employment basics for start-ups

Where:
Golden Gate University School of Law
536 Mission Street
San Francisco CA, 94105-2968

How much:
$300. Scholarships may be available.

For more information:
http://www.eff.org/bootcamp/

To sign up:
http://secure.eff.org/bootcamp

* Send EFF to a Conference!

EFF is looking for donations of airline tickets for the
Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference and other
conferences and speaking engagements. If you have enough
airline miles for a free ticket and would like to send an
EFF staffer to a conference, let us know, and we will help
you with the process of making the reservation. Please note
that at this time, we are unable to combine miles from
multiple individuals.

In exchange for a ticket, we can offer a free membership
and a mention in EFFector (if you'd like). Please contact
aaron@eff.org if you have a ticket to donate.

Thank you to Yost Engineering, whose airline mile donation
is helping us to fight for your rights across the country.

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Administrivia

EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org/about

Editor:
Sara Bassett, Membership Services Assistant
sara@eff.org

Membership & donation queries:
membership@eff.org

To support EFF:
secure.eff.org/donate

General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries:
information@eff.org

Back issues of EFFector are available at:
http://www.eff.org/effector/

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