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EFFector - Volume 24, Issue 6 - Riding the Fences of the "Urban Homestead": Trademark Complaints and Misinformation Lead to Improper Takedowns

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EFFector - Volume 24, Issue 6 - Riding the Fences of the "Urban Homestead": Trademark Complaints and Misinformation Lead to Improper Takedowns

 
 
 
EFFector! Electronic Frontier Foundation
 
 

In our 564th issue:

Riding the Fences of the "Urban Homestead": Trademark Complaints and Misinformation Lead to Improper Takedowns

The Dervaes Institute is claiming broad ownership rights over the term "urban homesteading" -- a phrase commonly used to describe a social movement dedicated to achieving more self-sufficient, sustainable living in cities. The Institute managed to register the term as a trademark and it is now sending takedown requests and warning letters targeting individuals and organizations that have been using the term for years. EFF protested the takedown requests on behalf of our clients in a recent letter, asserting the Dervaes' legal claims are baseless.

What Does the "Track" in "Do Not Track" Mean?

There is an arms race between practical privacy tools and ubiquitous online tracking, and we fear that the trackers have powerful techniques that without a substantial change will almost always allow them to win. Do Not Track creates a policy mechanism to augment the privacy enhancing technologies that we currently have. It's a technically simple proposal: add a header to the messages that browsers and other HTTP clients send when they fetch web pages. The header simply requests that webservers not track the user's behavior. However, there are a number of questions regarding how tracking is defined, the role of regulation, and what websites should respect the header. There's a spectrum of good ways to address each of these issues - ways to create Do Not Track that can provide users with meaningful ways to express their preferences.

EFF Updates

EFF Evaluates the FCC's Net Neutrality Rules in its "Report and Order"
The FCC's recent order on net neutrality addresses some of the minor concerns raised by EFF in its 2009 comments, but it fails to address the far more important issues like loopholes for non-neutral behavior and barriers to entry.

Over 40,000 Does Dismissed In Copyright Troll Cases
Thousands of unnamed "John Does" in P2P file sharing lawsuits filed in California, Washington DC, Texas, and West Virginia have been severed, effectively dismissing over 40,000 defendants.

New Honorees in the Takedown Hall of Shame
EFF inducts two new additions to our Hall of Shame for their bogus copyright and trademark complaints that threatened creative expression on the Internet.

miniLinks

Check out 8-bit Muscian _node's Newest EP
_node is contributing proceed's from his newest EP to EFF - so listen, download and remix today!

Deconstructing the CALEA Hearing
Chris Soghoian deconstructs the CALEA Internet wiretapping hearing - what does the FBI really want?

How to Install Tor on Your Android Smartphone
Follow these 6 steps to improve privacy and security with Tor on your Android.

Administrivia

ISSN 1062-9424

EFFector is a publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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Editor: Rainey Reitman, Activist
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Announcements

Southern California Linux Expo

Stop by EFF's Booth at the Southern California Linux Expo. You can attend talks by developers, see what is new for beginners, and say hello to EFF Membership Director, Aaron Jue.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Date: February 25-27, 2011

47 U.S.C. Section 230: a 15-Year Retrospective

Co-sponsored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, this symposium will unite some of the key figures in the history of 47 U.S.C. Section 230, widely regarded as the most important Internet-specific U.S. law.
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Date: March 4, 2011

From Mad Men to Mad Bots: Advertising in the Digital Age

EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien joins a panel discussion on online advertising privacy at Yale Law School's Information Society Project's Spring Symposium.
Location: New Haven, CT
Date: March 25-26, 2011

SOURCE Boston and SOURCE Seattle

EFF is a proud partner of two SOURCE Security Conferences! In addition to advanced technical talks, SOURCE offers workshops on entrepreneurship, management strategies, job interviewing, presentation skills, and proficiencies and strategies designed for the security industry.
Location: Boston, MA
Date: April 20, 2011
and
Location: Seattle, WA
Date: June 15-16, 2011

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