EFF Urges Kentucky Judges to Uphold Block on Domain Name Seizure

Frankfort, KY - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky (ACLU of Kentucky) on Friday urged the Kentucky Supreme Court to uphold an appeals court ruling that blocked state officials from ordering out-of-state registrars to turn over...

Computer Science Student Targeted for Criminal Investigation for Allegedly Sending Email

Boston - A Boston College computer science student has asked a Massachusetts court to quash an invalid search warrant for his dorm room that resulted in campus police illegally seizing several computers, an iPod, a cell phone, and other technology.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is representing the student,...

Obama Administration Embraces Bush Position on Warrantless Wiretapping and Secrecy

San Francisco - The Obama administration formally adopted the Bush administration's position that the courts cannot judge the legality of the National Security Agency's (NSA's) warrantless wiretapping program, filing a motion to dismiss Jewel v. NSA late Friday.
In Jewel v. NSA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is challenging...

Broad Coalition Urges Obama to Diversify IP Appointments

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has joined a broad coalition of public interest groups and trade associations calling for President Obama to diversify future appointments to intellectual property policy positions and create new offices devoted to promoting innovation and free expression.
In all, 19 organizations signed...

EFF Urges Court to Block Government's Ploy for Cell Phone Location Information

Philadelphia - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a U.S. appeals court Monday to block the government's repeated attempts to seize cell phone location information -- a record of where the cell phone user travels throughout each day -- without a warrant in violation of communications privacy statutes and the...

Anonymity and Privacy Should Not Add Up to Prison Time

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today urged the United States Sentencing Commission to reject modifications to federal sentencing guidelines that would require extra prison time for people who use technology that hides one's identity or location.
Under current rules, a criminal defendant can get additional time...

EFF Launches Search Tool for Uncovered Government Documents

San Francisco - In celebration of Sunshine Week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today launched a sophisticated search tool that allows the public to closely examine thousands of pages of documents the organization has pried loose from secretive government agencies. The documents relate to a wide range of cutting-edge technology...

EFF and ACLU Urge Court to Reject Warrantless GPS Tracking

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area (ACLU-NCA) urged a U.S. appeals court today to reject government claims that federal agents have an unfettered right to install Global Positioning System (GPS) location-tracking devices on anyone's car without a...

Animal Welfare Advocates Settle Online Video Battle With Cowboy Group

Animal Welfare Advocates Settle Online Video Battle With Cowboy Group
Meritless Copyright Claims Won't Interfere With YouTube Rodeo Critiques
For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 12, 2009
San Francisco - Animal welfare advocates and the world's largest rodeo-sanctioning organization have settled their copyright battle over YouTube videos, protecting...

EFF Calls on Federal Regulators to Protect Consumers from DRM

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today to mitigate the damage that digital rights management (DRM) technologies cause consumers.
In public comments submitted to the FTC today, EFF explained how DRM, backed by the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium...

Government Blocks Release of Documents on Secret IP Enforcement Treaty

Washington, D.C. - The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is withholding hundreds of documents about a secret intellectual property enforcement treaty currently under negotiation between the U.S. and more than a dozen other countries.
In a pending federal lawsuit, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public...

College Student Vindicated After Political Email Sparks Disciplinary Action

East Lansing, MI - A Michigan State University (MSU) student government leader has been cleared of any charges of wrongdoing after the school falsely labeled her a spammer for sending out a political email to faculty members. MSU has also agreed to revise its Network Acceptable Use Policy to ensure...

Community Organizations and Publishers Sue FBI and Other Agencies Over Illegal Computer Searches

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the ACLU of Northern California filed suit in federal court today to protect the privacy and free speech rights of two San Francisco Bay Area community organizations after the groups' computers were seized and the data copied by federal and local...

Patent Office Grants EFF's Request for Reexamination of Patent on Internet Music Files

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won reexamination of an illegitimate music patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). This was the sixth reexamination request filed by EFF's Patent Busting Project and the sixth time the PTO has granted EFF's request.Seer Systems was awarded this...

MBTA, MIT Students Join to Discuss Improvements to Automated Fare Collection System

Boston - Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) officials and three MIT student researchers announced today that, following the dismissal of a federal lawsuit brought by the MBTA against the MIT students, the parties agreed to work together to identify and help improve security in the MBTA's Automated Fare Collection System.
...

Jewelry Company Quest to Expand Trademark Law Could Quash Internet Commerce

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) along with Public Citizen and Public Knowledge urged a U.S. court of appeals Wednesday to reject jewelry-maker Tiffany's attempt to rewrite trademark law and create new barriers for online commerce and communication.
Tiffany sued the online marketplace eBay, claiming that eBay...

Copyright Office Should Right DMCA Wrongs in Rulemaking

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed three exemption requests with the U.S. Copyright Office today aimed at protecting the important work of video remix artists, iPhone owners, and cell phone recyclers from legal threats under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
The DMCA prohibits "circumventing" digital...

EFF to Fight Against Telecom Immunity in Tuesday Hearing

San Francisco - On Tuesday, December 2, at 10 a.m., the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will challenge the constitutionality of a federal law aimed at granting immunity to telecommunications companies participating in illegal domestic surveillance.
At Tuesday's hearing, EFF will argue that the flawed FISA Amendments Act (FAA) improperly...

Court Must Vacate Kentucky Court's Baseless Domain Name Seizure

Frankfort, KY - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) urged a Kentucky Court of Appeals Wednesday to vacate a lower court's order authorizing the seizure of more than 100 Internet domain names associated with websites operating around...

Monitor Election Problems Nationwide with OurVoteLive.org

San Francisco - Reporters, bloggers, and voters across the country can monitor problems at the polls on Election Day on OurVoteLive.org, a project built and hosted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of Election Protection, the nation's largest nonpartisan voter protection coalition, and its toll-free voter-assistance hotline,...

EFF Marks 10th Anniversary of DMCA with Report on Law's Unintended Consequences

San Francisco - Ten years ago Tuesday, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law. In a report released to mark the anniversary, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) documents the ways in which this controversial law has harmed fair use, free speech, scientific research, and legitimate competition.
...

TV Networks Must Stop Blocking Election Videos on YouTube

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of public interest groups called on four television networks today to stop stifling vibrant political debate on the Internet with overreaching copyright claims and proposed two measures to help YouTube protect online political speech in the final days before...

EFF Challenges Constitutionality of Telecom Immunity in Federal Court

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Thursday challenged the constitutionality of a law aimed at granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the president's illegal domestic wiretapping program.
In a brief filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, EFF argues that the flawed...

EFF Urges Court to Protect Innovation in Arista v. Lime Wire

New York - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of groups representing both consumers and industry filed an amicus brief today in the first major lawsuit since MGM v. Grokster against a creator of peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing software, warning that the case has profound implications for the development...

Internal DHS Documents Detail Expansion of Power to Read and Copy Travelers' Papers

San Francisco - Recently obtained documents show that last year the Department of Homeland Security quietly reversed a two-decades-old policy that restricted customs agents from reading and copying the personal papers carried by travelers, including U.S. citizens. The documents were made public today by the Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and...

Law Firm Uses Bogus Trademark Claim in Attempt to Silence Online News Site

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Citizen, joined by Public Knowledge and Citizen Media Law Project, urged a federal judge in Chicago Friday to dismiss a law firm's baseless trademark claims, which were apparently aimed at quashing speech by an online news site.
The firm...

U.S. Trade Office Withholds Documents on Secret IP Enforcement Treaty

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge have filed suit against the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), demanding information about a secret intellectual property enforcement treaty that the government has put on a fast track to completion.
The United States, Canada, the...

EFF Sues NSA, President Bush, and Vice President Cheney to Stop Illegal Surveillance

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit against the National Security Agency (NSA) and other government agencies today on behalf of AT&T customers to stop the illegal, unconstitutional, and ongoing dragnet surveillance of their communications and communications records. The five individual plaintiffs are also suing President George W. Bush,...

New Court Decision Affirms that 4th Amendment Protects Location Information

San Francisco - In an unprecedented victory for cell phone privacy, a federal court has affirmed that cell phone location information stored by a mobile phone provider is protected by the Fourth Amendment and that the government must obtain a warrant based on probable cause before seizing such records.
...

Judge Lifts Unconstitutional Gag Order Against MIT Students

Boston - Today, a federal judge lifted an unconstitutional gag order that had prevented three Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students from disclosing academic research regarding vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system. The court found that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Agency (MBTA) had no likelihood of success on the...

Innocent Customers Potentially Dragged Into Legal Battle Over Satellite TV

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) asked a federal court Friday to reject efforts by Echostar to get the names and addresses of every customer that purchased a free-to-air satellite receiver. Echostar claims that the receiver can be modified to pirate DISH satellite TV programming. EFF argues that...

EFF Battles Dangerous Attempts to Circumvent Electronic Privacy Law

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has filed friend-of-the-court briefs in two key electronic privacy cases that threaten to expand the government's spying authority.
In the first case, Bunnell v. Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), EFF filed a brief with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of...

Senate Joins House in Caving to White House Immunity Demands

Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Senate this afternoon passed the FISA Amendments Act, broadly expanding the president's warrantless surveillance authority and unconstitutionally granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the president's illegal domestic wiretapping program. The House of Representatives passed the same bill last month, and President Bush...

European Lawmaker Sues U.S. Agencies to Obtain Travel-Related and Other Personal Information

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit on behalf of a member of the European Parliament today, demanding that the U.S. government release records about her "risk assessment" score and other information gathered about her during her international travels. The lawsuit comes just days after the disclosure...

EFF to Testify at Congressional Hearing on Electronic Searches at U.S. Borders

Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, June 25, at 9 a.m., members of the U.S. Senate Judiciary hearing will hold a public hearing on laptop searches and other privacy violations faced by Americans at the U.S. border.
Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation will appear at...

House Caves, Approves Fake 'Compromise' on Telecom Immunity

Washington, D.C. - Privacy rights and the rule of law took a serious blow today when the House of Representatives passed blanket retroactive immunity for phone companies that participated in the president's warrantless surveillance program. The FISA Amendments Act, H.R. 6304, which House Leadership rushed to the floor today after...

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