Android TV Boxes Sold on Amazon Come Pre-Loaded with Malware
Certain Android TV Box models from manufacturers AllWinner and RockChip, available for purchase on Amazon, come pre-loaded with malware from the BianLian family, a variant of which we investigated last year. The malware, discovered by security researcher Daniel Milisic, adds your smart set-top box to a...
Federal Appeals Court Gets It: Fair Use Protects Security Research Tools
In a refreshingly direct opinion, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that creating and selling virtualization software for security research is a fair use. Along the way, it provides a kind of master class in applying copyright’s fair use doctrine to functional works like computer programs. Here’s how...
Dangerous EARN IT Bill Advances Out of Committee, but Several Senators Offer Objections
Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted, for a third time, to advance the dangerous EARN IT bill (S. 1207)—a law that could lead to suspicionless scans of every online message, photo, and hosted file.In the name of fighting crime, the EARN IT Act treats all internet users like we...
Science Rebels Take on Major Publishers
Over 40 leading scientists have resigned from the prestigious journal Neuroimage last month, protesting an inequitable publishing model built on gatekeeping and false scarcity.Academic publishing is fundamental to the advancement of modern science. It facilitates expert collaboration and testing, ideally leading to new innovation, including life-saving medical...
Court Accepts EFF’s Amicus Brief on the Right to Publish Code in Tornado Cash Case
Protecting the First Amendment rights of coders to develop and publish code is a core EFF value. It’s also one where we’ve played a central role in developing the law. So, we were happy that the court in the Tornado Cash lawsuit dismissed a government objection and accepted our...
As Platforms Decay, Let’s Put Users First
The net’s long decline into “five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four” isn’t a mystery. Nor was it by any means a forgone conclusion. Instead, we got here through a series of conscious actions by big businesses and lawmakers that put antitrust law into a...
Suit by Renowned Saudi Human Rights Activist Details Harms Caused by Export of U.S. Cybersurveillance Technology and Training to Repressive Regimes
PORTLAND, OR — The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Center for Justice & Accountability (CJA), and Foley Hoag LLP on Monday filed an amended complaint with the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on behalf of renowned Saudi human rights activist Loujain Alhathloul against...
The Kids Online Safety Act is Still A Huge Danger to Our Rights Online
Are you a young person fighting back against bad bills like KOSA? Become an EFF member at a new, discounted Neon membership level specifically for you--stickers included! Congress has resurrected the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a bill that would increase surveillance and restrict access to information in...
Why Is the U.S. Solicitor General Trying To Change The Law To Benefit Patent Trolls?
For more than two decades now, developers and users of software have been plagued by a flood of bad patents. Software patents that describe everyday practices like watching an ad online, publishing nutrition information, meeting people nearby, or teaching a language class continue to be issued, and low-quality patents get...
EFF to Congress: Oppose the EARN IT Act and the STOP CSAM Act
The Senate Judiciary Committee is about to debate multiple bills that will lead to peoples’ private messages being scanned and reported to the government. We oppose these bills, and we have sent a letter urging the Committee to vote No. Take ActionProtect Our Privacy—Stop "EARN IT"On Thursday,...
