Victory! State Department Will Try to Fix Wassenaar Arrangement
Victory! State Department Will Try to Fix Wassenaar Arrangement
Now Can We Please Just Stop Trying to Ban Software?
Regular readers of this blog will likely be familiar with the Wassenaar Arrangement, a 41-nation agreement intended to regulate the export of certain “dual-use” technologies, such as guns and fissile material. In December 2013, the list of controlled technologies...
Stupid Patent of the Month: Phoenix Licensing Trolls Marketers
This month, we feature another yet another patent that takes an ordinary business practice and does it on a computer. Our winner is US Patent No. 8,738,435, titled “Method and apparatus for presenting personalized content relating to offered products and services.” As you might guess from its title, the...
Voter Privacy: What You Need to Know About Your Digital Trail During the 2016 Election
The right to an anonymous vote is a cornerstone of the U.S. democratic process. Yet from the time until you walk into the voting booth until long, long after you cast your ballot, your personal information is a highly sought-after commodity. Often your name, contact details, and political leanings are...
Content ID and the Rise of the Machines
Pwnning Tomorrow event
EFF to Apple Shareholders: Your Company Is Fighting for All of Us
Apple is holding its annual shareholders meeting this morning at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. Unsurprisingly, the big topic of the day was Apple's defense of its users as it fights the FBI's unreasonable demands to break an iPhone's encryption. CNET reported that Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, was...
Content ID and the Rise of the Machines
Copyright Bots Aren’t Always Bad, But They Shouldn’t Be in Charge
In 2007, Google built Content ID, a technology that lets rightsholders submit large databases of video and audio fingerprints and have YouTube continually scan new uploads for potential matches to those fingerprints. Since then, a handful of other...
Apple to Court: FBI's Failure Should Not Force Apple to Undermine Global Security
On Thursday, Apple filed its motion to vacate last week's controversial judicial order requiring it to undermine device security for its iOS operating system. The company's filing explains in compelling and forceful terms not only how the government demands to which it responds would undermine national security...
Podcasting Update: EFF Responds to Personal Audio’s Appeal
Today EFF filed our response brief in the appeal of our successful challenge to Personal Audio’s podcasting patent. Back in April 2015, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruled in our favor and invalidated all of the patent claims we challenged. Personal Audio appealed this...
