The Danger of New Post-Fixation Rights in the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has been working towards the development of a Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations since 1998; about three times as long as the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations have taken so far, but with far less to show for it. Part...
Obama’s Plan for Better Policing: The Good, the Bad, and the Body Cameras
You may be shocked to hear that EFF doesn't think technology is a solution to every problem. That includes problems with the police and with public safety. And, as we’ve pointed out when it comes to drones and other types of local surveillance, we think adoption of new...
We're Back at the World Intellectual Property Organization to Fight For Users' Rights at the UN
We're Back at the World Intellectual Property Organization to Fight For Users' Rights at the UN
EFF is in Geneva this week at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where the organization's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights is gathered to debate proposals for a treaty to give new legal rights to broadcasters, and for instruments that would standardize copyright limitations and exceptions...
Music Publishers Sue Cox For Not Kicking People Off the Internet
The lawsuit filed last week by music publishers BMG and Round Hill against Cox Communications could be the next battle in the major media companies’ long-term campaign to turn Internet service providers into copyright police. BMG and Round Hill are asking a federal court to...
Appeals Court to Hear Oral Arguments in Idaho Woman's Case Against NSA Spying
Seattle - An appeals court will hear oral arguments in Smith v. Obama, a case filed by an Idaho nurse against a controversial National Security Agency (NSA) telephone data collection program, in Seattle on Monday, Dec. 8.
Anna Smith, a neonatal nurse from Coeur d'Alene, filed her lawsuit...
Sifting Fact from Fiction with All Writs and Encryption: No Backdoors
Following recent reports in the Wall Street Journal and Ars Technica, there’s been new interest in the government’s use of a relatively obscure law, the All Writs Act. According to these reports, the government has invoked the All Writs Act in order to compel the assistance of...
Can’t Get Public Approval to Buy a Drone? Do it in Private!
You may remember that last year in Oakland, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors held a packed public hearing where members of the community, joined by EFF and ACLU of Northern California, testified for over three hours about worries around Sheriff Greg Ahern’s plan to obtain a drone....
Oral Argument in Smith v. Obama
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle will hear oral argument in Smith v. Obama, a case challenging the government's bulk collection of the telephone records of millions of innocent Americans. Anna Smith, an Idaho neonatal nurse and Verizon customer, argued that the program violated her First and Fourth...
Copyright Law as a Tool for State Censorship of the Internet
When state officials seek to censor online speech, they're going to use the quickest and easiest method available. For many, copyright takedown notices do the trick. After years of lobbying and increasing pressure from content industries on policymakers and tech companies, sending copyright notices to take media offline is easier...
