e>EFF in the News
EFF in the News: March 2006
March 31, 2006
InformationWeek
"Apple To Face Online Writers' Appeal In California"
By K.C. Jones
Apple Computer will head to a California court to face an appeal on behalf of bloggers and online journalists who claim their sources should be protected from subpoenas...
Blogger, Derek Slater, wrote Thursday that the lower court's decision threatens all journalists.
"EFF petitioned to correct the trial court's manifest error and restore the previously well-settled constitutional protections for a journalist's confidential information, upon which the practice of journalism and the freedom of press depend," he wrote.
March 31, 2006
CNET
"Sensitive documents surface in AT&T-NSA spy lawsuit"
By Declan McCullagh
It looks like the Electronic Frontier Foundation may have unearthed some highly sensitive documents about the National Security Agency's supersecret spy program...
Here's what Kurt Opsahl, an EFF staff attorney, told me late Friday: "We're having some discussions with the Department of Justice about what can be placed in the public record, what can be redacted. While those discussions are ongoing I can't really discuss it fully."
March 30, 2006
Boston Globe
"Job Applicants Online Musings Get a Hard Look"
By Diane E. Lewis
Lis Riba says she learned about indiscreet blogging the hard way...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a California-based digital rights group, offers an online legal guide to students and employees who blog.
March 29, 2006
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"Students' Facebook Faces an Adult Invasion"
By HJ Cummins
Millions of college students have jumped into the world of Facebook in the past two years. Now it looks as if some adults want to crash the online community...
"I think there is a reasonable perception that anything you post on Facebook will only be seen by students," Jeschke said, "but I think it's unreasonable to think it wouldn't ever get out to employers."
March 29, 2006
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"Did you express yourself? Now protect yourself"
By HJ Cummins
There's more to your online spring cleaning than deciding how far to go in limiting access to your Facebook profile...
More help. Go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's website: www.eff.org. Under "Topics," click on "Bloggers' Rights."
March 28, 2006
CBS 11 - Dallas
"Warnings About Selling Your iPod Or Mp3 Player"
By Bennett Cunningham
A warning for anyone who is thinking about selling an iPod or MP-3 player... the sale of your music machine may land you in big trouble...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann believes there 'may' be a time when selling a loaded MP-3 player is legal. But, he says, why risk it?
"The sensible thing to do is to erase the iPod before you sell it. Whether it's illegal or not illegal, the bottom line is - regular consumers can't afford to go to court to fight the recording industry."
March 28, 2006
Redmond
"A Delicate Balance?"
By Michael Desmond
When prominent Chinese journalist Shi Tao was sentenced last April to 10 years in prison, it was a ground-breaking case. Not because a journalist had been convicted for publishing sensitive information, but because a major American online service provider -- Yahoo! -- had turned over data critical to the investigation...
"When Google goes to China and produces a crippled service, they now have two customers -- the Chinese government and the Chinese people," says Danny O'Brien, spokesperson for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He says Chinese citizens end up with a "pathetic imitation of the full Google catalog."
March 27, 2006
Los Angeles Times
"Golden State Column: The Dirty Secret Behind The Google Search Subpoena"
By Michael Hiltzik
It's quite striking how the original rationale for the now-infamous government subpoena of Yahoo, AOL, MSN, and Google search records drifted out of public and press consciousness as the subpoena battle wore on...
The dubious constitutionality and manifest unenforceability of the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA, is just one aspect of the story worth noting. (A handy one-stop shop of relevant documents about COPA is maintained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.)
March 27, 2006
Fox News
"Political Groups Fear Future of Pay-to-Send E-Mail Rules"
By Melissa Drosjac
Liberal, conservative and political groups in between have joined forces in a rarely documented event, gathering in mass opposition against plans by Internet service providers to charge mass e-mailers to send out messages...
"We realized that the big problem was that AOL was taking some of the money," said Danny O'Brien, a spokesman for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights advocacy group.
March 26, 2006
Los Angeles Times
"Housing-Bias Suit Against Craigslist May Have Wide Impact"
By Mike Hughlett
Federal housing regulators are fielding more complaints about discriminatory ads these days ? including one against Craigslist ? and they say they have made the issue a priority...
Section 230 of the act "is a very powerful shield," said attorney Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a technology and civil liberties group. "I think Craigslist has the law on its side."
March 26, 2006
San Francisco Chronicle
"Apple not happy, but French may be on right track"
By David Lazarus
Lawmakers in Paris last week approved a bill that would require Apple Computer to make songs sold on its hugely successful iTunes Web site playable on all music devices, not just Apple's hugely successful iPods...
Jason Schultz, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, said the French bill is ultimately about providing consumers with choices and boosting competition, which can only have a positive effect on the marketplace.
March 24, 2006
The Nation
"Google's Wi-Fi Privacy Ploy"
By Jeff Chester
The digital gold rush is on across America, as cities scramble to develop free or low-cost Wi-Fi zones...
In letters to the city, the ACLU of Northern California, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) urged the adoption of a "gold standard" for data privacy, insuring that its Wi-Fi system would "accommodate the individual's right to communicate anonymously and pseudonymously."
March 24, 2006
PC World
"Should the Internet Play Favorites?"
By Tom Spring
In a move seen as yet another threat to Internet neutrality, America Online and Yahoo say they'll charge bulk e-mailers for guaranteed delivery of their messages to AOL and Yahoo inboxes...
Many in the Internet community give the plan a resounding thumbs-down. Fifty nonprofits, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Gun Owners of America, MoveOn.org Civil Action, and the Association of Cancer Online Resources, are pressuring AOL to quash what they call the "e-mail tax."
March 23, 2006
Consumer Affairs
"Blog Thefts" Illustrate Gray Areas In Content Rights"
By Martin H. Bosworth
You don't have to be George Clooney to know that it's embarrassing when someone takes statements you made and uses them out of context, or without credit to you, or for purposes you never intended...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) designed a "guide to bloggers' rights," including instructions on using others' copyrighted content in accordance with the Copyright Act, the DMCA, and the "fair use" doctrine.
March 22, 2006
Chicago Tribune
"Let Your Finger Do the Buying"
By Josh Noel
They swear it isn't a fingerprint. Instead, Jewel supermarket officials call it an authentication system using hundreds of characteristics in the grooves at the end of the index finger--like spacing, size and curvature--to recognize a customer in seconds at the checkout line...
Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a technology and civil liberties group in San Francisco, said the primary concern is security. After all, he said, you can't cancel your finger like you can a stolen credit card.
March 21, 2006
Daily Tech
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation Pushes for DMCA Reform"
By Brandon Hill
Consumers have been coming under fire in regards to copyright issues thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). That may change if a new bill that Congress is considering becomes law...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a form for you to fill out with your personal information after which a pre-formatted email will be sent to your congressman. You can edit the subject and text of the email if you wish, but the EFF pretty much has all of the bases covered.
March 20, 2006
WebProNews
"EFF Calls For DMCA Reform Support"
By David Utter
A bill before the House would reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and ensure protections long enjoyed by consumers for lawfully using digital content continue to exist...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently issued a call for support for House Resolution 1201, the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act. Congressman Rick Boucher (D-Va) introduced the bill in March 2005.
March 20, 2006
Washington Post
"Copyright and Wrong"
By Rob Pegorano
Last Wednesday and Thursday, representatives of consumer-electronics, computing and entertainment firms gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington for the Consumer Electronics Association's annual Entertainment and Technology Policy Summit...
The most interesting part of this was the closing debate, which featured a lineup guaranteed to clash: Dan Glickman, president of the Motion Picture Association of America; Leslie Harris, executive director of the Center for Democracy and Technology; David Israelite, president of the National Music Publishers' Association (a late replacement for Recording Industry Assocation of America chairman Mitch Bainwol); CEA chief Gary Shapiro; Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge; and Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation."
March 20, 2006
WUSA: CBS in Washington DC
"Think Twice Before Selling Your IPod Or MP-3"
By Samara Martin Ewing
Blayne Aden didn't need his iPod anymore, so he decided to sell it online to the highest bidder...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred Von-Lohmann believes there may be a time when selling a loaded MP-3 player is legal. But until it's hashed out in court, why take the chance.
"The sensible thing to do is to erase the iPod before you sell it. Whether it's illegal or not legal, the bottom line is, regular customers can't afford to go to court to fight the recording industry."
March 19, 2006
Stereophile
"von Lohmann Gives Us the Low-Down"
By Wes Phillips
Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) Fred von Lohmann talked with us about how fair use created unexpected riches for Hollywood, created the iPod boom, and how dismantling it could prove disastrous for consumers. This week, we resume that conversation with a discussion about digital rights management (DRM) and why the computer industry is willing to support it, even though its consumers never asked for it.
March 18, 2006
Los Angeles Times
"Whistle-Blower or Thief in Diebold Case?"
By Hemmy So
A whistle-blower to some, a thief to others, Stephen Heller says he's a regular guy, not an activist or a member of any political group...
"People should be thanking Stephen Heller because ultimately he helped our secretary of state stop illegal acts by Diebold," said Cindy Coen, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group based in San Francisco.
March 18, 2006
Los Angeles Times
By Chris Gaithier
A federal judge Friday denied a Justice Department demand for access to some Internet search queries of Google Inc. users in a closely watched case testing the limits of online privacy...
"This issue is going to come up over and over again," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "I don't think this should make anybody very comfortable about the future. Google still has this stuff and people will still try to seek it."
March 17, 2006
Philadelphia Inquirer
"The Blueberry Heir v The Web's Bad Boy"
By Daniel Rubin
Can you wish on an Internet site that someone meets "the end of a Magnum?"...
Levy called the annoyance law clearly unconstitutional - a view shared by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
March 16, 2006
Wall Street Journal
"TV stations build online fences to blunt Web's effect"
By Amy Schatz and Brooks Barnes
To understand how the TV industry is scrambling to respond to the Web's disruption of its business model, take a look at Major League Baseball...
A coalition of technology firms and interest groups, including the American Library Association and Electronic Frontier Foundation, challenged the FCC's authority over the matter.
March 16, 2006
Voice of America
"Lawsuit Calls on Craig's List to do Better Job of Policing Ads"
By Maura Jane Farrelly
For millions of people around the world -- living on every continent, actually, except Antarctica -- the website craigslist.org has become an indispensable tool in the search for housing...
But according to Kurt Opsahl, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, websites are not legally considered "publishers"...
"The rationale was to not hold the soapboxes liable for what the speaker has said," he says. "Congress recognized that in order to foster Internet development, it needed to provide some protection for Internet service providers. It simply would be unfeasible for a service provider to pre-review every post that goes onto the service before it gets posted."
March 15, 2006
Boston Globe
"Google Faces Order to Give Up Records"
By Hiawatha Bray
A federal judge indicated yesterday that he is prepared to give the US Department of Justice a partial victory in its effort to subpoena millions of search records from Google Inc.'s industry-leading Internet search service...
"It appears that the judge is going to try to split the baby," said Kurt Opsahl, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet civil liberties organization that supports Google's resistance to the subpoena.
March 15, 2006
Newark Star-Ledger
"Advocacy groups blast bills to curb free speech"
By Kevin Coughlin
That chill in the air isn't the last gasp of winter. It is New Jersey legislators trying to ice free speech on the Internet, according to advocacy groups who took aim at a pair of bills meant to curb anonymous postings...
It was signed by representatives of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, Public Citizen and the U.S. Internet Industry Association."
March 15, 2006
New York Daily News
"How cell phone helped cops nail key murder suspect"
By Alison Gendar and Adam Lisberg
No one saw the fiend who dumped Imette St. Guillen's body by the muddy shoulder of a dead-end Brooklyn road...
"The concern is that we are all carrying tracking devices around with us all day, so that every place we visit is logged," said Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Kevin Bankston, who has pushed for strict privacy controls on cell phone data.
"You are creating a detailed map of all your comings and goings," he added. "Information about your past locations can come back to haunt you."
March 15, 2006
Asbury Park Press
"Coalition blasts bills to regulate Web forums"
By Bill Bowman
A coalition opposed to two pending bills in the state Legislature that would require registration of Internet forum users may sue the state if either bill is approved, a spokesman for the coalition said Tuesday...
Kurt Opsahl, an attorney with the EFF, said the group could take the state to court should the bills become law.
"If these do pass into law, we will certainly consider legal action to prevent them from enforcement," Opsahl said. "But I would hope they did not pass."
March 14, 2006
CNET
"Google, feds face off over search records"
By Declan McCullough
Google's attempts to fend off the government's request for millions of search terms will move to a federal court in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday morning...
"These laws were written some time ago," says Lee Tien, a staff attorney at digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "They were careful in some places and not in others."
March 13, 2006
The Argus
"Whistle-blower faces theft charges"
By Ian Hoffman
One night early in 2004, a few weeks before the presidential primary, a Van Nuys actor making ends meet temping as a word processor listened on headphones as a young lawyer laid out a defense for Diebold Election Systems Inc.'s use of unapproved voting software in Alameda County...
"He found evidence that the problems that people were complaining about, and that Diebold was belittling, were real and that Diebold was skirting the rules," said EFF legal director Cindy Cohn. "I think people are really heartsick," she said. "This is a guy who the people of California should be thanking and yet he's facing litigation titled 'People vs. Heller.'"
March 13, 2006
Register
"More Sign Against AOL's Email Tax"
By John Oates
The campaign to stop AOL charging to guarantee delivery of emails is growing with more than 500 groups and almost 37,000 people signing up.
The opposition, organised by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, launched in early March with 1,500 individuals and 50 groups.
March 13, 2006
Wired
"The Pirate Bay: Here to Stay?"
By Ann Harrison
Last month, the Motion Picture Association of America announced one of its boldest sorties yet against online piracy: a barrage of seven federal lawsuits against some of the highest-profile BitTorrent sites, Usenet hosts and peer-to-peer services. Among the targets: isoHunt, TorrentSpy and eDonkey...
That legal claim is untested in the United States, according to Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
March 10, 2006
The NewStandard
"Regulation Threat Alarms Political Bloggers"
By Michelle Chen
The realm of electronic communication has given millions of Americans a cheap but sturdy pulpit from which to criticize, praise and debate just about anyone and everything. But as a boon for the campaigns of political candidates, weblogs and websites have raised concern among legislators and advocates for tighter campaign-finance rules...
Matt Zimmerman, an attorney with the Internet free-speech organization the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted that as with any other medium in which political expression and money overlap, in the online realm, "Having to calibrate that perfect point where free speech and federal oversight are perfectly balanced ? that?s always going to be a problem."
March 9, 2006
The Nation
"Watch What You Say"
Two months after the New York Times revealed that the Bush Administration ordered the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of American citizens, only three corporations--AT&T, Sprint and MCI--have been identified by the media as cooperating...
Further details about the highly classified program are likely to emerge as the Electronic Frontier Foundation pursues a lawsuit, filed January 31, against AT&T for violating privacy laws by giving the NSA direct access to its telephone records database and Internet transaction logs.
March 9, 2006
Ars Technica
"The EFF wants to make sure Sony has to pay up"
By Anders Bylund
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has set up a few web pages to help the victims of Sony's infamous rootkit CDs clean their computers and get their fair share of the class action settlement. The foundation is asking webmasters and bloggers to help spread the word through a variety of banners. It's the first time the EFF has run a campaign like this, but it makes sense for several reasons.
March 9, 2006
E-Commerce Times
"The Intellectual Property Pitfalls of Enterprise IT"
By Erika Morphy
There are technologies for which IP ownership may still be up for grabs even though it seems the issue should have been settled for them long ago. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has identified several seemingly broad patents that could be vulnerable to challenges. If successful, they could threaten the free use of some basic e-commerce technologies...
March 8, 2006
USA Today
"Osama bin Laden fan clubs build online communities"
By Kasie Hunt
Al-Qaeda sympathizers are using Orkut, a popular, worldwide Internet service owned by Google, to rally support for Osama bin Laden, share videos and Web links promoting terrorism and recruit non-Arabic-speaking Westerners, according to terrorism experts and a survey of the sites...
In any case, says Kurt Opsahl, a staff attorney with the advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, the sheer size of the Internet makes it "simply impossible to monitor all the communications that get posted."
March 8, 2006
San Jose Mercury News
"Google Subpoenaed by Airline"
By Elise Ackerman
American Airlines wants Google to reveal the identity of a person who the airline says posted a copyrighted video on Google's video Web site...
The airline claims the clip was excerpted from a copyrighted training video. If the video is copyrighted, Google will probably be forced to comply, said Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based group that advocates for digital rights.
March 8, 2006
Boston's Weekly Dig
"Stubborn e-tyke Claire Chanel takes aim at intellectual property law"
By Mike Kanin
Claire Chanel is 2 years old. According to her mini-bio posted on www.clairechanel.com, she has "been interfacing with creative uses of ephemeral media, dangerously outmoded intellectual property policy, and the industries struggling to adapt" since birth...
Fred von Lohmann, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit digital rights advocacy group, says that most of what's on the books in terms of intellectual property law is pretty solid. But there's still some wiggle room left, especially in the area of fair use—the term that got members of 2 Live Crew out of hot water when they messed with Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman"...
Von Lohmann, however, thinks that, were Chanel served with a C&D for her work, she?d have a decent chance at a fair use defense. "It's pretty clear that she's engaged in a whole lot of parody and a whole lot of satire," he says. "And that?s a good thing."
March 8, 2006
San Francisco Bay Guardian
"A citizens' guide to fighting secret government"
By Erica Holt, Erin Podlipnik, and Amanda Witherell
It's tough to fight City Hall ? and a lot tougher to fight the White House. As we report in this issue, there's a concerted national effort to clamp down on public information, starting with the Bush administration, and that attitude trickles down to every level of government. Fortunately for journalists, civic activists, community watchdogs, and general hell-raisers, there's hope: A long list of organizations provide help and support on the FOI front...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (415-436-9333, www.eff.org), a digital civil liberties organization, works to protect digital free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights on the Internet. EFF provides stories and alerts on its Web site, with daily updates. EFFector, an e-mail newsletter, is available through the site.
March 7, 2006
Miami Herald
"Miami-based Sweet Pea sues retailers in trademark case"
By Jim Wyss
Leslie Newman was about to leave her design studio in downtown Seattle on a cold January night when she received an unwelcome package from the Sunshine State...
Newman and 51 others are being sued for $16 million each for including the words "sweet pea" on items of clothing...
Jason Schultz is an intellectual property attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a California-based organization that argues digital rights cases. While Schultz wouldn't comment on the merits of this case, he says Sweet Pea's "shotgun" approach to finding defendants concerns him.
"Most traditional trademark lawsuits arise out of actual confusion," he said. "A company will get a phone call or a letter [for example] that there is some sort of confusion in the marketplace."
March 6, 2006
BBC News
"E-mail delivery 'tax' criticised"
Plans to charge to deliver e-mail have come under fire from non-profit groups who said it could cripple fundraising...
The organisations protesting included the Democratic National Committee, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Friends of the Earth and the MoveOn civic action group.
March 6, 2006
Wired
"Are Spam Blockers Too Strict?"
By Joanna Glasner
America Online's controversial plan to charge mass e-mailers a fee to bypass their anti-spam system highlights the other, lesser-known, horn of the junk-e-mail problem: Filters that allegedly work too well...
"If AOL or another ISP decides that someone's a spammer, then no e-mail from that individual gets through," said EFF attorney Cindy Cohn, whose group opposes the AOL plan. "But there's a fundamental difficulty at the heart of the spam debate: The only one who knows what you want delivered in your inbox is you."
March 6, 2006
Christian Science Monitor
"'Specific' info on NSA eavesdropping?"
By Brad Knickerbocker
Of all the lawsuits seeking to halt the National Security Agency's program to eavesdrop on certain Americans' electronic communications, a new one filed last week in Oregon may provide the federal courts with the most detailed glimpse yet into the clandestine counterterrorism effort...
The EFF, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization, has filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T, accusing the telecommunications giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by helping the NSA engage in what staff attorney Kevin Bankston calls "the biggest fishing expedition ever devised." AT&T officials say they do not discuss national security issues or pending litigation. FBI and US Attorney's Office officials have declined comment as well.
March 5, 2006
The Columbus Dispatch
"Schools let parents check on kids online"
By Charlie Roduta and Jennifer Smith Richards
Forgot your poetry assignment? Bombed the chemistry test? Got a "tardy" in gym?
Mom and Dad already know...Lee Tien, senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an Internet civil-liberties group in San Francisco, said improved access could be useful. But he said such tools might strain relationships.
"In parenting, there is this big tension all the time," Tien said. "You?re protecting your child and at the same time allowing them to make decisions and trusting them to trust your judgment. Every parent faces these questions, whether or not they use this."
March 5, 2006
Associated Press
"Bloggers, tech savvy spin digital remixes of pop culture"
By Michael Hill
Tom Cruise zaps Oprah Winfrey with the Dark Side of the Force. Bert and Ernie pose as poster boys for gay cowboy love. Sweet, white-haired Mary Worth belts out Black Eyed Peas song lyrics: "I'm a make, make, make you scream!"...
Jason Schultz of the Electronic Frontier Foundation contends that there should be legal protection for mashups ... "This is a battle over creativity," Schultz said. 'Do we want a world where the law criminalizes that?"
March 5, 2006
San Jose Mercury News
"Editorial: Paid e-mail will lead to separate, unequal systems"
Ever since the Internet left its free, non-profit and government roots for the commercial world, fears that its gatekeepers would set up tollbooths at every possible juncture have simmered across cyberspace... AOL recently caused those fears to boil over...
A disparate coalition of individuals and groups -- including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, MoveOn.org, Gun Owners of America, the Association of Cancer Online Resources, and Craig Newmark of Craigslist fame -- warned that it won't be long before everyone will have to pay for e-mail delivery.
March 3, 2006
Internetnews.com
"The Open Source Answer to Microsoft InfoCard"
By Clint Boulton
It's a familiar equation. For every Microsoft technology, there is an open source answer to counter it. Earlier this week, IBM, Novell, startup Parity Communications and Harvard's Internet research group unveiled an effort to let Net users manage and manipulate their personal identity information online...
"I hate to pigeon-hole EFF, but really, there's only one thing we would ever think of, and that is 'YAY,'" said EFF Technology Manager Chris Palmer about Higgins. "Giving users power is what EFF is all about."
March 3, 2006
eSchool News
"Proposed Email Fee Irks Educators"
By Corey Murray
If executives at America Online (AOL) get their way, schools and other educational organizations that send their constituents weekly updates, electronic newsletters, and other eMail communications would have to pay to make sure their messages get past AOL's spam filters and into the in-boxes of the company's more than 26 million online subscribers...
"Perversely, AOL's pay-to-send system would actually reward AOL financially for degrading free eMail for regular customers as they attempt to push people into paid mail," said Danny O'Brien, activism coordinator for the EFF. "AOL should be working to ensure its spam filters don't block legitimate mail, not charging protection money to bypass those filters."
March 3, 2005
CNET
AOL to Pay Email Tab for Non-Profits
By Greg Sandoval
America Online intends to pick up the costs for nonprofit groups that wish to send e-mails to AOL members, a move that comes less than a week after a consortium spoke out against the company's plan to charge for a new bulk e-mail service...
Cindy Cohn, legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco, commended AOL's move, calling it a good first step. But she worried about how AOL would determine which companies were nonprofits. She feared that AOL would recognize only those companies actually registered with the government as a nonprofit.
"A lot of people we want to protect are not registered," Cohn said. "Under this kind of plan, it would leave a whole lot of people, who run big and valuable mailing lists, out in the cold."
March 2, 2006
Sacramento Bee
"Spam Defenses Get Overly Aggressive"
By Clint Swett
When Bob Parrish didn't receive several e-mails he was expecting from a friend last October, he couldn't figure out why. It turns out that his pal, who was asking for computer help, used the F-word to describe his frustrations...
"Spam is such a plague that many ISPs are stopping it with nuclear tactics," said Danny O'Brien, activism coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation in San Francisco. "The problem occurs when there is collateral damage."
March 2, 2006
Poughkeepsie Journal
"MySpace.com is vulnerable to abuse"
By Kathianne Boniello
MySpace isn't your space. Not online. Online, it's everybody's "space"...
"This is similar to when chat rooms became popular, people wrote a lot about chat rooms," said Kurt Opsahl, staff attorney for Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that fights for freedoms in the digital world. "When blogs became popular, there were a lot of people writing about blogs, and now it's MySpace."
March 1, 2006
CNET
"Spam and scams prompted AOL's fee-based e-mail"
By Greg Sandoval
America Online says it's waging a fierce battle against Internet scam artists and is unconcerned that not everyone approves of its new approach to protecting users from phishing schemes and spam...
Paying for e-mail will thwart the growth of grassroots organizations and divide mass e-mailers into two groups: elites who can afford to communicate with a mass audience, and those who can't and are locked out, says Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
"The big nonprofits are getting the attention here, but this isn't really just for them," Cohn said. "What about the little guys that are just starting and may not be reaching an audience who wants to hear what they have to say? These are the groups that will lose."
March 1, 2006
Red Herring
"Feds to Broker Paid Email"
The showdown between America Online and a surprisingly disparate partnership of consumer and political rights groups over proposed pay-to-send email services will be arbitrated eventually by the U.S. government, along with another pending Net neutrality battle...
"We spoke to Yahoo about this," said Danny O'Brien, activism coordinator of the EFF. "Yahoo is much more tentative about their plan. They said that it was an experiment. AOL had planted its flag in the ground much more clearly. If we can show why AOL is wrong on this, we can nip this in the bud."
March 1, 2006
The Register
"Opposition to AOL's 'email tax' grows"
By John Oates
More than 50 organisations are joining forces to protest against AOL's plan to start charging for email...
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is organising the protest through the website www.dearaol.com.
