EFF Blasts New 'Compromise' Offer on Telco Immunity

Washington, D.C. - The latest Republican proposal to amend foreign intelligence surveillance law was announced yesterday by Senator Kit Bond , and included a purported "compromise" on the issue of whether telephone companies that illegally assisted in the government's warrantless wiretapping program should be granted immunity from lawsuits such as...

FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter After ACLU and EFF Challenge

San Francisco - The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to...

Congress Must Investigate Electronic Searches at U.S. Borders

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a broad coalition, including civil rights groups, professional associations and technologists, called on Congress today to hold oversight hearings on the Department of Homeland Security's search and seizure of electronic devices at American borders.
The press has widely reported disturbing...

EFF Report: FBI Slowed Terror Investigation with Improper NSL Request

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which claims that National Security Letters (NSLs) take too long and that it needs the authority to conduct surveillance without judicial oversight, delayed its own investigation of a student suspected of links to...

State Secrets Claim Should Not Bury Important Surveillance Lawsuit

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal judge Monday to allow an important government surveillance lawsuit to have its day in court, despite the government's attempt to bury the case using the state secrets privilege.
The case is Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush, which alleges...

EFF and Government Face Off Over Lobbying Disclosure Delays in Friday Hearing

San Francisco - On Friday, April 4, at 9 a.m., the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will urge a federal judge to speed the government's release of information about a campaign to change federal surveillance law to benefit telecommunications companies.
Congress is currently considering granting immunity to telecoms that participated...

EFF Urges Court to Rule National Security Letters Unconstitutional

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) along with the National Security Archive urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to strike down the National Security Letter (NSL) provision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
The federal surveillance law, as expanded by the PATRIOT Act, allows the FBI to...

EFF Applauds House Passage of Surveillance Bill with No Telecom Immunity

Washington, D.C. - This morning the House of Representatives passed a compromise surveillance bill that does not include retroactive immunity for phone companies alleged to have assisted in the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program. The bill would allow lawsuits like the Electronic Frontier Foundation's case against AT&T to proceed while providing...

Patent Office Grants EFF's Request for Reexamination of Online Gaming Patent

San Francisco - Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has won reexamination of a bogus online gaming patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) the fifth successful reexamination request from EFF's Patent Busting Project.Sheldon F. Goldberg was awarded the illegitimate patent for online gaming systems that use tournament-style play, advertising,...

EFF Applauds House Stand Against Telecom Immunity

San Francisco - Today the leadership of the House of Representatives circulated a draft surveillance bill rejecting the president's demand that Congress immunize telecoms that illegally participated in the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program.
Rather than granting immunity, the bill would respond to the phone companies' complaints that they cannot...

New Telecom Whistleblower Describes Possible Gateway for Massive Surveillance of Wireless Communications

Washington D.C. - Three powerful House Commerce Committee Chairmen strongly urged their colleagues Thursday to defer acting on requests for retroactive immunity and to demand more information from the White House and the telecommunications companies in the wake of disclosures by another whistleblower that the government apparently has been granted...

EFF Lawsuit Demands Records of Contacts Between Former Justice Department Official and Google

Washington, D.C. - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) today, demanding information about communications between the DOJ's former top privacy official and Google, the official's current employer.
Jane C. Horvath was named the DOJ's first Chief Privacy and Civil Liberties Officer in...

Research Team Finds Security Flaw in Popular Disk Encryption Technologies

San Francisco - A team including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Princeton University, and other researchers have found a major security flaw in several popular disk encryption technologies that leaves encrypted data vulnerable to attack and exposure.
"People trust encryption to protect sensitive data when their computer is out...

Open Source Advocate, Canadian Copyfighter, and AT&T Whistleblower Win Pioneer Awards

San Diego - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2008 Pioneer Awards: the Mozilla Foundation and its Chairman Mitchell Baker, University of Ottawa Professor Michael Geist, and AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein.
The award ceremony will be held at 7pm, March 4th at...

Senate Caves into Pressure - Won't Block Immunity for Illegal Spying

Washington, D.C. - Despite the strong leadership of senators like Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold, the Senate failed today to block provisions of a pending surveillance bill that would grant immunity to phone companies that assisted the government in illegal electronic surveillance.
The Dodd-Feingold amendment to remove immunity from...

Civil Liberties Groups Sue Homeland Security for Records on Intrusive Questioning and Searches of U.S. Travelers

Information Sought in Response to Growing Complaints of Harassment at U.S. Borders
San Francisco - The Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit today against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for denying access to public records on the questioning and searches of travelers...

EFF to Urge Reform of State Secrets Privilege at Tuesday Congressional Hearing

Washington, D.C. - On Tuesday, January 29, at 9:30 a.m, members of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on reform of the state secrets privilege, which the Executive Branch has often used in recent years to hinder judicial inquiry into controversial anti-terrorism policies such...

EFF Applauds Senator Reid's Decision to Delay Surveillance Bill Until January

Washington, D.C. - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today that due to the contentious nature of proposals to provide amnesty for telecoms that participated in the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless wiretapping program, further debate on the surveillance bill in the Senate would be delayed until January 2008. Reid's...

EFF Obtains Government Documents on Congressional Intelligence Briefings

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has received a second set of records from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) detailing behind-the-scenes briefings for lawmakers working to make substantial changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
EFF requested release of the records under...

EFF Calls on Senate Judiciary Committee and Full Senate to Take More Time and Not Let Telephone Companies Off the Hook

Washington, D.C. - Tomorrow the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up a bill introduced by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) that would substitute the government for the phone companies in all current litigation. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), co-lead counsel in the nearly 40 pending lawsuits against the major...

EFF Obtains Documents Detailing High-Level Battles Over Surveillance Law

San Francisco - Today the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) received the first of two batches of records from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concerning the Administration's attempts this past summer to enact the Protect America Act and eviscerate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
The...

EFF Releases Reports and Software to Spot Interference with Internet Traffic

San Francisco - In the wake of the detection and reporting of Comcast Corporation's controversial interference with Internet traffic, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has published a comprehensive account of Comcast's packet-forging activities and has released software and documentation instructing Internet users on how to test for packet forgery or...

Senators Must Reject Blanket Immunity for Telecoms' Role in Illegal Spying

Washington, D.C. - Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee meet Thursday to discuss letting telecoms off the hook for their role in illegal spying on millions of ordinary Americans -- a blatant attempt to block lawsuits that would determine if the surveillance is legal.
The "FISA Amendments Act" includes...

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