2015 has been quite an interesting year for copyright law around the world—at least in the sense of that apocryphal Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times.” That is to say that most of this year's copyright developments have been bad for users, but with one notable exception.
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Secret mass surveillance continued to spark global controversy this year, yet the National Security Agency’s dragnet programs unconstitutionally monitoring Americans are stretching into their second decade. Ignited by news reports in 2005, eight years before Edward Snowden’s revelations blew the lid off illegal and unconstitutional domestic spying in...

From John Oliver quizzing Edward Snowden on whether the NSA is collecting our "dick pics" to EFF’s legal team obliterating the patent that was used to go after podcaster Adam Carolla, digital rights issues have been in the public spotlight this year. For the most...

Earlier this fall, EFF and MIT co-hosted the Freedom to Innovate Summit, bringing together student researchers from around the country to discuss threats to research and how universities can better support students. Video from several sessions recently became available online.
The Summit featured several noteworthy speakers, including...

The language in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on Internet Service Provider (ISP) liability—which governs the legal liability of Internet intermediaries and platforms for communications of their users—resides in an annex in the trade agreement's Intellectual Property chapter and was one of the most contentious parts of its copyright...

Copyright Lawsuits Won’t Stop People from Sharing ResearchIn principle, everyone in the world should have access to the same body of knowledge. The UN Declaration of Human Rights says that everyone deserves the right “to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”The reality is a bit messier. Institutional subscriptions...

In the public battle for strong encryption, EFF has championed the voice of everyday Internet users. After all, if we can’t rely on the security of our digital communications, how can the Web continue to grow and thrive?
Now the fight has moved to the Oval Office. EFF, Access...

It has been obvious for decades that copyright law is ill-matched for the opportunities and challenges created by the Internet. It's been equally obvious, however, that sensible copyright policies face huge practical barriers, in large part because few are willing to challenge the default assumption of copyright law that every...

In 1998, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued Patent 5,718,632, on a method for avoiding “unnecessary wastage of time” in video games. What’s transpired in the 17 years since then can best be described as an unnecessary wastage of time.
Namco’s patent covers “auxiliary games” that a...

Multiple recent reports on serious security vulnerabilities in cable modems and routers paint a dire picture of the state of security of the devices that millions of users depend upon to connect to the Internet. Such vulnerabilities can be exploited to disable our access, snoop on our...