———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Thu, 27 May 2004 18:52:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Effector List <alerts@action.eff.org>
To: joyeria@walrus.com
Subject: EFFector 17.18: Action Alert - Sink the PIRATE Act
EFFector Vol. 17, No. 18 May 27, 2004 donna@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
In the 291st Issue of EFFector:
* Action Alert: Sink the PIRATE Act
* FBI's "National Security Letters" Threaten Online Speech and
Privacy
* MiniLinks (13): Clear Channel Finds Another Way to Abuse Artists:
Patents
* Staff Calendar: 05.28.04 - Annalee Newitz speaks at BayCon 2004,
San Jose, CA; 05.29.04 - Kevin Bankston speaks at the 13th
Digital Be-In, San Francisco, CA
* Administrivia
For more information on EFF activities & alerts:
<http://www.eff.org/>
To join EFF or make an additional donation:
<https://secure.eff.org/>
EFF is a member-supported nonprofit. Please sign up as a member today!
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : .
* Sink the PIRATE Act
The PIRATE Act (S.2237) is yet another attempt to make taxpayers fund
the misguided war on file sharing, and it's moving fast. The bill
would allow the government to file civil copyright lawsuits in
addition to criminal prosecutions, dramatically lowering the burden
of proof and adding to the thousands of suits already filed by
record companies. It would also force the American public to pay
the legal bills of foreign record companies like Bertelsmann,
Vivendi Universal, EMI, and Sony. Meanwhile, not a penny from
the lawsuits goes to the artists.
Don't let the record industry use your hard-earned dollars to pursue
this fruitless war; tell Congress to sink the PIRATE Act!
Make your voice heard:
<http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item)06>
Join EFF today:
<https://secure.eff.org/>
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : .
* FBI's "National Security Letters" Threaten Online Speech and
Privacy
EFF Urges Court to Find USA PATRIOT Act Powers Unconstitutional
San Francisco, CA - EFF this week filed a friend-of-the-court
brief supporting the ACLU in a suit challenging the constitutionality
of National Security Letters (NSLs). Authorized by the USA
PATRIOT Act and issued directly by FBI agents without any court
supervision or show of probable cause, the letters are used to
demand detailed information about people's Internet communications
from ISPs, web mail providers, and other communications service
providers. The people whose private data is searched are not
notified, and every letter is accompanied by a gag order that
prohibits the letter's recipient from ever revealing its
existence.
In its brief, EFF argues that the portion of the PATRIOT Act
authorizing these warrantless government demands is
unconstitutional, violating both First Amendment free speech
rights and the Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable
search and seizure.
"Using National Security Letters, the FBI can see what websites
you visit, what mailing lists you subscribe to, whom you
correspond with, and much more - all without judicial oversight
of any kind," explained EFF Staff Attorney and Bruce J. Ennis/
Equal Justice Works Fellow Kevin Bankston. "Yet this unrestrained
power to examine innocent citizens' First Amendment activities
online is merely one of the unconstitutional surveillance
authorities granted to the FBI by the PATRIOT Act."
A favorable judgment in the ACLU's case would prohibit the FBI
from using NSLs any further.
Co-signatories to the EFF brief include the Center for Constitutional
Rights, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic
Privacy Information Center, the Online Policy Group, Salon Media
Group's division the WELL, and the U.S. Internet Industry
Association.
For the full press release:
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_05.php#001558>
EFF amicus brief in the case:
<http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlID7>
(EFF; PDF)
EFF analysis of PATRIOT Section 505 - National Security Letters
(NSLs):
<http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism/PATRIOT/sunset/505.php>
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : .
* miniLinks
miniLinks features noteworthy news items from around the Internet.
~ Clear Channel Finds Another Way to Abuse Artists: Patents
The company recently bought a patent for recording a CD of a concert
immediately after the show. A profitable, artist-empowering
industry currently uses the technology, but Clear Channel plans
to enforce its patent across and beyond its 130 U.S. venues:
<http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlID9>
(Rolling Stone)
~ Diebold. We're From the Private Sector and We're Here to Help
That's the tagline from one of the Diebold Variations, a
hilarious collection of clever "faux-sters" criticizing the
embattled e-voting company:
<http://homepage.mac.com/rcareaga/diebold/adworks.htm>
~ RIAA Suits Keep Rolling (Over People)
USA Today has a sad snapshot of Tammy Lafky, a single mother
whose 14 year-old daughter downloaded music and who now faces
up to $540,000 in damages from a music industry lawsuit. An
RIAA flak points out that the suits are supposed to teach
people that file sharing is "wrong." Not that there's anything
wrong with bankrupting a single mother…right?
<http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlID 0>
~ Copyright's Communications Policy
Tim Wu provides an insightful treatment of the "ugly" bits of the
Copyright Act and an effective rebuttal to the view that copyright
should be a perfect property right for economic efficiency:
<http://faculty.virginia.edu/timwu/occp.pdf>
~ Broadcast Flagging Digital Radio?
Taking a page from Hollywood's playbook, the RIAA is pushing the
FCC to mandate a broadcast flag for digital radio:
<http://www.mindjack.com/feature/digitalradio.html>
~ Open-Sourcing the Law
Grokline is a collaborative "living history" of UNIX ownership aimed
at drop-kicking future copyright/patent claims:
<http://www.grokline.net/>
~ Northern Flights: Alaskans Fight CAPPS II
Four Alaskans are challenging the controversial passenger-profiling
program in federal court:
<http://www.alaskafreedom.com/>
~ When "Free" Turns a Profit
USA Today on making money the new-fashioned way: giving stuff away:
<http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlID8>
~ Italy Jacks Up Criminal Penalties for P2P
The new law could slap a 3-year jail term on individuals who
either upload or download copyrighted material:
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/20/italy_p2p_law/>
~ U.S. Lubes Passports with RFID Snake Oil
That's the priceless headline of this Register piece on the (many)
problems with using RFID tags in passports:
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/20/us_passports/>
~ "True Names" Bill Rolls Through CA Senate
The bill requires the attachment of valid email addresses to
copyrighted works distributed online:
<http://www.smdailyjournal.org/article.cfm?issue-20-04&storyID0947>
~ Copyright Travel Advisory: Japan
We were shocked when a Japanese researcher was put in jail for
authoring a file-sharing application, but it turns out there's
more copyright extremism where that came from. The operator of
a popular Japanese gaming site has now been jailed for posting
*unauthorized screenshots*:
<http://www.ferrago.com/story/3777>
~ Common Sense Spotted in UK Discussion of National IDs
Forgery, biometrics, and the problems with both are addressed
in this article from The Register:
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/14/uk_false_id_loophole/>
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* Staff Calendar
For a complete listing of EFF speaking engagements (with
locations and times), please visit:
<http://www.eff.org/calendar/>
~ May 28 -
Annalee Newitz speaks at BayCon 2004
San Jose, CA
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
<http://www.baycon.org/>
~ May 29 -
Kevin Bankston speaks at the 13th Digital Be-In
San Francisco, CA
7:00 p.m. - 4:00 a.m.
<http://www.be-in.com/>
~ June 10-12 -
Lawrence Lessig and Wendy Seltzer speak at "Wizards of OS 3:
The Future of the Digital Commons"
Berlin, Germany
<http://wizards-of-os.org/index.php?id6&L=3>
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* Administrivia
EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
454 Shotwell Street
San Francisco CA 94110-1914 USA
+1 415 436 9333 (voice)
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http://www.eff.org/
Editor:
Donna Wentworth, Web Writer/Activist
donna@eff.org
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