Intellectual Property Law

EFF Wins New Legal Protections for Video Artists, Cell Phone Jailbreakers, and Unlockers

Posted on July 26, 2010
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) won three critical exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) anticircumvention provisions today, carving out new legal protections for consumers who modify their cell phones and artists who remix videos — people who, until now, could have been sued for their non-infringing or fair use activities...

EFF at Black Hat and Defcon

Posted on July 23, 2010
Join EFF for a plethora of appearances in Las Vegas, NV at Black Hat Briefings and Defcon 18. There is still time to register! EFF supporters can even receive a 25% discount on Black Hat Briefings registration. Remember to stop by the EFF booths to get a reduced-rate membership and top drawer swag! Be on the lookout for the limited edition "Things to Hack" t-shirt available only in Las Vegas...

Court: Violating Terms of Service Is Not a Crime, But Bypassing Technical Barriers Might Be

Posted on July 21, 2010
Good news: another federal judge has ruled that violating a website terms of service is not a crime. But there's bad news, too — the court also found that bypassing technical or code-based barriers intended to limit access to or uses of a website may violate California's computer crime law...

Real ID Online? New Federal Online Identity Plan Raises Privacy and Free Speech Concerns

Posted on July 20, 2010
Coauthored by Seth Schoen The White House recently released a draft of a troubling plan titled "National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace" (NSTIC). In previous iterations, the project was known as the "National Strategy for Secure Online Transactions" and emphasized, reasonably, the private sector's development of technologies to secure sensitive online transactions...

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San Mateo D.A. Withdraws Controversial Gizmodo iPhone Warrant

Posted on July 16, 2010
Today, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Clifford Cretan granted an application by the San Mateo County D.A.'s office to withdraw the controversial warrant it obtained to search the house of Gizmodo.com journalist Jason Chen. Accordingly, "[a]ll items seized [from Chen's home] shall be returned forthwith to Gizmodo...

Court Fails to Protect Privacy of Whistleblower's Email

Posted on July 16, 2010
Today the Eleventh Circuit issued an unfortunate amended decision in Rehberg v. Hodges. The case arose from an egregious situation in which, among other misconduct, a prosecutor used a sham grand jury subpoena to obtain the private emails of whistleblower Charles Rehberg after he brought attention to systematic mismanagement of funds at a Georgia public hospital...

EU Authorities: Implementation of Net Surveillance Directive Is Unlawful

Posted on July 15, 2010
In a landmark announcement issued today, the data protection officials across the European Union found that the way that EU Member States have implemented the data retention obligations in the 2006 EU Data Retention Directive is unlawful. The highly controversial 2006 EU Data Retention Directive compels all ISPs and telecommunications service providers operating in Europe to retain telecom and internet traffic data about all of their customers' communications for a period of at least 6 months and up to 2 years...

EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters

Posted on July 14, 2010
New York - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) this week served a motion to quash dragnet subpoenas that put privacy and anonymity at risk for the operators of dozens of Internet blogs and potentially hundreds of commenters. The subpoenas stem from a state lawsuit filed by New York residents Miriam and Michael Hersh alleging a conspiracy to interfere with their business interests...

FTC: Don't Sell or Use Customer Information of Gay Youth

Posted on July 14, 2010
The Federal Trade Commission has some strong words for the former publishers of a defunct magazine and website for gay youth: don't sell or use personal information provided by your customers. It's probably illegal. The warning came during a contentious bankruptcy proceeding filed by the publisher of XY Magazine, which was a widely circulated magazine for gay teens published from 1996 to 2007...

The Internet Responds to ASCAP's Deceptive Claims

Posted on July 13, 2010
We were disappointed to read of deceptive comments made last month about EFF by ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Writing to its members, ASCAP claimed that EFF, Creative Commons and Public Knowledge are "influencing Congress against the interests of music creators...

China Gives License to Redirected Search of the Free and Open Internet

Posted on July 12, 2010
Ever since Google?s January 2010 decision to cease censorship of its Chinese-language search engine, the world has watched closely to see what would happen next. The ensuing cat-and-mouse game of information repression and dissemination represented a serious challenge to the ability of the Internet to remain free and open in the face of totalitarian government censorship...

Supreme Court Should Uphold the First Sale Doctrine

Posted on July 09, 2010
Today EFF joined with Public Knowledge and other groups to urge the Supreme Court to reject a bogus copyright theory, and uphold your right to resell or even give away the products you own — even if they were originally sold abroad. The copyrighted work at issue is the small circular logo in the bottom of the back of the watch, seen here around 7 o?clock...

Judge Cuts Damages in Sony v. Tenenbaum

Posted on July 09, 2010
Many were shocked last year when a Massachusetts jury awarded $675,000 in damages against Joel Tenenbaum, who had been found liable for copyright infringement after using peer-to-peer networks to download and share thirty of the plaintiffs' songs. In a lengthy ruling issued today, federal district court Judge Nancy Gertner held that the jury?s award — which equaled $22,500 per song — was unconstitutional and reduced it dramatically, to $67,500...

EFF Celebrates 20th Anniversary With New Animation by Nina Paley

Posted on July 09, 2010
July 10th marks EFF's 20th anniversary! To thank you for your support over these two decades, please enjoy this new animation created especially for us by celebrated cartoonist and free culture activist Nina Paley. This short cartoon highlights some of the reasons why EFF is here: EFF's defense of your digital rights is needed now more than ever...

New Blizzard Forum Policy Will Require Posters to Use Real Names

Posted on July 08, 2010
Gaming giant Blizzard announced yesterday that it would be making some major changes to its official discussion forums, including the forums for World of Warcraft, Diablo, and the upcoming Starcraft II. In the upcoming weeks and months, players who want to post to these boards will have to log in using Blizzard's Real ID system, which will display their real full names next to every post they make...

EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn on the Colbert Report Monday!

Posted on July 05, 2010
Tonight EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn will be a guest on The Colbert Report on Comedy Central! The Colbert Report airs at 11:30pm ET. If you miss it, check back here for the video tomorrow!

Fight Against Telco Immunity Continues in Court of Appeals

Posted on July 02, 2010
Continuing its efforts to seek judicial review of AT&T's involvement in the National Security Agency?s warrantless wiretapping of millions of Americans, EFF has filed the final brief in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the retroactive immunity provision of the FISA Amendments Act...

Ticketmaster's Terms of Service Cannot Make You a Criminal

Posted on July 02, 2010
Newark, New Jersey - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of academics and public policy groups are urging a federal judge to dismiss a criminal indictment that could give websites extraordinary power to dictate what behavior becomes a computer crime...

CFAA Prosecution of Wiseguys Not So Smart

Posted on July 02, 2010
In the latest battle to protect users from punishment for violating website terms of use, EFF filed a brief today in U.S. v. Lowson, again arguing that public websites can not decide who is and is not a criminal. In this federal prosecution in New Jersey, the government charged the operators of Wiseguys Tickets, Inc...

Don't Turn COPPA Into Age-Verification Mandate

Posted on July 02, 2010
This week EFF joined the Progress & Freedom Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology in comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), urging the FTC not to turn the law into an age-verification mandate for the Internet...

Defcon 18 Getaway Contest FINAL RESULTS!

Posted on July 01, 2010
The competition was stiff and the battle for supremacy in any hacker arena is hard fought, yet one person emerged victorious. Congratulations to First Place winner Shawn Merdinger! Shawn and company raised $2,560 for EFF! He will receive the grand prize including two Defcon 18 Human badges, a room at the Riviera Hotel, two tickets to the Vegas 2...

EU Action Alert: Urge Your MEP to Take a Stand for Internet Freedom

Posted on July 01, 2010
Written Declaration 12 [PDF] asks EU negotiators to ensure that ACTA respects European citizens' fundamental rights to freedom of expression and privacy, and opposes provisions that would encourage Internet intermediaries to engage in surveillance or filtering of all Internet users' communications for potential copyright-infringing material...

Judge Orders User-Friendly Notices for Does Targeted By USCG Suits

Posted on June 30, 2010
Thousands of ISP subscribers targeted in mass copyright infringement suits will have a better shot at defending themselves as a result of a hearing held today in Washington, D.C. EFF appeared at a hearing as a friend of the court, arguing that the suits improperly lump thousands of defendants together, a shortcut that deprives the defendants of fair access to individual justice...

Bilski v. Kappos: The Supreme Court Declines to Prohibit Business Method Patents

Posted on June 29, 2010
Ending months of anticipation, yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court finally issued a ruling in Bilski v. Kappos, a business method patent case that, many hoped, would give the Court an opportunity to sharply limit these much maligned patents, or at least offer clear guidance on how business method patents are to be judged in the future...

Just Days Left to Win the Defcon 18 Getaway Contest!

Posted on June 29, 2010
With less than two days left, the Defcon 18 Getaway Contest has raised over $5,000 to help EFF protect digital civil liberties! But it's not over yet. Contestants have until 11:59:59 PM Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 to raise as much as they can through their referral links and compete for our amazing prizes! What are the current standings you ask? In the lead is online freedom lover Art Conklin with an impressive $1,430...

Sita Sings The Blues: A Benefit Screening Hosted by Nina Paley on July 20, 2010

Posted on June 29, 2010
Join the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Cartoon Art Museum for a special evening with Nina Paley as we screen her award-winning animated feature film "Sita Sings the Blues," described by the creator as "the greatest breakup story ever told." Paley animated and produced the film single-handedly over the course of five years on a home computer, and will be on hand to take filmgoers behind the scenes...

EFF Argues Against Mass Copyright Infringement Lawsuits in Wednesday Hearing

Posted on June 28, 2010
Washington, D.C. - On Wednesday, June 30, at 2:15 p.m., a federal court in Washington, D.C., will hear oral argument from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) about dividing up the mass copyright infringement lawsuits that improperly and unfairly target thousands of BitTorrent users...

Another Bad Week for Free Expression on the Internet

Posted on June 26, 2010
Yet another country has decided to shut down key parts the Internet. Kathleen Reen at Internews reports that, as of this past Thursday, the Afghan Ministry of Communications mandated that all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Afghanistan filter websites falling under the following categories: Alcohol Dating/Social Networking Gambling Pornography Reen reports countrywide blockages of Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, and Twitter...

Henley v. DeVore: Second-Class Citizenship for Satire?

Posted on June 24, 2010
In Henley v. DeVore, a federal court recently held that senatorial candidate Charles DeVore?s two political advertisements featuring the songs "The Hope of November" and "All She Wants to Do Is Tax" infringed Don Henley?s "The Boys of Summer" and "All She Wants to Do Is Dance," ruling against DeVore?s fair use defense...

YouTube Wins Summary Judgment in Viacom DMCA Lawsuit

Posted on June 23, 2010
Today Judge Louis Stanton of the federal court in the Southern District of New York granted YouTube's Motion for Summary Judgment in the Viacom v. YouTube litigation, rejecting the effort by Viacom and other copyright owners to hold YouTube responsible for infringing material uploaded by a tiny minority of YouTube users...

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