EFFector Vol. 24, No. 37 Wednesday November 23, 2011 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424
effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a
desired change.
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In our 592nd issue:
* An Explosion of Opposition to the Internet Blacklist Bill
On the eve of the House Judiciary Committee's hearing on
the Stop Internet Piracy Act, a broad group of tech
companies, lawmakers, experts, professors, and rights
groups came out against the bill. The statements, written
by people from a variety of backgrounds and political
persuasions, incorporate many of the same broad themes:
SOPA will threaten perfectly legal websites, stifle
innovation, kill jobs, and substantially disrupt the
infrastructure of the Internet.
Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/e ... klist-bill
* What's On the Blacklist? Three Sites That SOPA Could Put
at Risk
Proponents of the latest disastrous IP bill, SOPA, insist
it only targets the "worst of the worst." But the broad
definitions and vague language in the bill could place
dangerous tools into the hands of IP rightsholders, with
little opportunity for judicial oversight. One very
possible outcome is many of the lawful sites you know and
love will face new legal threats. Here's a look at three
that are at great risk: Vimeo, Etsy, and Flickr.
Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/w ... d-put-risk
* Sovereign Keys: A Proposal to Make HTTPS and Email More
Secure
EFF is introducing a new proposal called "Sovereign Keys,"
which is intended to systematically fix weaknesses in the
way that encrypted Internet protocols perform
authentication. The Sovereign Keys design would allow
clients and servers to use cryptographic protocols without
having to depend on any third parties.
Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/s ... ore-secure
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EFF Updates
* EFF Celebrates the 2011 Pioneer Award Winners
EFF recognized the accomplishments of U.S. Senator Ron
Wyden, encryption expert Ian Goldberg, and influential
Tunisian blog Nawaat.org at the 20th annual Pioneer Awards
Ceremony in San Francisco. EFF established the Pioneer
Awards in 1992 to recognize leaders on the electronic
frontier who are extending freedom and innovation in the
realm of information technology.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/p ... rd-winners
* Righthaven Case Ends in Victory for Fair Use
The publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Stephens
Media, filed papers conceding that posting a short excerpt
of a news article in an online forum is not copyright
infringement. The concession will result in the entry of a
judgment of non-infringement in a long-running copyright
troll case that sparked the dismissal of dozens of baseless
lawsuits filed by Righthaven LLC.
https://www.eff.org/press/releases/righ ... y-fair-use
* Hollywood's New War on Software Freedom and Internet
Innovation
One of the most under-reported, dangerous consequences of
SOPA will be its effect on software developers. Do you
write or distribute any kind of VPN, proxy, privacy or
anonymization software? If SOPA passes, you might find
yourself in a legal fight with the Attorney General.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/h ... innovation
* Who's Missing From The House's SOPA Hearing? A Short List
The House Judiciary Committee hearing on SOPA could have
been an opportunity for Americans to hear from a variety of
stakeholders, but unfortunately, it devolved into a parade
of pro-SOPA partisans. Five witnesses testified about their
support of the bill while only one witness, a
representative of Google, testified about the bill's many
drawbacks. In case you are wondering who the Committee
should have been hearing from, here is a small sampling of
the stakeholders that deserve a seat at the negotiating
table.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/w ... short-list
* EFF Asks Supreme Court to End the FCC’s Indecency
Regulations
EFF recently submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court
in FCC v. Fox, which asks the Court to declare
unconstitutional the FCC’s heavy-handed and outdated
indecency policy for broadcast TV. This is not an issue
that draws down political lines — both right and left can
agree the First Amendment belongs to all mediums. In 2011,
there is simply no reason for the court not to give
broadcast television the full First Amendment protection
provided to the Internet.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/e ... egulations
* The Intelligence Oversight Board Has Members - But We Had
to Sue the Government to Find Out
The Intelligence Oversight Board is a
presidentially-appointed, independent, civilian oversight
board charged with ensuring that intelligence
investigations comply with the rule of law, yet until
recently, its members were kept secret by the government.
In September, EFF sued the Director of National
Intelligence for failing to respond to to our Freedom of
Information request for the list of members. Here's what we
found out.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/i ... ue-federal
* The DAA's Self-Regulatory Principles Fall Far Short of Do
Not Track
The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), as association of 6
online advertising groups, published a set of
Self-Regulatory Principles for Multi-Site Data. These
principles are designed to cover data collection above and
beyond the standards the group adopted for behavioral
advertising. While the new standards offer the potential
to improve transparency and user choice in some instances,
the language of the standards is loose enough to allow many
of the concerning practices to continue unabated. And, as
is often the case with self-regulatory models, the DAA’s
new standards won’t be enforced.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/d ... -not-track
* No Room for Free Expression in Egypt
When Hosni Mubarak was ousted from the Egyptian presidency
in February, Egypt's revolutionaries saw a new beginning:
an Egypt in which individual rights — including the right
to free expression — would be respected. Just nine
months later, with several prominent bloggers languishing
in prison and countless other civilians tried by military
courts for protesting, the future looks bleak.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/n ... sion-egypt
* This Week in Internet Censorship: SOPA, UAE Bloggers on
Hunger Strike, Chilean Sites Attacked
This week EFF looks at SOPA's effects on the international
community; Emirati blogger Ahmed Mansour, who is on a
hunger strike in prison; and several news sites in Chile
which have been hit with cyber attacks amid ongoing student
protests.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/w ... -uae-chile
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miniLinks
~ State Department Not for Internet Freedom
In an op-ed for Al-Jazeera, EFF's Trevor Timm argues the
Stop Internet Piracy act threatens the legality of many
State Department funded Internet Freedom programs.
http://aljazeera.co.uk/indepth/opinion/ ... 01243.html
~ Why All Filmmakers Should Speak Out Against SOPA
Filmmaker Ross Prudin explains why he and many of his peers
are against the Stop Internet Piracy Act.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201111 ... sopa.shtml
~ A Historic Thing
Tumblr mobilizes its users to call Congress to oppose SOPA
and amazingly generates more than 87,000 calls in 24 hours.
http://staff.tumblr.com/post/1293007612 ... oric-thing
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Announcements
* EFF Mourns the Passing of Ilya Zhitomirskiy
EFF mourns the passing of Ilya Zhitomirskiy, the
22-year-old co-founder of the Diaspora* project. His role
at Diaspora*, a social network designed to preserve users'
freedom, was just one of many expressions of his belief
that a free and open Internet can improve people's lives.
Ilya was a friend to the EFF community, and a consistent
supporter of its goals; we will miss his passion, his
dedication, and his enthusiasm.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/e ... itomirskiy
* LISA: 25th Large Installation System Administration
Conference
This year marks the 25th LISA, an amazing meeting place for
system, network, database, and other computer
administrators and engineers from all over the globe. EFF's
Development Associate, Kellie Brownell, will be in the
Exhibition room December 7th and 8th.<br>Date: December
6-8, 2011
Location: Boston, MA
https://www.eff.org/calendar/2011/12/06 ... nistration
* Securing Our Rights in the Information-Sharing Era
Mark Rumold is speaking on FOIA Case Studies: Using the
Freedom of Information Act to Push for Policy Change;
Jennifer Lynch is speaking on Technology: Biometrics,
Databases, and DNA Collection; Rainey Reitman is speaking
on Getting Our Message Out...and Right: A Communications
Skills Building Workshop.
Date: December 1-2, 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
https://www.eff.org/event/securing-our- ... haring-era
* Open Source and Free Software 2011: Benefits, Risks and
Challenges
EFF Staff Attorney Julie Samuels will discuss Patents and
Standards in an Open Source World, covering patent
provisions in open source licenses, protecting open source
projects from patents, recent patent litigation and
legislation.
Date: December 7, 2011
Location: San Francisco, CA
https://www.eff.org/event/open-source-a ... challenges
* NIST: Meeting on Privacy-Enhancing Cryptography
EFF Senior Staff Technologist Seth Schoen is participating
in this event. Check out the event website to learn more
and register.
Date: December 8-9, 2011
Location: Gaithersburg, MD
https://www.eff.org/event/nist-meeting- ... yptography
* 2012 International CES
Save the date! EFF is excited to participate in the 2012
CES, which boasts 200 conference sessions, 500 speakers,
and over 2,700 exhibitors showcasing their most innovative
and ingenious products and service.
Date: January 10, 2012
Location: Las Vegas
https://www.eff.org/event/2012-international-ces
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* Administrivia
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