EFFector Vol. 22, No. 01  January 22, 2009  editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

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In our 496th issue:

* EFF IS ASKING FOR THE PUBLIC'S HELP IN OUR NEW CAMPAIGN
TO FREE CELL PHONES from the software locks that stifle
competition and cripple consumers. Hundreds of thousands of
cell phone owners have modified their phones to connect to
a new service provider or run the software of their
choosing, and many more would like to. But the threat of
litigation under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA) has driven them underground.

On the campaign's website, FreeYourPhone.org, people can
sign EFF's petition to the Copyright Office and share their
stories about cell phone frustrations. EFF will also help
people officially submit those stories to the Copyright
Office before the February 2 deadline.

For the full press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/15

For more on the Free Your Phone campaign:
http://www.FreeYourPhone.org

* EFF AND THE ACLU OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FILED SUIT IN
FEDERAL COURT TO PROTECT THE PRIVACY AND FREE SPEECH RIGHTS
OF TWO BAY AREA COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS after the groups'
computers were seized and the data copied by federal and
local law enforcement. Both organizations, Long Haul and
the East Bay Prisoner Support Group (EBPS), are publishers
of information for social and political activists.

The search was not based on any allegations of wrongdoing
on the part of Long Haul, EBPS or their members, and there
have been no arrests. The seized computers were eventually
returned, but investigators likely copied the data and
continued their illegal search of the information.

For the full press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/14

For the full complaint:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/longhaul_v_UC/longhaulcomplaint.pdf

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EFF Updates

* An Infamous Internet-Censorship Act Is Finally Dead
In a victory for online free speech, the U.S. Supreme Court
refused to hear the government's appeal of a July 2008
ruling holding the Child Online Protection Act of 1998
(COPA) unconstitutional and enjoining COPA's enforcement.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/copa

* Patent Office Rejects All 20 Claims of Subdomain Patent
Based on a combination of prior art that EFF had supplied
and similar Internet newsgroup postings, the PTO concluded
that the ideas claimed by the patent were obvious and,
therefore, unpatentable.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/u-s-patent-office-rejects-all-twenty-claims-subdom

* Kentucky Court Overturns Domain Name Seizure Order
A Kentucky court overturned a prior ruling authorizing the
seizure of 141 overseas domain names.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/kentucky-court-appeals-overturns-lower-courts-seiz

* Secret FISA Court Upholds Application of Expired Law
An unnamed telecommunications carrier stood up for its
customers' privacy by fighting the case through an initial
decision by a FISA court and the appeal to the FISCR. The
Court approved the specific application of the expired
Protect America Act (PAA) and expressly rejected arguments
that the law was unconstitutionally applied in the case
before it.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/secret-fisa-court-approves-specific-application-ex

* EU Copyright Extension: Help MEPs Hear the Other Side
Members of European Parliament aren't getting the full
story about the proposed Copyright Term Extension Directive
from Commissioner Charlie McCreevy.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/eu-copyright-extension-help-meps-hear-other-side

* Global Net Censorship in 2009
An overview of international Internet censorship efforts in
the new year, and how they threaten citizens' privacy,
freedom of expression and online freedom.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/global-net-censorship-2009

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miniLinks

~ Obama's AG on the Patriot Act
Eric Holder said at his confirmation hearing that he
supports renewal of Patriot Act provisions that allow the
government to access library and bookstore records.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/17/MNH515C1KK.DTL

~ Report Finds Online Threat to Children Overblown
Many parents fear the Internet may make their children
vulnerable to sexual predators online, but 49 state
attorneys general now say the Internet may be safe for kids
after all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/us/14cyber.html

~ Payment Processor Breach May Be Largest Ever
A data breach at a payment processor in Princeton, NJ, may
have exposed tens of millions of credit card records.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2009/01/payment_processor_breach_may_b.html

For more miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/minilinks-2009-21-01

For global miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/global-minilinks-2009-01-16
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Announcements

Come Work at EFF!

* EFF is seeking an energetic, enthusiastic, experienced
Membership Coordinator for supporting EFF's current 14,000+
members and to help grow our membership.

The tasks for the position include, but are not limited to,
working with the Membership Services Assistant to:

* maintain the donor and membership database (Convio &
Salesforce)
* manage fundraising campaigns
* process donations
* send out thank-you letters and renewal notices
* order and send out member premiums
* maintain the donation pages of the website
* run EFF's online shop
* respond to issues members may have
* develop strategies to grow membership
* manage EFF partnerships
* identify and secure pro-bono conference/trade show booth
space
* work with other staffers to develop booth materials,
including literature and premiums
* set up and staff booth (some travel is required)

The ideal candidate will have at least five years of
experience in growing a membership program.  We're looking
for someone who has a proven track record of customer
service, database management, and working with a team.
We're also looking for someone who is independent and
resourceful.  This position is part of the development team
and reports to the Development Director.  Knowledge of
digital civil liberties issues would be helpful.  Excellent
interpersonal, written, oral and organizational skills are
also required.  This is a fulltime, hands-on position
working with a dedicated staff in a friendly work
environment in San Francisco's Mission District.

EFF is a 501(c)(3) organization.  Salary mid-$40,000s with
good benefits package.  To apply, send a cover letter and
your resume to memjob@eff.org.

* EFF is also seeking a fulltime Systems Administrator to
work in our San Francisco office.

The sysadmin at EFF is a support position, keeping EFF's
systems and networks running securely while also providing
hardware and software technical support for EFF's staff of
30. The ideal candidate must work well with a very busy
staff with varying levels of technical expertise. EFF's
sysadmin is on call 24x7 for response to systems
emergencies.

The ideal candidate must have three to five years of
systems administration experience. In addition, the
candidate must meet or exceed Sage level
"Intermediate/Advanced."
(See: http://www.sage.org/field/jobs-descriptions.html#Intermediate )

A successful candidate will be able to administer a wide
variety of different operating systems, including Mac OS X,
FreeBSD, Linux, and Windows. This position also requires
knowledge of server applications including Apache, Mailman,
Postfix, MySQL, and Samba. The candidate should be able to
write administrative utilities in at least one language,
such as Perl, Python, Unix shell or C/C++.

Since this position includes desktop support, knowledge of
Mac OS X and desktop applications including Mail,
Thunderbird, and MS Office is required. We're looking for a
person who will make sure that backups and recommended
updates are done scrupulously.

Responsibilities include:
- Management of small IP networks in multiple facilities
- Administration and maintenance of web, mail, backup and
file servers
- Hardware and software maintenance of 30 Mac laptops
- Telephone/voicemail system management
- Facilities management

Salary mid-$50,000s plus benefits. To apply, send a cover
letter and your resume to sysadminjob@eff.org. Please send
these materials in a non-proprietary format, such as an
ASCII text file. No phone calls please! Principals only.

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Administrivia

EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org/about

Editor:
Sara Bassett, Membership Services Assistant
sara@eff.org

Membership & donation queries:
membership@eff.org

General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries:
information@eff.org

Back issues of EFFector are available at:
http://www.eff.org/effector/