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In our 613th issue:
EFF is defending popular online cartoonist Matthew Inman of The Oatmeal (http://theoatmeal.com) against a bizarre lawsuit targeting his online comic strip's charity fundraising campaign. Inman started his fundraiser as part of his criticism of the frivolous legal threats he received from the website FunnyJunk - rather than pay the $20k demanded, Inman was going to raise money and send a photo of the money to FunnyJunk, but send the money to charity instead. The fundraiser raised $220,024.00 -- almost exactly 11 times the original goal of $20k.
The attorney for FunnyJunk, Charles Carreon, filed lawsuit filed on his own behalf, suing Inman, the two charities, the online fundraising platform Indiegogo, 100 unidentified John Does, and even the California Attorney General, asserting trademark infringement, cybervandalism, and false advertising. Carreon seeks to take control over the fundraiser from Inman, and place the money in a trust.
The Supreme Court will soon review a court decision that, if upheld, could put handcuffs on our ability to sell digital goods--or even physical goods with copyrighted logos or artwork--simply because the goods were manufactured outside the U.S. This is just a small piece of a larger assault on ownership rights. Courts and copyright owners have quietly been creating a world in which digital goods are never truly owned, but only licensed, often with a plethora of legal restrictions. Join EFF and other rights groups in speaking out: Join us.
EFF, assisted by retired federal judge Abraham D. Sofaer, will ask a judge Friday to order the return of data to Kyle Goodwin, a Megaupload user who lost all access to his files when the cloud storage service was shut down by the U.S. government. The government has so far failed to help Goodwin and other lawful Megaupload users get access to their data, despite months of legal wrangling.
EFF Updates
More Evidence of a Broken Software Patent System
A new report shows the economic damage reaped on our society by patent trolls - to the tune of $29 billion in 2011 alone - and, in a promising ruling, an influential federal judge threw out a high profile patent case between Motorola and Apple.
A Newspaper Should Know Better: Trademark Allegations Put Occupied Chicago Tribune At Risk
The Chicago Tribune launched is claiming trademark infringement by independent newspaper Occupied Chicago Tribune, which for months has been reporting and commenting on the Occupy movement.
Hey Congress - Executive Privilege Getting in the Way of Public Accountability? EFF Feels Your Pain. And Here's a Way to Fix It.
If Congress really wants to send a message to the Department of Justice for its repeated refusals to release documents about a botched investigation, it should focus on a long-term solution: cabining the Executive’s ability to assert executive privilege in the first place.
If Europe Rejects ACTA, Will It Actually Go Away?
The fifth and final European Union Parliamentary committee voted to reject the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). This signifies a major blow to ACTA, but its standing in the EU still comes down to the European Parliament vote scheduled during the first week of July.
Defending Privacy at the Israeli Border: Information for Travelers Carrying Digital Devices
Two young travelers to Israel were requested not only to provide their laptops to border agents for arbitrary searches, but to log in to their email accounts and allow Israeli officials to search through their email for specific strings and correspondence.
Will Sudan Pull a Mubarak?
In the Sudan, there are rumors of a potential Internet shutdown and speculation that authorities are using technology to track activists and journalists. Prominent bloggers have already been detained.
Coders' Rights At Risk in the European Parliament
The European Parliament is considering computer crime issues; EFF urges them to consider the public good provided by security researchers.
miniLinks
Speak Out Against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
EFF is headed to San Diego to fight for users in the secret TPP negotiations. Add your voice to the tens of thousands who have already spoken out against backdoor Internet regulations.
The Ultimate Challenge to Lebanon’s Censorship Bureau
A web mockumentary takes on Lebanon's notorious censorship bureau, a seemingly unaccountable body that relishes in randomly banning cultural works from local productions to Lady Gaga’s albums.
Wikipedia Founder Opposes Extradition of UK Teen
Wikipedia's Jimmy Wales penned a powerful op-ed opposing the extradition of UK teen Richard O'Dwyer to the US for alleged copyright infringement.
Administrivia
ISSN 1062-9424
EFFector is a publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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Editor:
Adi Kamdar, Activist
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