EFFector Vol. 21, No. 18  June 6, 2008  editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

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In our 471st issue:

* ACTION ALERT: ASK YOUR SENATOR ABOUT ACTA. Disturbingly
little information has been made publicly available about a
wide-ranging intellectual property enforcement treaty,
known as ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). The
trickle of information available points to a select group
of industrialized countries negotiating an elevated
standard of intellectual property enforcement, which stands
to impact innovation, commerce, and technology users'
privacy and civil liberties. With so much potentially at
stake, the lack of transparency is cause for concern.
Contact your Senator -- urge him or her to shed some
sunlight on the contents of ACTA and to give citizens an
opportunity for meaningful consultation.
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=383

* EFF IS SAFEGUARDING FREE SPEECH in Cook County, Illinois,
where town officials are seeking the identity of the author
of two "spoof" MySpace profiles criticizing the town
president. EFF Senior Staff Attorney Matt Zimmerman
explains: "The First Amendment requires courts to guard
against attempts to unmask critics who have simply made
statements litigants don't like, especially when such
requests are made by elected officials."
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/05

* IN FISA NEWS, House leaders have been discussing a
terrible Republican proposal that would direct the secret
FISA court to grant immunity to telecoms that participated
in the NSA's illegal warrantless wiretapping program, so
long as they received a piece of paper saying that the
President authorized the surveillance. This proposal is
even *worse* than the immunity scheme that the House has
already rejected, so please act today to remind your
Representative to stand firm and say no to retroactive
immunity.
http://www.stopthespying.org

* EFF HAS FOUGHT FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY for quite some
time now, though the effort has been distributed throughout
a number of disparate projects. To make our efforts more
clear, we have created a "one-stop shop" for our work in
promoting transparency and accountability for government
and corporate entities. Check it out!
http://www.eff.org/issues/transparency

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EFF Updates

* Prince Issues One Takedown Too Many
Another thorny example of the DMCA's speech-squelching
ability: Prince issued a DMCA takedown notice for a video
of his live performance of a Radiohead song, but
copyright-holder Radiohead wants the video to remain
available.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/prince-issues-one-takedown-too-many

* Spying Telecoms Receive Billions in Government Contracts
Telecom immunity proponents often suggest that the
communications companies' participation in warrantless
surveillance was not financially motivated -- but recent
figures and corporate testimony hint at a more complex
reality.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/spying-telecoms-receive-billions

* Freedom Not Fear: Europe's Growing Protest Against Net
Surveillance
Orwellian EU data retention directives are causing a swell
of resistance across Europe.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/freedom-not-fear

* Computer Crime Laws Chill Discovery of Customer Privacy
Threats
The poorly-constructed definition of "authorization" in
computer crime law creates serious problems for security
researchers.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/computer-crime-laws-chill-discovery-customer-priva

* Watching the Detectors
Help EFF uncover what is really happening with the digital
TV copy-controls that kept Vista Media Center users from
recording over-the-air NBC shows.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/watch-tv

* Orphan Works Update: Is the Legislation Fair to Copyright
Holders?
Contentious orphan works legislation continues to inspire
thoughtful, lively debate.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/orphan-works-update-legislation-fair-copyright-hol

* B-24 Liberated!
After EFF's open letter to Lockheed Martin responding to a
trademark infringement claim, images of the "B-24" bomber
will be rightfully reposted to TurboSquid.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/b-24-liberated

* If It Looks Like a Duck . . . Seattle Judge Finds
Software Was Sold, Not Licensed
In a major victory for consumers' rights, a federal
district judge has firmly rejected software vendor
AutoDesk's claim that its license agreement restricts its
customers from re-selling the software they lawfully
purchased.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/if-it-looks-duck-seattle-judge-finds-software-was-

* McCain Not Giving Straight Talk on Warrantless
Wiretapping
An advisor to Senator McCain recently voiced absolute
support for warrantless wiretapping, although the Senator
previously 1) has rejected the Bush Administration's legal
rationale for the warrantless surveillance program, 2) has
sympathized with the millions of innocent Americans caught
up in the NSA spying, and 3) has opined that the Courts
should have the chance to determine whether the law was
broken.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/05/john-mccain-straight-talk-wiretapping

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Announcements

* EFF at RoboGames
Can't get enough extreme robot action?  Neither can we!
EFF will be at the 2008 RoboGames at Fort Mason in San 
Francisco on June 13-15:
http://www.eff.org/calendar/2008/06/12/eff-robogames

* Music Benefit for EFF in San Francisco on Wednesday, June
18th
http://www.eff.org/calendar/2008/06/18/sf-wiretap-music-benefit-eff

* EFF at Personal Democracy Forum 2008
Visit EFF at Personal Democracy Forum 2008 in New York City

on June 23-24, 2008.
http://www.eff.org/calendar/2008/06/23/eff-personal-democracy-forum-2008

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miniLinks
The week's noteworthy news, compressed.

~ Obama Should Lead on FISA
A CBS News Blogger has some advice for the presumptive
nominee: Get to work protecting civil liberties!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/04/politics/animal/main4154987.shtml

~ FTC Investigates Big Brother
The practice of compiling profiles on Internet users for
purposes of targeted advertising is coming under scrutiny.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052102989.html

~ Will Flame Wars Be Made Illegal?
A proposed federal statute would make it a crime to
transmit communications with the intent to cause
"substantial emotional distress."
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_06_01-2008_06_07.shtml#1212694919

For more miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/06/minilinks

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Administrivia

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

Editor:
Richard Esguerra, EFF Activist
 richard@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/