EFFector Vol. 22, No. 02  January 29, 2009  editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :

In our 497th issue:

* THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
(USTR) IS WITHHOLDING HUNDREDS OF DOCUMENTS about a secret
intellectual property enforcement treaty currently under
negotiation between the U.S. and more than a dozen other
countries. In a pending federal lawsuit, the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge are
demanding that background documents on the
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) be released
under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). But the USTR
has claimed that more than 1300 pages should be withheld
because they implicate national security or expose the
USTR's deliberative processes. The USTR has released only
159 pages for public viewing.

ACTA raises serious concerns about citizens' civil
liberties and privacy rights. The contents and text of ACTA
remain secret, but a document leaked to the public last
year shows that ACTA could include stronger criminal
measures, increased customs border search powers, and
requirements for Internet service providers to cooperate
with copyright holders.

For the full press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/29

For more on this case:
http://www.eff.org/cases/eff-and-public-knowledge-v-ustr

For more on ACTA: http://www.eff.org/issues/acta/

* IN A RECENT REVIEW of the HP Color LaserJET CM3530
printer, the magazine "Government Computer News" called out
the use of tracking codes -- which GCN referred to as "a
secret spy program" -- as the biggest problem with that
printer. GCN found that the yellow dots produced by this
printer particularly degraded print quality and noted that
some people would question the "logic or appropriateness"
of having printers produce the dots at all. It concluded
that even people who didn't object to the tracking codes in
principle would regret the poor print quality they produced
in this case. The review also credited EFF for discovering
and exposing this issue.

For the full story:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/government-computer-news-pans-printer-dots

For more on printer dots:
http://www.eff.org/issues/printers

: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :

EFF Updates

* Student Cleared After Email Sparked Disciplinary Action
A Michigan State University (MSU) student government leader
has been cleared of any charges of wrongdoing after the
school falsely labeled her a spammer for sending out a
political email to faculty members. MSU has also agreed to
revise its Network Acceptable Use Policy to ensure that it
is fair and constitutional.
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/27

* Whistleblower Reveals New Abuses of Wiretapping Power
Less than 48 hours after George Bush left office,
whistleblower and former NSA analyst Russell Tice revealed
new information about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping
program.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/whistleblower-reveals-new-abuses-wiretapping-power

* Irish ISP Agrees to Three Strikes Against Its Customers
In Ireland, the recording industry made its latest "three
strikes" subscriber termination deal with the telecom
industry -- using the courts and the threat of mass
Internet filtering obligations as the inducement.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/irish-isp-agrees-three-strikes-against-its-users

*EFF to White House: Will You Protect WhiteHouse.gov Users?
Given the importance of the "no cookie" presumption to the
privacy of visitors to WhiteHouse.gov, we'd like to know
why the White House Counsel decided to waive it. To answer
this question, we have sent a letter to White House Counsel
Gregory Craig, asking him to detail the "information and
analysis" on which his waiver is based.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/eff-white-house-counsel

* MP3 Bloggers, Where Are Your Promo CDs?
According to briefs filed last month by the RIAA and
Universal Music Group, it's illegal to sell, give away, or
even throw out "promo CDs." This is exactly the argument
that UMG made, and lost, in court last year. UMG has opted
to appeal, and this time they got the RIAA to weigh in on
behalf of the industry, echoing UMG's view that promo CDs
are owned by the labels forever.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/mp3-bloggers-where-are-your-promo-cds

* DRM in Microsoft UK's Mobile Music Service
Late last week, Microsoft launched a mobile phone music
downloading service in the UK, but the public has quickly
focused its attention on Microsoft UK's mystifying choice
to include digital rights management (DRM) on its music
files.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/drm-microsoft-uks-mobile-music-service

* On Day One, Obama Demands Open Government
President Obama has already signaled a serious commitment
to transparency and accountability in government. The
President ordered federal agencies in a memorandum to
approach the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) "with a
clear presumption: in the face of doubt, openness
prevails."
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/on-day-one-obama-demands-open-government

* GateHouse and the New York Times Settle
In a situation reminiscent of the AP debacle of last
summer, GateHouse Media, the publisher of a Newton-focused
weekly, blog, and news site, didn't much care for the free
traffic Boston.com was sending it. With trial looming,
GateHouse Media and the New York Times over the weekend
settled their dispute over "hyper-local" news aggregation
sites on the NYT-owned Boston.com website.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/gatehouse-and-new-york-times-settle
For the original story:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/gatehouse-v-new-york-times-lawsuit-attacks-boston-

* Laboratories and Roadmaps for Network Testing
The New America Foundation, PlanetLab and Google announced
the launch of the Measurement Lab project, an initiative to
provide server resources for researchers interested in
network neutrality and performance testing.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/laboratories-and-roadmaps-network-testing

: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :

miniLinks

~ ACLU Requests Bush-era Memos
In a test of President Obama's commitment to transparency,
the ACLU requested sensitive Bush administration memos on
torture and wiretapping that have long been sought by
privacy and human rights advocates.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/v-print/story/60870.html

~ Patriot Act Used to Punish Fliers
Conflicts with airline staff have led to fliers facing
federal terrorism charges.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-airline-felonies20-2009jan20,0,5468299.story

~ Cox Ready to Throttle P2P
The cable service will give preference to time-sensitive
traffic during periods of congestion.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/01/cox-opens-up-throttle-for-p2p-non-time-sensitive-traffic.ars

For more miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/minilinks-2009-01-28

For global miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/global-minilinks-2009-01-25

: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :

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

: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :

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