EFFector Vol. 16, No. 27 October 11, 2003
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
In the 266th Issue of EFFector:
- Action Alert: Stop the MPAA's Broadcast Flag!
- EFF Expands San Francisco Staff
- EFF Co-Founder Mitch Kapor Honored by CPSR
- Deep Links (8): Silly Wabbit, RFIDs Are for Kids!
- Staff Calendar: 10.20.03 - Wendy Seltzer speaks at ISPCon, Santa Clara, CA; 10.24.03 - Lee Tien speaks at BayNet, San Francisco, CA
- Administrivia
Stop the MPAA's Broadcast Flag!
Hollywood is at it again, trying to control the design of new digital technologies. If the motion picture studios have their way, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will force manufacturers to include Hollywood-approved "content protection" technology in all future televisions.
Fair use, innovation and competition will suffer. What's more, the "broadcast flag" technology that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has proposed is so weak that it will do nothing to stem Internet redistribution of television programs. Rather than thwart copyright infringement, the broadcast flag will harm the legitimate interests of consumers, innovators and researchers.
The FCC has promised a ruling before the end of October. We need you to tell the FCC that we don't want "broadcast flag" regulations that will hurt competition, consumers and innovators.
Links:
EFF Expands San Francisco Staff
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) this week announced it has hired three staff members to support its mission of protecting and promoting civil liberties in the digital realm.
EFF hired the following people, listed in alphabetical order:
- Kathy Ahn has joined EFF as the organization's webmaster. She is making EFF's website and online archives more uniform and accessible. Before EFF, she worked as a web developer for companies including Business 2.0, Covalent Technologies, and GeoCities. She attended computer science courses at the University of San Francisco and has a B.A. in English from University of Southern California.
- Chris Palmer has joined EFF as the system administrator. He is fixing EFF's systems, network, and other nagging staff concerns. Prior to EFF, he worked as a systems administrator and software programmer for ISPs and web application development shops in Minneapolis and San Francisco. He holds a B.A. degree in Linguistics from the University of Minnesota.
- Donna Wentworth has joined EFF as a web writer and activist. She is editor of the EFFector newsletter and writing text for EFF web pages. A founding staff member of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, she wrote and edited "The Filter," the Berkman Center's highly regarded electronic newsletter on emerging developments in Internet law and policy. She co-edited the "Weblogs at Harvard Law" weblog and provided editorial input for the Chilling Effects and GrepLaw projects. She also created and writes "Copyfight: The Politics of IP," a weblog exploring intellectual property politics and issues. Wentworth graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from Colby College and later completed coursework in English Literature and Critical Theory at Georgetown University.
Links:
EFF Co-Founder Mitch Kapor Honored by CPSR
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) honors Mitch Kapor, Internet pioneer and philanthropist, with its 2003 Norbert Wiener Award. The Award will be presented at a dinner in conjunction with CPSR's 2003 annual conference, "Getting The Technology You Deserve: Community Participation In Regional Cable Franchise Policy," on October 25, 2003 in Seattle, Washington.
"Mitch has long been a role model for anyone seeking to succeed in the cut-throat world of high tech business without sacrificing integrity and conscience," said CPSR President Nathaniel Borenstein. "There are too few people who even attempt to combine these two kinds of contribution, and even fewer who succeed. Mitch Kapor is the best role model I know of for bright young engineers and scientists seeking to make a positive difference in the world."
EFF members are invited to attend the dinner at the CPSR member rate.
Links:
Deep Links
Deep Links features noteworthy news items from around the Internet.
- Silly Wabbit, RFIDs Are for Kids!
A U.S. company is launching an initiative to implant RFID chips in Mexican children. - Software CEOs Stump in D.C.
Executives from Adobe, Microsoft and other monster software companies were in Washington this week to argue against DMCA reform and legislation that supports open-source. - Intuit Apologizes for Flawed Antipiracy Measures on Turbotax
"You told us that you want the flexibility to install and use TurboTax on multiple computers, and we heard you, loud and clear". - FBI to Reporters: "Oops, We Did It Again"
It must be national "Apologize to People You Abuse" week. The FBI has issued an apology for trying to intimidate 13 news organizations into turning over notes on conversations with a computer hacker. - Music Business "Stuck in Past"
But that won't matter as soon as they drag us back there with 'em, right? - Peer-to-Peer Defense Fund
Downhillbattle.org's Peer-to-Peer Defense Fund "lets you donate money directly to one of the individuals or families being sued by the record companies". - The Best Way to Void the Warranty on Your Xbox
The chilling effect of the DMCA almost kept "Hacking the Xbox" off the shelves, but now it's selling like hotcakes and the critics like it, too. - SunnComm Won't Use DMCA to Sue Grad Student
After thinking things though, SunnComm decided it won't sue a Princeton grad student for publishing a paper revealing that its CD copy protection can be broken simply by holding down the "Shift" key.
Staff Calendar
For a complete listing of EFF speaking engagements (with locations and times), please visit the EFF calendar.
- October 20 - Wendy Seltzer will speak at ISPCon Santa Clara, CA. - 11:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. "ISPs: Carriers or Nannies?"
- October 24 - Lee Tien will speak at BayNet, San Francisco Public Library San Francisco, CA. - 9:00 a.m.- 10:00 a.m.
Administrivia
EFFector is published by:
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Editor:
Donna Wentworth, Web Writer/Activist
donna@eff.org
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