EFFector Vol. 22, No. 06  March 4, 2009  editor@eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

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In our 501st issue:

* EFF RELEASES SURVEILLANCE SELF DEFENSE -- an online
how-to guide for protecting your private data against
government spying. EFF created the site with the help of
the Open Society Institute in order to educate Americans
about the law and technology of communications surveillance
and computer searches and seizures, and to provide the
information and tools necessary to keep their private data
out of the government's hands. The guide includes tips on
assessing the security risks to your personal computer
files and communications, strategies for interacting with
law enforcement, and articles on specific defensive
technologies such as encryption that can help protect the
privacy of your data

For the full press release:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/03/03

For Surveillance Self Defense:
http://ssd.eff.org

* WARNER MUSIC GROUP IS CENSORING A MYRIAD OF FAIR USES by
using YouTube's Video Identification tool to send blanket
takedown notices, and very few YouTubers are willing to
challenge the takedowns. Why? Because our broken copyright
system leaves them facing the prospect of paying outrageous
statutory damages and even possibly Warner's attorneys'
fees if they stand up, fight back and, despite overwhelming
odds in their favor, lose.

It's time for Warner to take some responsibility and stop
the censorship. The best thing would be for Warner to go
back to how it treated videos before. At a minimum, Warner
should assure YouTubers that the company won't escalate
straight to lawsuit after a content ID takedown is disputed
without first availing itself of the DMCA takedown option.

If Warner doesn't stop on its own, EFF is interested in
bringing a good case to challenge this behavior. If you
made a fair use video and you want to fight back, we want
to hear from you.

For our YouTube removal primer:
http://www.eff.org/issues/intellectual-property/guide-to-youtube-removals

For fair use video takedowns, contact: info@eff.org

For the full blog post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/hey-warner-leave-those-kids-alone

For examples of fair use videos taken off YouTube:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/victims-warner-censorship-literal-videos

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EFF Updates

* "Open Access" Policies Threatened by Copyright Bill
The poorly named Fair Copyright in Research Works Act would
foreclose on all the public publishing requirements of
National Institutes of Health research and prevent the
government from expanding the open access approach to
research funded by other agencies.
Original post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/open-access-policies-threatened-copyright-bill
Additional information:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/maplight-org-illuminates-anti-open-access-bill-mon

* Yes We Scan: Carl Malamud for Public Printer
On President Obama's first day in office, he announced his
commitment to "an unprecedented level of openness in
Government." Appointing Carl Malamud to Public Printer
would be an excellent step towards that goal.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/yes-we-scan

* EFF Urges Court to Reject Warrantless GPS Tracking
EFF and the ACLU urged a U.S. appeals court today to reject
government claims that federal agents have an unfettered
right to install a Global Positioning System (GPS)
location-tracking device on anyone's car without a search
warrant.
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/03/03-0

* DOJ Releases Secret Bush Era OLC Memos
The Obama Administration has released two previously
undisclosed OLC memoranda and seven previously undisclosed
OLC opinions written by the Department of Justice's Office
of Legal Counsel during the Bush Administration.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/doj-releases-bush-era-olc-memos

* Bush Admin. Claimed 4th Amendment Didn't Apply to NSA
It turns out that the Bush Administration did think it
could spy on Americans in the U.S. without regard to the
Constitution.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/bush-administration-asserted-fourth-amendment-did-

* Court Denies Government Appeal in Al-Haramain Case
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the government's
appeal of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker's January 5, 2009,
decision in Al-Haramain v. Obama (formerly known as
Al-Haramain v. Bush).
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/ninth-circuit-appeals-court-denies-government-appe

* PTO to Reissue Narrowed Version of NeoMedia Patent
Thanks to EFF's Patent Busting Project, last July, the
USPTO released an initial opinion invalidating a NeoMedia
patent that broadly claimed to cover database lookups using
things like barcodes. This week, the PTO announced that it
intends to reissue a narrower patent to Neomedia.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/patent-office-reissue-narrowed-version-neomedia-pa

* White House Responds to Privacy Complaints?
The White House has quietly shifted from using
YouTube-hosted videos to Flash-based videos hosted on
government servers, eliminating the need for viewers to
allow third party cookies to be installed on their
computers in order to access government-released videos.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/white-house-responds-privacy-complaints

* Last.fm and the Diabolical Power of Data Mining
Websites that collect and republish seemingly innocuous
facts about their users are often vulnerable to data
mining.
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/last-fm-and-the-diabolical-power-of-data-mining

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miniLinks

~ Judge Orders Defendent to Decrypt Laptop
A federal judge in Vermont ordered a criminal defendant to
provide his PGP passphrase so that prosecutors can examine
his computer.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10172866-38.html

~ Applying the 4th Amendment to the Internet
Orin Kerr presents some general principals for a
technology-neutral translation of 4th Amendment principals
from physical space to cyberspace.
http://volokh.com/posts/1235671894.shtml

~ RIAA Layoffs
Is the coming "bloodbath" the beginning of the end for the
organization?
http://i.gizmodo.com/5162747/riaa-layoffs-bloodbath-may-be-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-the-evil-organization

For more miniLinks:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/03/minilinks-2009-03-03

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Announcements

* Come See EFF at eTech!

EFF be at the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference
March 9 - 12 in San Jose, California. Stop by to say hello,
and update your membership!

Use code et09sed40 to get a 40% discount on registration
for eTech.

For more information on eTech:
http://en.oreilly.com/et2009/public/content/home

* New Staff Members at EFF

Two new staff members have joined the EFF team. For a quick
introduction to EFF's new Systems Administrator and
Membership Coordinator:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/02/effs-two-new-staff-members

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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

To support EFF:
secure.eff.org/donate

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

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