EFFector Vol. 20, No. 32 August 13, 2007 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424
In the 436th Issue of EFFector:
- Appeals Court Battle Over NSA Surveillance on August 15
- How Ma Bell Fought for Your Privacy - 80 Years Ago
- First Sale: Why It Matters; Why We're Fighting for It
- Let 1,000 YouTube Presidential Debate Remixes Bloom!
- miniLinks (12): A Gateway for Hackers
- Administrivia
For more information on EFF activities & alerts:
http://www.eff.org/
Make a donation and become an EFF member today!
http://eff.org/support/
Tell a friend about EFF:
http://action.eff.org/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1061
effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a desired
change.
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Appeals Court Battle Over NSA Surveillance on August 15
Government Aims to Block Accountability for Illegal Spying
on Americans
San Francisco - In the wake of Congress approving a
dramatic expansion of U.S. warrantless wiretapping powers,
the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments
on the future of two critical lawsuits over illegal
surveillance of Americans. The hearing is set for August 15
at 2 p.m. in San Francisco.
The government is fighting to get the cases thrown out of
court, contending that the litigation jeopardizes state
secrets. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is
representing the plaintiffs in Hepting v. AT&T, which
accuses the telecom giant of collaborating with the
National Security Agency (NSA) in illegal electronic
surveillance of millions of AT&T's customers. The court
will also hear arguments on Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation
v. Bush, a case alleging that the government illegally
wiretapped calls between the charity and its lawyers.
"At issue here is whether the courts have any meaningful
role to play in protecting Americans' privacy from
Executive branch abuses of its surveillance powers," said
EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "If the claim of 'state
secrets' is allowed to shut down litigation, then the
courts will never be able to exercise their Constitutional
duty to hold the White House accountable for illegal and
even unconstitutional abuses of power."
The court has scheduled one hour of arguments for Hepting
v. AT&T and 40 minutes for Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation
v. Bush. Because of the large number of attendees expected
at Wednesday's hearing, the court will provide an overflow
room with audio and video of the proceedings for spectators
who cannot get a seat in the courtroom itself.
WHAT:
Hepting v. AT&T
Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush
WHEN:
2 p.m.
Wednesday, August 15
WHERE:
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Courtroom 1, 3rd Floor
95 Seventh Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
For more on EFF's case against AT&T:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att
See EFF's page on the NSA's Warrantless Domestic
Surveillance:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/NSA/
For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2007_08.php#005398
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* How Ma Bell Fought for Your Privacy - 80 Years Ago
Once upon a time, nearly 80 years ago, AT&T fought at the
Supreme Court to stop the government's warrantless
surveillance of Americans' private communications.
How times have changed.
Since its participation in the president's illegal
wiretapping program came to light in late 2005, AT&T has
desperately tried to avoid accountability and has sided
with the government's claims that no one should be able to
sue to stop the dragnet surveillance of millions of
ordinary Americans.
But when the Supreme Court first confronted warrantless
wiretapping in Olmstead v. USA, AT&T co-authored an amicus
brief that outspokenly defended its customers' privacy:
"The telephone companies deplore the use of their
facilities in furtherance of any criminal or wrongful
enterprise. But it was not solicitude for lawbreakers that
caused the people of the United States to ordain the Fourth
and Fifth Amendments as part of the Constitution.... [I]t
is better that a few criminals escape than that the
privacies of life of all the people be exposed to the
agents of the government, who will act at their own
discretion, the honest and the dishonest, unauthorized and
unrestrained by courts."
Even in the 1920s, AT&T clearly recognized that
surveillance of the modern telecommunications system could
be far more invasive than the Colonial era privacy
violations that inspired the Bill of Rights.
"The telephone has become part and parcel of the social and
business intercourse of the people of the United States,
and this telephone system offers a means of espionage to
which general warrants and writs of assistance were the
puniest instruments of tyranny and oppression."
"Writs of assistance" were used by Kings George II and III
to carry out wide-ranging searches of anyone, anywhere, and
anytime regardless of whether they were suspected of a
crime. These "hated writs" spurred colonists toward
revolution and directly motivated James Madison's crafting
of the Fourth Amendment.
Today, the president has essentially updated this page from
the kings' playbook. EFF's lawsuit against AT&T presents
uncontested evidence that, since at least 2001, the telco
giant has given the National Security Agency unfettered
backdoor access to its customers' Internet and phone
communications, as well as realtime access to calling
records.
If AT&T in 1928 thought that wiretapping made the "hated
writs" look puny, how can it now cooperate with the
president's massive and illegal spying program?
Both federal statutes and the Constitution plainly forbid
the president's abuse of power as well as AT&T's
participation, and EFF will continue to fight hard in court
to restore your rights. This Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in our case. As
AT&T's brief from 80 years ago makes clear, the most basic
essence of our Constitution is at stake.
AT&T isn't the only one in need of a history lesson;
Congress needs one, too, and it's up to each and every one
of us to set our representatives straight. By passing
horrible legislation last week permitting the warrantless
surveillance of Americans' international communications,
Congress failed to do its job and check the Executive's
abuse of power. Now we must do our democratic duty and help
restore our Constitutional rights. Take action and write to
Congress now.
http://action.eff.org/fisa
Read AT&T's amicus brief from Olmstead v. USA:
http://eff.org/legal/cases/att/att_olmstead_amicus.pdf
For this post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005397.php
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* First Sale: Why It Matters; Why We're Fighting for It
The "first sale" doctrine expresses one of the most
important limitations on the reach of copyright law. The
idea, set out in Section 109 of the Copyright Act, is
simple: once you've acquired a lawfully-made CD or book or
DVD, you can lend, sell, or give it away without having to
get permission from the copyright owner. In simpler terms,
"you bought it, you own it" (and because first sale also
applies to gifts, "they gave it to you, you own it" is also
true).
Seems obvious, right? After all, without the "first sale"
doctrine, libraries would be illegal, as would used
bookstores, used record stores, and video rental shops (and
their modern variants, like LaLa and other CD-swapping
communities).
But that hasn't stopped Universal Music Group. In May, UMG
sued Roast Beast Music for auctioning "promo CDs" on eBay,
CDs which Roast Beast Music had itself purchased from used
record stores around Los Angeles. Apparently, UMG has been
harassing a number of eBay sellers, sending bogus DMCA
takedown notices to eBay, getting auctions suspended and
accounts terminated.
Last week, EFF filed papers in court on behalf of Roast
Beast Music answering UMG's allegations and counter-suing
them for the bogus DMCA takedowns. The critical question is
whether UMG can trump first sale by printing "promotional
use only, not for resale" notices on the CDs that they
routinely give away to radio stations, journalists, and
tastemakers of all kinds.
If UMG is right, then copyright owners of all kinds can
strip away our first sale rights by putting these kinds of
"label licenses" on their wares. Next thing you know, CDs,
books, DVDs, and video games could be festooned with
"notices" that erode a customer's first sale, fair use, and
other rights.
Read Section 109 of the U.S. Copyright Act:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#109
See EFF's case page on UMG v. Augusto:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/umg_v_augusto/
For the entire post and related links:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005400.php
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Let 1,000 YouTube Presidential Debate Remixes Bloom!
It's amazing how fast things can change. In April, a
transpartisan coalition spearheaded by Stanford Law
Professor and EFF Board Member Lawrence Lessig called for
the release of presidential debate footage into the public
domain. The coalition of Internet luminaries, free speech
advocates, conservative and progressive activists and
others asked the broadcasters behind the debates to make
all footage available to the public for remixing, blogging,
commentary, analysis, and parody.
Starting in May, three out of the five major networks
granted the public access to their debate footage and
acknowledged the ever-growing number of citizens that are
already making use of new forums like YouTube to engage in
political debate.
Of course, even without the networks' permission, people
are free to engage in non-infringing re-uses -- commentary,
news reporting, and parody are classic examples of fair
use. But uncertainty in the law and threat of litigation
can nevertheless have a significant chilling effect on free
speech.
Find out which major networks have granted access in our
complete post:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/005401.php
Read Lawrence Lessig's April blog post, " A Call on the RNC
& DNC to Eliminate Unnecessary Regulation of Political
Speech":
http://lessig.org/blog/2007/04/a_call_on_the_rnc_dnc_to_elimi.html
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* miniLinks
The week's noteworthy news, compressed.
~ A Gateway for Hackers
Susan Landau says wiretapping may create a security
nightmare by tempting hackers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/08/AR2007080801961.html
~ China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People
The Chinese government plans to use new ID cards to track
all 12.4 million people in Shenzhen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/business/worldbusiness/12security.html?ex=1344571200&en=7afecf6fde098a90&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
~ Feds Consider Lowering Passenger Data Requirements
Under a new plan, airlines would provide less data on
travelers to the TSA.
http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-6201946.html
~ Delete This!
Companies may begin retaining more data in response to the
recent TorrentSpy case.
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/450
~ Meltdown at the E-voting Machine
The story behind why California's secretary of state
decided to decertify E-voting machines.
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=5959&IssueNum=218
~ Voice ID Snares Drug Kingpin in Brazil
Police identified Ramirez Abadia using voice recognition
software, with help from the U.S. DEA.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/10/international/i132148D24.DTL&tsp=1
~ Perfect 10 Returns for More Abuse
Having lost once, Perfect 10 returns to claim copyright
infringement from search engine thumbnails.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070809-perfect-10-shows-steep-learning-curve-sues-microsoft-over-thumbnails.html
~ Microsoft Games Open for Non-Commercial Re-Use
You can create derivative works -- but don't even think
about reverse engineering!
http://www.developmag.com/news/28301/Microsoft-opens-game-IP-for-non-commercial-projects
~ Mod Chip Raid Fallout: A Roundup
Should cops target small time pirates or focus on the big
game?
http://kotaku.com/gaming/piracy/mod-chip-raid-fallout-a-roundup-286137.php
~ DRM-free Tunes to be Watermarked
Universal's plan to sell music without DRM doesn't mean it
won't track user data.
http://blog.wired.com/music/2007/08/universals-open.html
~ "Cyber-Punk" No More
The man who supposedly coined the term "cyberspace" says
the "cyber" prefix is fading from popular usage.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9756972-7.html?tag=nefd.only
~ Habeas Corpus for Avatars!
Will avatars in Second Life end up having more rights than
their human creators?
http://www.wonderlandblog.com/wonderland/2007/08/avatar-rights.html
: . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . :
* Administrivia
EFFector is published by:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation
454 Shotwell Street
San Francisco CA 94110-1914 USA
+1 415 436 9333 (voice)
+1 415 436 9993 (fax)
http://www.eff.org/
Editor:
Julie Lindner, Education Outreach Coordinator
julie@eff.org
Membership & donation queries:
membership@eff.org
General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries:
information@eff.org
Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is
encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent
the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles
individually, please contact the authors for their express
permission.
Press releases and EFF announcements & articles may be
reproduced individually at will.
Current and back issues of EFFector are available via the
Web at:
http://www.eff.org/effector/
Click here to change your email address:
http://action.eff.org/addresschange
This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons.
