Let the Public Decide Broadcasting Treaty's Fate!

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EFFector list <editor () eff org>
Date: May 30, 2006 6:17:10 PM EDT
To: farber () cis upenn edu
Subject: Action Alert - Let the Public Decide Broadcasting Treaty's  
Fate!
Reply-To: EFFector list <editor () eff org>

EFFector Vol. 19, No. 20  May 30, 2006  editor () eff org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
ISSN 1062-9424

In the 380th Issue of EFFector:

 * Action Alert - Let the Public Decide Broadcasting
Treaty's Fate!
 * Huge Win for Online Journalists' Source Protection
 * Key Portions of Critical Documents Unsealed in AT&T
Surveillance Case
 * The Battle for Your Digital Media Devices
 * miniLinks (14): A Catalog of Features Lost in iTunes
Upgrades
 * 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.

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

* Action Alert - Let the Public Decide Broadcasting Treaty's
Fate!

The United States delegation to the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO) has been one of the strongest
supporters of efforts to create a new intellectual property
right for broadcasters and cablecasters through a new WIPO
treaty.  If adopted, the treaty would give broadcasters,
cablecasters and potentially webcasting companies 50 years
of copyright-like rights over anything they transmit,
including public domain and Creative Commons-licensed works.
It would also give broadcasters legal protection to use
technology to lock down content, giving them control over
how you use broadcasts received by your television, radio
and possibly personal computer as well as control over how
those devices are designed and built.

The new treaty is likely to restrict your access to
knowledge and culture, and it lets broadcasters make
decisions that should be left in the hands of creators and
the public.  Furthermore, the treaty raises serious threats
to innovation in Internet and home entertainment
technologies.

EFF and other groups have worked hard in Geneva, trying to
fix the proposed broadcasting treaty, but with the United
States providing so much of the force behind its adoption,
it has been uphill work.

We believe it would be a terrible mistake for WIPO to create
new rights for broadcasters, who are merely middlemen, which
could restrict what ordinary Americans do with their media.
We don't think the U.S. delegation members have taken the
time to hear the views of the American public.  The
delegation should hold a public consultation with the
American people before it continues to lobby for expansive
new IP rights.

The two committees in Congress that have responsibility for
copyright and telecommunications policy are the House and
Senate Judiciary Committees.  Your representatives are in
these committees -- write now to ask them to request that
the U.S. WIPO delegation seek the public's comments.

Take action:
<http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=227>

For more on the treaty:
<http://www.eff.org/IP/WIPO/broadcasting_treaty/>

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

* Huge Win for Online Journalists' Source Protection

EFF Arguments Secure Reporters' Privilege for Internet News
Gatherers

San Jose - A California state appeals court ruled in favor
of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) petition on
behalf of three online journalists Friday, holding that the
online journalists have the same right to protect the
confidentiality of their sources as offline reporters do.

"Today's decision is a victory for the rights of
journalists, whether online or offline, and for the public
at large," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl, who argued
the case before the appeals court last month.  "The court
has upheld the strong protections for the free flow of
information to the press, and from the press to the public."

In their decision, the judges wrote: "We can think of no
workable test or principle that would distinguish
'legitimate' from 'illegitimate' news.  Any attempt by
courts to draw such a distinction would imperil a
fundamental purpose of the First Amendment, which is to
identify the best, most important, and most valuable ideas
not by any sociological or economic formula, rule of law, or
process of government, but through the rough and tumble
competition of the memetic marketplace."

The case began when Apple Computer sued several unnamed
individuals, called "Does," who allegedly leaked information
about an upcoming product to online news sites PowerPage and
AppleInsider.  As part of its investigation, Apple
subpoenaed Nfox -- PowerPage's email service provider -- for
communications and unpublished materials obtained by
PowerPage publisher Jason O'Grady.  A trial court upheld the
subpoena.

But Friday, the court said that O'Grady is protected by
California's reporter's shield law, as well as the
constitutional privilege against disclosure of confidential
sources.  The court also agreed with EFF that Apple's
subpoena to email service provider Nfox was unenforceable
because it violated the federal Stored Communications Act,
which requires direct subpoenas of account holders.

"In addition to being a free speech victory for every
citizen reporter who uses the Internet to distribute news,
today's decision is a profound electronic privacy victory
for everyone who uses email," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin
Bankston.  "The court correctly found that under federal
law, civil litigants can't subpoena your stored email from
your service provider."

EFF worked with co-counsel Thomas Moore III and Richard
Wiebe in this case.

For the full decision in the case:
<http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Apple_v_Does/H028579.pdf>

For more on Apple v. Does:
<http://www.eff.org/Censorship/Apple_v_Does/>

For this release:
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_05.php#004698>

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

* Key Portions of Critical Documents Unsealed in AT&T
Surveillance Case

Technician Describes Secret NSA Room at AT&T Facility

San Francisco - AT&T has set up a secret, secure room for
the NSA in at least one of the company's facilities -- a
room into which AT&T has been diverting its customers'
emails and other Internet communications in bulk --
according to evidence in key documents partially unsealed
today in the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) class-
action lawsuit against the telecom giant.

"Now the public can see firsthand the testimony of Mark
Klein, a former AT&T employee who was brave enough to step
forward and provide evidence of the company's illegal
collaboration with the NSA," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin
Bankston.  "Today we have released some of the evidence
supporting our allegation that AT&T has given the NSA direct
access to its fiber-optic network, such that the NSA can
read the email of anyone and everyone it chooses -- all
without a warrant or any court supervision, and in clear
violation of the law."

The Klein declaration and EFF's motion for a preliminary
injunction against AT&T's ongoing illegal surveillance were
filed under seal last month.  But last week, U.S. District
Judge Vaughn Walker instructed AT&T to work with EFF to
narrowly redact the documents and make them available to the
public.

"We strongly believe in transparency and openness in
judicial proceedings and that there is no proper basis for
permanently sealing any of the information supporting our
preliminary injunction papers," said EFF Staff Attorney Kurt
Opsahl.  "In the interim, we are glad that as much as
possible is released while the motions to unseal filed by
media entities are pending."

EFF filed the class-action suit against AT&T in January,
alleging that the telecommunications company has given the
National Security Agency (NSA) secret, direct access to the
phone calls and emails going over its network and has been
handing over communications logs detailing the activities of
millions of ordinary Americans.  The next hearing in this
case is set for June 23, when the judge will consider the
motions to dismiss EFF's suit made by both the U.S.
government and AT&T.

For the public version of Klein's declaration:
<http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/KleinDecl-Redact.pdf>

For the public version of EFF's preliminary injunction
motion:
<http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/PI-Redact.pdf>

For more on EFF's lawsuit:
<http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/att/>

For this release:
<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_05.php#004697>

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

* The Battle for Your Digital Media Devices

With so many tech mandate proposals and DRM restrictions
being introduced, it's all too easy to miss how they fit
together.  A digital radio mandate here, an analog hole plug
there, add in a little HDCP on video outputs for bad
measure, and so on -- pretty soon, you've got DRM
everywhere, and the whole is far more dangerous than the sum
of its parts.

EFF is fighting DRM wherever it rears its ugly head, and our
new page, The Battle for Your Digital Media Devices,
introduces the major fronts.
<http://www.eff.org/IP/fairuse/>

We've also launched a page about digital video, describing
the alphabet soup of restrictions that Hollywood wants
injected into your devices.
<http://www.eff.org/IP/digitalvideo/>

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

* miniLinks
miniLinks features noteworthy news items from around the
Internet.

~ A Catalog of Features Lost in iTunes Upgrades
A sadly ongoing project.
<http://george.hotelling.net/90percent/digital_music/ 
features_lost_in_itunes_upgrades.php#comment-22154>

~ Intellectual Property in the Southern Hemisphere
A dossier of case-studies and analysis looks at maximalist
IP and its effects outside the West.
<http://www.copysouth.org/>

~ FCC Says Telco Wiretapping Too Secret to Investigate
The FCC Chief, Kevin Martin, says classified nature of
project makes it impossible for FCC to look into AT&T and
other telcos' complicity.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/23/ 
AR2006052300846.html>

~ MPAA Accused of Hiring Hacker
Did the MPAA hire a black hat hacker to get info on
Torrentspy.com?
<http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6076665.html? 
part=rss&tag=6076665&subj=news>

~ Congress Duped By Fake "Terrorist" Game Video
Sound samples of the "Team America" satire pasted over
standard EA game footage has Washington shocked and awed.
<http://gamepolitics.livejournal.com/285129.html>

~ Verizon Refuses to Come Clean About Wiretapping
Neither yay nor nay -- just a claim of extreme secrecy.
<http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/3201>

~ Senate Bill Attacks Digital Devices, VoIP
A grim summary of the Senate telecom reform bill.
<http://www.extremevoip.com/article/Senate+Bill+Attacks+Content+VOIP 
+Analog+TVs/177196_1.aspx>

~ Chicago School Pledge Against Free Speech
Students are obliged to limit their blogging if engaging in
extracurricular school activities.
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060523/ap_on_re_us/monitoring_myspace>

~ Apple v. Does in Bits and Pieces
Howell's blow-by-blow summary of the Apple v. Does case.
<http://bgbg.blogspot.com/2006/05/apple-v-does-decision-issued.html>

~ Adbusters v. AT&T
More creative editing of the current AT&T campaign.
<http://www.boners.com/grub/796662.html>

~ Meeting of the Legal and Techie Clans
Scotland's global Computer Law conference returns this
September to Edinburgh.
<http://technollama.blogspot.com/2006/05/computer-law-conference- 
registration.html>

~ DaVinci Code? Try the Da Xerox Code
Make magazine documents the concealed printer dot code used
by Xerox, and uncovered by EFF last year.
<http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/05/ 
the_davinci_code_try_the_da_xe.html>

~ Protest Against AT&T in San Francisco
SF protestors will be demonstrating Wednesday against, among
other issues, AT&T wiretaps.
<http://www.media-alliance.org/article.php?story=20060518163441518>

~ Camgirls Against NSA Spying
What do groups who choose to share their personal lives
online think of the NSA's privacy invasions? Rather
differently.
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/20/ 
MNGMFIVF4U1.DTL>

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

* 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:
Derek Slater, Activist
 derek () 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 unsubscribe or change your subscription
preferences:
  http://action.eff.org/site/CO? 
i=fFOWisU1pO1jX1B8wE48EHKyPa8SyyBZ&cid=1041

Click here to change your email address:
  http://action.eff.org/addresschange

This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons.

To unsubscribe from all future email, paste the following URL into  
your browser:
http://action.eff.org/site/CO? 
i=4ed69zO6MgfqrPtrWDksUSYVpkx0EWKD&cid=1041


-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/