EFF: Diebold Coughs Up Cash in Copyright Case

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Cindy Cohn <Cindy () eff org>
Date: October 16, 2004 7:58:07 PM EDT
To: Declan () well com, dave () farber net
Cc: Annalee Newitz <annalee () eff org>
Subject: EFF: Diebold Coughs Up Cash in Copyright Case

Hi Dave and Declan,

I thought you both might want to share this with your lists.  I hope it 
rings in a new era -- misuse copyright law and you pay the other side's 
attorneys as well as your own, on top of damages. This should encourage 
more attorneys to take these sorts of cases and perhaps most 
importantly, help ISPs feel that they can stand up for their customers 
in the face of overreaching or unfounded cease and desist notices.

And as we head toward the election, I hope this means that we've seen 
the last of voting machine companies trying to silence their critics 
online.


Cindy

> Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release
>
> For Immediate Release: Friday, October 15, 2004
>
> Contact:
>
> Wendy Seltzer
>   Staff Attorney
>   Electronic Frontier Foundation
>   wendy () eff org
>   +1 415 436-9333 x125 (office), +1 914 374-0613 (cell)
>
> Jennifer Granick
>   Clinical Director
>   Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society
>   jennifer () granick com
>   +1 650 724-0014
>
> Diebold Coughs Up Cash in Copyright Case
>
> False Accusation of Infringement Results in Hefty Payment
> of Legal Fees, Damages
>
> California - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
> capped its historic victory in a copyright abuse case
> against electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold
> today. The corporation agreed to pay $125,000 in damages
> and fees. The settlement, a win for free speech advocates,
> comes after a California district court found that Diebold
> had knowingly misrepresented that online commentators,
> including Indymedia and two Swarthmore college students,
> had infringed the company's copyrights.
>
> "It makes me happy that students in this situation in the
> future won't have to worry about big corporations breathing
> down their necks," said Nelson Pavlosky, one of the
> students.
>
> Diebold is the first company to be held liable for
> violating section 512(f) of the Digital Millennium
> Copyright Act (DMCA), which makes it unlawful to use DMCA
> takedown threats when the copyright holder knows that
> infringement has not actually occurred. The section also
> stipulates that anyone who issues such frivolous threats
> must pay damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, to
> those harmed by the misrepresentations.
>
> EFF and the Center for Internet and Society Cyberlaw Clinic
> at Stanford Law School sued on behalf of nonprofit Internet
> Service Provider (ISP) Online Policy Group (OPG) and the
> two students to prevent Diebold's abusive copyright claims
> from silencing public debate about voting. Diebold sent
> dozens of cease-and-desist letters to ISPs hosting leaked
> internal documents revealing flaws in Diebold's e-voting
> machines. The company claimed copyright violations and used
> the DMCA to demand that the documents be taken down. OPG
> refused to remove them in the name of free speech.
>
> "The risk of substantial damages and fees should make
> companies pause before sending unfounded copyright
> threats," said EFF staff attorney Wendy Seltzer. "Plus ISPs
> can fight back against these false claims without taking a
> financial hit."
>
> "As a nonprofit ISP it's great to have
> legal recourse when a company threatens us or our clients
> with frivolous lawsuits," added OPG Executive Director Will
> Doherty.
>
> EFF is a member-supported nonprofit which represented OPG
> and the Swarthmore students pro bono. Thanks to the
> settlement, Diebold will pay the costs of the case.
>
> For this release:
> http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_10.php#002009
>
> About EFF
>
> The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
> liberties organization working to protect rights in the
> digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
> challenges industry and government to support free
> expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
> organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
> websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/
>
>
>     -end-
>
> _______________________________________________
> presslist mailing list
> https://pigeon.eff.org/mailman/listinfo/presslist


--
*********************************************
Cindy Cohn                            Cindy () eff org
Legal Director                          www.eff.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation
454 Shotwell Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-436-9333 x 108 (tel)
415-436-9993 (fax)
Join EFF today!  <https://secure.eff.org/>

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