EFF goes "inside the Beltway" again (Uh-oh!)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brett Glass <brett () lariat org>
Date: April 28, 2006 12:03:34 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net, Ip ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: EFF goes "inside the Beltway" again (Uh-oh!)

EFF reaches out to D.C. with new office

By Declan McCullagh

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the original digital rights  
group, is venturing inside the Beltway once again.

EFF has hired two attorneys experienced in suing the federal  
government under the Freedom of Information Act and plans to open an  
office in downtown Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1.

"There are a lot of meetings that we get invited to that we're not  
able to attend" because the nonprofit has its headquarters in San  
Francisco, said Shari Steele, EFF's executive director.

One of EFF's new hires is expected to be Marcia Hofmann, staff  
counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, who has made  
headlines for suing the U.S. Justice Department and Homeland Security  
in an effort to document government wrongdoing and privacy invasions.  
A lawsuit currently in progress attempts to force the Bush  
administration to reveal documents about allegedly illegal  
surveillance conducted by the National Security Agency.

The other new hire is expected to be David Sobel, EPIC's general  
counsel and an FOIA litigator since 1982, who will work part-time.  
Sobel declined to discuss the move but did say that "the first  
Internet-related FOIA work I did was made possible by EFF"--a  
reference to the Sun Devil case that involved a Secret Service raid  
on Steve Jackson Games in 1990.

Opening an office inside the nation's capital comes as something of a  
surprise because EFF suffered an internal schism when it was based  
there in the early 1990s.

When the FBI was pressing for the Communications Assistance for Law  
Enforcement Act (CALEA) in 1994, other privacy groups, such as the  
American Civil Liberties Union and EPIC, remained steadfastly opposed  
to the measure. CALEA requires telecommunications companies to design  
their networks to be explicitly wiretap-friendly.

More at http://news.com.com/2102-1028_3-6065860.html?tag=st.util.print



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