Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Patently Bad Move Gags Critics. Patently Bad Move Gags Critics. A company finds a sneaky new way to silence security researchers: Claim that defeating its products infringes on patents. Commentary by Jennifer Granick. [Wired News: Security Blanket] 6:47:07 PM

Canada Rejects Anti-Terror Laws. Canada Rejects Anti-Terror Laws.   Coryoth writes  "The Canadian parliament has voted against renewing anti-terror laws that had been introduced after September 11, 2001. The rejected laws included provisions to hold terror suspects indefinitely, and to compel witnesses to testify, and were in some sense Canada's version fo the Patriot Act. The laws were voted down in the face of claims from the minority Conservative government that the Liberal Party was soft on terror, and despite the fact that Canada has faced active terrorist cells in their own country. The anti-terror laws have never been used, and it was viewed that they are neither relevant, nor needed, in dealing with terrorist plots. Hopefully more countries will come to the same conclusion."  [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 6:28:09 PM

German Antiterror Law Links Large Databases. German Antiterror Law Links Large Databases. Law takes effect creating comprehensive pool of personal data in antiterrorist effort. [PC World: Latest Technology News] 6:22:23 PM

RIAA Opposes 'Fair Use' Bill. RIAA Opposes 'Fair Use' Bill. Congressional move to easing digital copying would "legalize hacking," say music labels. [PC World: Latest Technology News] 6:10:42 PM

NY1: Nightclub Safety On Council Agenda Clubs will also now be required to have security cameras at their entrances and exits. Outside monitors could also be installed at clubs in frequent trouble with the law. The New York Civil Liberties Union have said some of the proposals violate privacy, but the bill's sponsors have said they are just trying to keep club patrons safe. 6:06:21 PM

Action Alert - Support the FAIR USE Act! Action Alert - Support the FAIR USE Act! Reps. Rick Boucher and John Doolittle's FAIR USE Act [PDF] would remove some of the entertainment industry's most draconian anti-innovation weapons and chip away at the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) broad restrictions on fair use. Take action now and tell Congress to help restore balance in copyright now. Technology companies play a game of Russian roulette whenever they create products with both infringing and non-infringing uses. Current "secondary liability" standards don't provide enough certainty, and if innovators guess wrong, they can be hit with statutory damages as high as $30,000 per work infringed. When it comes to mass-market products like the iPod or TiVo, damages could run into the trillions of dollars -- more than enough to bankrupt anyone from the smallest start-ups to the biggest companies. Unlike in other areas, the private assets of corporate officers, directors and investors are not shielded from liability in copyright cases. The FAIR USE Act would eliminate statutory damages for secondary liability and allow innovators to make more reasonable business decisions about manageable levels of legal risk. Meanwhile, copyright owners could still get injunctions and actual damages for harm suffered, putting them in no worse a position than civil litigants in most other areas. The bill would also codify the Supreme Court's "Betamax doctrine" as it pertains to hardware devices, making clear that manufacturers cannot be held liable based on the design of technologies with substantial non-infringing uses. Finally, the bill would loosen the grip of the DMCA, which restricts circumvention of digital rights management (DRM) restrictions even for lawful uses. The FAIR Use Act adds 12 exemptions, including the ability to circumvent for classic fair use purposes like news reporting, research, commentary, and criticism. Broader DMCA and copyright reform remains absolutely necessary, but if passed this bill would be a big first step in the right direction. Tell your representatives to support it now. For more information, read the bill here, and check out this EFF article from last year discussing statutory damages and proposing their elimination in secondary liability cases. [EFF: Deep Links] 6:02:50 PM

How To Tell If Your Cell Phone Is Bugged. How To Tell If Your Cell Phone Is Bugged. Blog Update (February 27, 2007): New! A short free video demonstrating this topic: Play Via YouTube or Play Via Google Video. More information at this blog entry. Greetings. A story is making the rounds right now regarding FBI use of cell phones as remote bugs. I originally wrote about this concept in my PRIVACY Forum in 1999 ("Cell Phones Become Instant Bugs!") so the issue is real, but we still need to bring the current saga back down to earth. This discussion doesn't only relate to "legal" bugs but also to the use of such techniques by illegal clandestine operations, and applies to physically unmodified cell phone hardware (not phones that might have had separate, specialized bugs physically installed within them by third parties). [Lauren Weinstein's Blog] 5:56:25 PM

Verizon Wireless wins injunction against text spam | CNET News.com Verizon Wireless said Monday that it has won a permanent injunction against a company it accused of sending text message spam, a significant step in keeping the unsolicited messages off cell phones. In the judgment, Specialized Programming and Marketing and its owner, Charles Henderson, are prohibited from sending text message spam to Verizon Wireless customers. They are also required to pay damages in excess of $200,000. Verizon Wireless filed the suit after nearly 100,000 text messages were sent to Verizon Wireless customers offering them a prize vacation for a cruise to the Bahamas. Initially, Verizon Wireless filed the suit against Passport Holidays in October 2005 in U.S. District Court in Trenton, N.J. The mobile operator won a permanent injunction against Passport Holidays in February 2006 to stop the company from sending further spam. Passport also was required to pay $10,000 in damages to Verizon Wireless. During litigation, Passport Holidays named Specialized Programming and Marketing and Henderson as the company and individual that actually sent the spam that formed the basis for the suit. In February 2006, Verizon Wireless filed an amended complaint naming Specialized Programming and Marketing and Henderson. This latest decision brings the case to a conclusion, Verizon Wireless said. 5:43:47 PM

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