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EFF and ACLU of Northern California to ISPs and Content Owners: Do Your Part to Protect Political Speech - Via EFF.org Updates:
On blogs, personal and political websites, and through user generated content sites, ordinary citizens in extraordinary numbers are recreating a public sphere and reinvigorating the democratic debate at the core of our political system. 46% of Americans have already used the Internet in connection with the political campaign- more than during all of 2004.1 User-generated content is playing a particularly integral role, with 35% of Americans watching online videos and 10% using social networking sites to engage in political activity. 2
An overwhelming number of political discussions are taking place in publicly-accessible but privately-owned, online town squares. Which means that this important political speech depends on service providers, users, and content owners all doing their part to safeguard free speech.
Unfortunately, political speech has been threatened repeatedly by claims that controversial material violates a site’s terms of use or infringes copyrights or trademark rights. Here are just a few recent examples: read more »
Boston Court's Meddling With 'Full Disclosure' Is Unwelcome - Via Wired News: Security Blanket:
In eerily similar cases in the Netherlands and the United States, courts have recently grappled with the computer-security norm of "full disclosure," asking whether researchers should be permitted to disclose details of a fare-card vulnerability that allows people to ride the subway for free.
The "Oyster card" used on the London Tube was at issue in the Dutch case, and a similar fare card used on the Boston "T" was the center of the U.S. case. The Dutch court got it right, and the American court, in Boston, got it wrong from the start -- despite facing an open-and-shut case of First Amendment prior restraint.
The U.S. court has since seen the error of its ways -- but the damage is done. The MIT security researchers who were prepared to discuss their Boston findings at the DefCon security conference were prevented from giving their talk. read more »
New Guidelines Would Give F.B.I. Broader Powers - Via NYTimes.com :
A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.
The plan, which could be made public next month, has already generated intense interest and speculation. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.
Congressional staff members got a glimpse of some of the details in closed briefings this month, and four Democratic senators told Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey in a letter on Wednesday that they were troubled by what they heard. read more »
Judge: Copyright Owners Must Consider 'Fair Use' Before Sending Takedown Notice - Via Threat Level:
In the nation's first such ruling, a federal judge on Wednesday said copyright owners must consider "fair use" of their works before sending takedown notices to online video-sharing sites.
The 10-page decision (.pdf) came a month after Universal Music told a San Jose, California federal judge that copyright owners need not consider the "fair use" doctrine before issuing takedown notices requiring online video-sharing sites to remove content.
The doctrine, recognized by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, permits limited use of copyright materials without the owner's permission. read more »
Judge Rules That Content Owners Must Consider Fair Use Before Sending Takedowns - Via EFF.org Updates:
A judge's ruling today is a major victory for free speech and fair use on the Internet, and will help protect everyone who creates content for the Web. In Lenz v. Universal (aka the "dancing baby" case), Judge Jeremy Fogel held that content owners must consider fair use before sending takedown notices under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA").
Universal Music Corporation ("Universal") had sent a takedown notice targeting a 29-second home movie of a toddler dancing in a kitchen to a Prince song, "Let's Go Crazy," which is heard playing in the background. Because her use of the song was obviously a fair use and, therefore, non-infringing, Lenz sued Universal for misrepresentation under the DMCA. Universal moved to dismiss the case, claiming, among other things, that it had no obligation to consider whether Lenz's use was fair before sending its notice. The judge firmly rejected Universal's theory: read more »
Judge Lifts Unconstitutional Gag Order Against MIT Students - Via EFF.org Updates:
Boston - Today, a federal judge lifted an unconstitutional gag order that had prevented three Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students from disclosing academic research regarding vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system. The court found that the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Agency (MBTA) had no likelihood of success on the merits of its claim under the federal computer intrusion law and denied the transit agency's request for a five-month injunction. In papers filed yesterday, the MBTA acknowledged for the first time that their Charlie Ticket system had vulnerabilities and estimated that it would take five months to fix.
Tuesday's ruling lifts the restriction preventing the student researchers from talking about their findings regarding the security vulnerabilities of Boston's Charlie Card and Charlie Ticket -- a project that earned them an "A" from renowned computer scientist and MIT professor Dr. Ron Rivest. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) represents the students as part of its Coders' Rights Project. read more »
Victory for MIT Students in MBTA Lawsuit Hearing - Via EFF.org Updates:
Today, Judge George O'Toole lifted the gag order on three MIT students who were sued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for discovering a security vulnerability in the MBTA's fare payment system. The Court found that the MBTA was not likely to prevail on the merits of its claim under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. MBTA had argued that the CFAA, which prohibits the transmission of a program that causes damage to a computer, also covers "verbal transmission," such as talking to people at conferences. Judge O'Toole, however, looked closely at the statute, and held that the CFAA does not apply to security researchers like the students talking to people. More details to follow.
(Read Original Article - Via EFF.org Updates.)
MIT Coders' Free Speech At Stake - Via EFF.org Updates:
As regular Deeplinks readers know, EFF's Coders' Rights Project is defending the rights of three MIT students who were prevented from presenting their research on security vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system. The students were hit with a temporary restraining order that silenced their planned presentation at DEFCON.
Why this is Important
At first glance, the issues at play may appear obscure, and of interest only to technical researchers and lawyers. But as we noted in a post last week, the right to publish without pre-publication review is part of the purpose of the 1st amendment, and one of the reasons Americans fought the Revolutionary War. (The MBTA's stance is all the more ironic, considering Boston's role in that war.) read more »
Aligning Words and Deed With Human Rights - Via CDT - PolicyBeta:
The Olympics are well into their second week. Although we’ve seem some inspiring performances from athletes like swimmer Michael Phelps and gymnast Nastia Liukin, it’s sad that these games have been mired in controversy from the beginning: the IOC’s lack of will or ability to hold China to its promise to improve its human rights record as a condition of winning the Olympic bid, China’s violent crackdown on Tibetan demonstrators, ugly protests during the global Olympic torch relay, the apparently underage Chinese gymnasts, and – “dear” to CDT’s heart – the surveillance of Beijing hotel guests’ communications and the Chinese government’s unwillingness to make the Internet totally free of censorship for foreign journalists. read more »
In court: right to privacy vs. free speech - Via inRich.com :
Social Security numbers of officials posted on Web site in effort to pressure state
A privacy advocate's free-speech challenge to a state law aimed at protecting Social Security numbers readily available on government Web sites might soon be resolved.
"I think this case presents some new questions and some hard questions," U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne said yesterday afternoon after several hours of argument during which he asked some tough questions of both sides.
Betty "BJ" Ostergren of Hanover County has posted the Social Security numbers of 20 state officials and others on her Web site, www.TheVirginiaWatchdog.com, to pressure state officials to keep the numbers off government Web sites. read more »
Computer Scientists Ask Court to Reconsider Gag Order in DefCon Case - Via Threat Level:
Eleven computer scientists and researchers from institutions across the country have signed a letter in support of three MIT students who were barred from speaking at the DefCon hacker conference this last Sunday.
The letter was part of filings that the Electronic Frontier Foundation submitted to the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts asking a federal judge to reconsider his decision to gag the students with a temporary restraining order.
The students were scheduled to give a presentation on vulnerabilities they discovered in mag stripe and smartcard payment cards used by passengers riding Boston's T subway. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had sought a restraining order last Friday to prevent the students from disclosing information that could help hackers modify payment cards or create new ones to obtain free rides on the subway system. read more »
MBTA Transit Official Supports MIT Students' Story - Via EFF.org Updates:
Today, Richard Sullivan, a Sergeant Detective in the Transit Police of the Massachusetts Bay
Transportation Authority (and the liaison to the FBI), filed a Supplemental Declaration. In his declaration, Det. Sullivan said:
the MIT Undergrads reiterated that they did not exploit the supposed vulnerabilities that they had identified in the MBTA's computer system, they promised that they would not do so in the future, and they promised that they would not teach others how to.
Earlier the MBTA had asserted that "At a meeting last Tuesday involving all the parties, MIT staff and the students agreed to provide the MBTA with a copy of the presentation."
Det. Sullivan, however, says that at the meeting:
I asked the students to prepare a written summary of every vulnerability that they claimed to have discovered and how to fix these vulnerabilities. The MIT Undergrads agreed to provide me with such a paper within two weeks.
read more »
Video: IOC backs off DMCA take-down for Tibet protest | The Industry Standard - Via The Industry Standard:
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has backed away from a DMCA take-down request to remove a YouTube video of a Tibetan protest at the Chinese consulate in New York.
The video in question (see below) was clearly not an example of copyright infringement. YouTube and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) both pushed back against the IOC, which then withdrew their complaint. As the EFF notes, however, the inaccurate title of the video was "Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony," so in all likelihood, the IOC was filing DMCA notices for Olympics content, which has been springing up on YouTube faster than they can take it down. read more »
YouTube Stands Up To IOC Over Free Tibet Video - Via Slashdot: Your Rights Online:
Ian Lamont writes "The International Olympic Committee has withdrawn a DCMA takedown notice that targeted a two-minute long YouTube video of a Students for a Free Tibet protest at the Chinese consulate in New York. The video shows protesters gathering outside the building at night and projecting images of the Olympic symbol, 'tank man,' Tibetan riot footage and clips of victims of the Chinese police crackdown in Tibet. After receiving the request, YouTube contacted the IOC and asked if it really planned to pursue a claim. The IOC retracted the notice and the video was reposted within hours. Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society praised YouTube for 'going out of its way to do more than it's required to do under the law to protect free expression.'"
MIT Students Still Gagged by Federal Court - Via EFF.org Updates:
A federal court judge in Boston Thursday refused to lift an unconstitutional gag order against three students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who uncovered vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system. In an editorial today, the Boston Globe wrote that Judge O'Toole "ought to lift it." Instead, the judge continued the hearing until Tuesday, and left the temporary restraining order in place.
EFF began representing the students in this case on Friday, when the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) sued the students in federal court. On Saturday, a judge issued the gag order in violation of the students' First Amendment right to discuss their important research. read more »
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