Paul Hardwick: Rights

Big Brother State: surveillance society animation.

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:08:05 GMT

Big Brother State: surveillance society animation.

Another slick animation outlining the threats of our growing surveillance society: Big Brother State (YouTube version here)

[via Jeremy Hunsinger]

[michaelzimmer.org]

Big Brother State - An animated short about public surveillance by David Scharf

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:06:35 GMT

please also download using Bit Torrent:
(Xvid Version, ca. 50 MB, 768 px x 432 px) ---> CLICK HERE
(Big FLV Version, 55 MB, 768 px x 432 px, use FLV Player to view) ---> CLICK HERE

Check the Internet Archive for other resolutions and formats: CLICK HERE

EFF Calls For Aggressive Congressional Hearings on National Security Letter Misuse.

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:52:46 GMT

EFF Calls For Aggressive Congressional Hearings on National Security Letter Misuse.

EFF is calling for Congress to hold aggressive hearings on the FBI's domestic intelligence authority after the release of a Justice Department report [PDF] showing the Bureau abusing its power to collect telephone, Internet, financial, credit, and other personal records about Americans without judicial approval.

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, has said the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings into the report's findings. But the widespread abuse detailed in the report requires more than just a cursory examination.

"The Bureau's misuse of its intelligence authority is an ongoing critical problem," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "Congress must use its investigative power to find out what's really going on at the FBI -- and then rein in the Bureau's investigative authority to where is was before the USA PATRIOT Act."

In the report, the Justice Department's inspector general identifies four dozen instances in which demands for personal information -- known as National Security Letters -- may have violated laws and agency regulations. The report also found that the Bureau lied to Congress about its use of the letters.

The FBI has had limited authority to issue National Security Letters for many years. However, a controversial provision of the PATRIOT Act greatly expanded the Bureau's ability to use them to gather information about anyone, as long as the agency believes the information could be relevant to a terrorism or espionage investigation.

Today's report follows the inspector general's findings last year that the Bureau had disclosed more than 100 instances of possible intelligence misconduct to the Intelligence Oversight Board in the preceding two years, a number of which were "significant."

In 2005, EFF argued in a friend of the court brief that the FBI's "unfettered authority" to issue National Security Letters "is ripe for abuse." The danger of such abuse has now been documented.

"This is not simply about errors in 'oversight,'" said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. "This is about disregard for the law. For example, FBI terrorism investigators ignored their own lawyers' advice to stop using so-called 'exigent' letters for about two years."

For more information, read the full report from the Justice Department, as well as this brief description of National Security Letters .

[EFF: Deep Links]

Justice Department Says F.B.I. Misused Patriot Act.

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:49:18 GMT

Justice Department Says F.B.I. Misused Patriot Act.

In what should not come as that big of a surprise, AP reports:

The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

And for three years the FBI underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.

[sigma]The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that FBI agents sometimes demanded personal data on individuals without proper authorization. The 126-page audit also found the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.

[sigma]Fine[base ']s annual review is required by Congress, over the objections of the Bush administration.

The audit released Friday found that the number of national security letters issued by the FBI skyrocketed in the years after the Patriot Act became law.

In 2000, for example, the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 letters. By 2003, however, that number jumped to 39,000. It rose again the next year, to about 56,000 letters in 2004, and dropped to approximately 47,000 in 2005.

Over the entire three-year period, the FBI reported issuing 143,074 national security letters requesting customer data from businesses, the audit found. But that did not include an additional 8,850 requests that were never recorded in the FBI[base ']s database, the audit found.

[sigma]The FBI also used so-called [OE][base ']exigent letters,'[base '] signed by officials at FBI headquarters who were not authorized to sign national security letters, to obtain information. In at least 700 cases, these exigent letters were sent to three telephone companies to get toll billing records and subscriber information.

[OE][base ']In many cases, there was no pending investigation associated with the request at the time the exigent letters were sent,'[base '] the audit concluded.

Unbelievable. The full 199-page report can be downloaded here (PDF). And more coverage is available at Boing Boing and 27B Stroke 6.

[michaelzimmer.org]

Newly Revealed FBI Data Abuses and the Data Retention Red Flag.

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 03:43:18 GMT

Newly Revealed FBI Data Abuses and the Data Retention Red Flag.

Greetings. The release of a new report detailing massive FBI abuses of the PATRIOT Act (particularly in regard to National Security Letters), now confirms concerns that I and others have been long expressing about the potential abuse of retained Internet and other data, e.g.:

Sounding the Alarm on Government-Mandated Data Retention

An Open Letter to Google: Concepts for a Google Privacy Initiative

Broad abuses of retained data are now demonstrated to be real, not theoretical, as described in this Washington Post story.

We don't yet really know the full extent of these violations, but what has already been revealed is bad enough as a starting point.

I hope that these events will not only trigger considerable soul-searching by those firms who voluntarily retain user activity data, but also cause a renewed recognition of how broad mandated data retention can facilitate, and inevitably will facilitate, such abuses in the future.

--Lauren--

[Lauren Weinstein's Blog]

Justice: FBI misused Patriot Act powers - Yahoo! News

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:34:53 GMT

The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

And for three years the FBI underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who oversees the FBI, described the problems cited in the report as unacceptable and left open the possibility of criminal charges. He ordered further investigation.

"Once we get that information, we'll be in a better position to assess what kinds of steps should be taken," Gonzales told reporters following a speech to privacy officials.

[...]

The FBI also used so-called "exigent letters," signed by officials at FBI headquarters who were not authorized to sign national security letters, to obtain information. In at least 700 cases, these exigent letters were sent to three telephone companies to get toll billing records and subscriber information.

"In many cases, there was no pending investigation associated with the request at the time the exigent letters were sent," the audit concluded.

In a letter to Fine, Gonzales asked the inspector general to issue a follow-up audit in July on whether the FBI had followed recommendations to fix the problems.

"To say that I am concerned about what has been revealed in this report would be an enormous understatement," Gonzales told the privacy officials. "Failure to adequately protect information privacy simply is a failure to do our jobs."

Senators outraged over the conclusions signaled they would provide tougher oversight of the FBI -- and perhaps limit its power.

"The report indicates abuse of the authority" Congress gave the FBI, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record), D-Vt. "You cannot have people act as free agents on something where they're going to be delving into your privacy."

The committee's top Republican, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), said the FBI appears to have "badly misused national security letters." The senator said, "This is, regrettably, part of an ongoing process where the federal authorities are not really sensitive to privacy and go far beyond what we have authorized."

Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis., another member on the panel that oversees the FBI, said the report "proves that 'trust us' doesn't cut it."

The American Civil Liberties Union said the audit proves Congress must amend the Patriot Act to require judicial approval anytime the FBI wants access to sensitive personal information. "The Attorney General and the FBI are part of the problem and they cannot be trusted to be part of the solution," said Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU's executive director.

Audit Finds FBI Abused Patriot Act.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:27:43 GMT

Audit Finds FBI Abused Patriot Act. happyslayer writes to mention that according to Yahoo! News a recent audit shows that the FBI has improperly and in some cases illegally utilized the Patriot Act to obtain information. "The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that FBI agents sometimes demanded personal data on individuals without proper authorization. The 126-page audit also found the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances. The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct. Still, 'we believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities,' the audit concludes." [Slashdot]

The Local - Olofsson claims Sweden has tapped phones 'for decades'

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:23:29 GMT

Deputy prime minister Maud Olofsson has added a new twist to Sweden's divisive surveillance debate. The Centre Party leader claims that defence minister Mikael Odenberg's proposed legislation would merely codify practices that have already been in operation for decades.

Previously, at a time when all telecommunications were state-operated, Sweden's National Defence Radio Establishment (FÃ¶rsvarets Radioanstalt - FRA) regularly tapped telephone lines in and out of the country, says Olofsson.

The Local - 'Big brother' surveillance makes waves in Sweden

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:21:39 GMT

A far-reaching wiretapping programme proposed by Sweden's government to defend against foreign threats, including monitoring emails and telephone calls, has stirred up a fiery debate in the past few weeks, with critics decrying the creation of a "big brother" state.

The new legislation, to be presented to parliament on Thursday, would enable the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) to tap all Internet and telephone communication in and out of Sweden.

Sweden Admits Tapping Citizens' Phones for Decades.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:18:28 GMT

Sweden Admits Tapping Citizens' Phones for Decades. paulraps writes "Sweden is close to implementing new surveillance legislation that will include the monitoring of emails, telephone calls and keyword searches using advanced pattern analysis. The objective is to detect 'threats such as terrorism, IT attacks or the spread of weapons of mass destruction' but the proposals have divided the country. In a misguided attempt to put people at ease, the government admitted that Sweden has been tapping its citizens' phones for decades anyway." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

The Blotter(ABC NEWS) - Exclusive: Report Says FBI Violated Patriot Act Guidelines

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 18:02:02 GMT

The FBI repeatedly failed to follow the strict guidelines of the Patriot Act when its agents took advantage of a new provision allowing the FBI to obtain phone and financial records without a court order, according to a report to be made public Friday by the Justice Department's Inspector General.

The report, in classified and unclassified versions, remains closely held, but Washington officials who have seen it tell ABC News it documents "numerous lapses" and describe it as "scathing" and "not a pretty picture for the FBI."

FBI Director Robert Mueller is scheduled to brief Congress on the report at noon.

The officials say the inspector general found the FBI underreported by at least 20 percent the use of the controversial provision, known as National Security Letters, NSLs, in required disclosures to Congress.

The Patriot Act gave FBI agents the ability to demand telephone, bank, credit card and library records by issuing an administrative letter, bypassing the need to seek a warrant from a federal judge.

Pine Bluff - Scaled-back version of drug database passes Senate

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:33:58 GMT

LITTLE ROCK - Scaling back the scope of a statewide database to monitor some prescription drug purchases gained Senate approval of the measure Thursday. The bill's sponsor said the amendments were intended to address concerns about patient privacy.

[...]

By a 20-7 vote, the Senate approved a bill by Sen. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, that would allow the state Board of Pharmacy to establish standards for setting up the database on drug purchases. The database would track schedule II and schedule III narcotics, such as morphine or OxyContin.

"I think we've amended this about six times now," Altes said before the vote. "I think these changes should address all the concerns that were raised."

Altes originally called for a database to track virtually all prescription drug purchases in the state. The measure passed by the Senate allows the Board of Pharmacy to set the criteria for the information to be tracked by the database.

Sen. Jim Argue, D-Little Rock, said he still believed the database could be subject to abuse and could harm the privacy of some patients.

"There is no evidence that a database like this works, but there is evidence that databases like this could be violated," Argue said.

Homeland Security Tests Snoop Computer System.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:23:56 GMT

Homeland Security Tests Snoop Computer System. Parallax Blue writes "The Washington Times reports that Homeland Security has developed and is testing a new computer system called ADVISE (Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement) that collects and analyzes personal information on US citizens. Relevant data 'can include credit-card purchases, telephone or Internet details, medical records, travel and banking information.' The program apparently uses the same process as the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness project, which was aborted in 2003 due to privacy concerns."

[Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

Policy Makers call for University Internet Filters.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:16:28 GMT

Policy Makers call for University Internet Filters.

At today[base ']s House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property hearing, titled [base "]An Update - Piracy on University Networks,[per thou] we heard from legislators that they[base ']re very concerned about [base "]piracy[per thou] on campus networks.

You should be able to watch the video of the hearing here.

The common theme of the solutions was not only educating students (which all of the witnesses said that they were working on collaboratively), but for campuses to employ technology to filter the packets flowing over the network.

[Public Knowledge - Blogging, Events, and Action Alerts]

Video: the New Kid for the Block.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:13:14 GMT

Video: the New Kid for the Block.

It looks like video sites are the new flashpoint in the battle against free speech online. Perhaps it is that many states control television broadcasts far more tightly than they control the press. Judges across the world clearly think they understand how to censor television - and are surprised when their attempts to do the same to video online don't work as effectively.

In January it was Brazilian judges who found themselves caught in a hailstorm of criticism when attempting to prevent all Brazilians from downloading a salacious video of a Brazilian celebrity. When the only method of obeying the order at local ISP's disposal was blocking all of YouTube from Brazil, Brazilian net users rose up and complained. The decision was overturned three days later.

This week, it was Turkey, whose Istanbul First Criminal Court ordered Turk Telekom to redirect its users away from YouTube to prevent them seeing a video that poured scorn on Turkey and the country's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

As in so many cases of government internet censorship, Turkey's reaction has affected the free speech rights of thousands of innocent parties, and done nothing to stop what they want to stop. The growing legions of Turkish net users were denied access to tools to share their own stories, while anti-Ataturk commentary still exists on YouTube and elsewhere. Meanwhile, nationalists inside Turkey found themselves unable to post their own responses to the video, meaning that the ratio of Turkey critics and supporters on YouTube no doubt lurched towards the critics. Those who agreed with the judges that this video was outrageous found themselves as effectively silenced as the video's maker. As one of the four college students who bravely petitioned the court Thursday, Kursat Cetinkoz, said:

"Banning access to the Website does not punish those who did that (posted the videos) but the citizens of the Turkish Republic."

It looks as if the court will now restore access now that the one video has been removed. To YouTube's credit, the company did not remove the video itself. Then again, it didn't have to: the original user appears to have deleted it from his or her account.

The reaction in Turkey, and fear of discovery and retribution by the creator may have played its part in that personal decision. For free speech online to grow, we need to have not only network operators that cannot be intimidated, but we also need safety through anonymity for speakers. Tor, and services like it, work for both viewers and writers. With Tor and other anti-censorship programs, bypassing the court's censorship was straightforward - and publishing via anonymizers helps give intimated speakers the confidence to stand their ground.

[EFF: Deep Links]

Sweden: Monitor Communications.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 05:35:34 GMT

Sweden: Monitor Communications. A Swedish government security plan would allow a defense intelligence agency to monitor -- without a court order -- e-mail traffic and phone calls crossing the nation's borders. By the Associated Press. [Wired News: Top Stories]

Crank Calling for Jesus.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 04:59:01 GMT

Crank Calling for Jesus. A "family values" group trying to clean up Hollywood employs a determined computer dialer named Cammie, which manages to annoy people from coast to coast. In 27B Stroke 6. [Wired News: Top Stories]

NHL Union Denies E-mail Spying.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 04:55:23 GMT

NHL Union Denies E-mail Spying. The union's chief Ted Saskin denies monitoring player's e-mails, pointing fingers at his predecessor Bob Goodenow, who also denied the spying allegations. By the Associated Press. [Wired News: Top Stories]

State Eyes Age Checks for MySpace.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 04:36:59 GMT

State Eyes Age Checks for MySpace. Connecticut legislators want to force social-networking sites to verify users' ages and lock down parents' permission before minors can post personal profiles. By the Associated Press. [Wired News: Security Blanket]

Credit firms hope to sell 'positive records' - 08 Mar 2007 - Personal Finance News - New Zealand Herald

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:34:43 GMT

Credit companies hope a possible change to privacy laws will make it easier for people with a good credit history to borrow money or get a mortgage.

A change to the Privacy Act, which is being reviewed by the Law Commission, could open the door for credit companies to sell both the positive and negative details of people's credit history.

Veda Advantage - formerly Baycorp - holds credit files for 2.4 million credit-active individuals and 800,000 companies in New Zealand, but cannot sell details about positive credit history.

The Credit Reporting Privacy Code does not allow positive reports, because such people should not be forced to reveal private financial dealings. Veda says a comprehensive credit service would benefit responsible consumers, who at present often have to borrow at the same rate as those with a poor credit history.

Homeland Security revives supersnoop - The Washington Times

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:21:29 GMT

Homeland Security officials are testing a supersnoop computer system that sifts through personal information on U.S. citizens to detect possible terrorist attacks, prompting concerns from lawmakers who have called for investigations.

The system uses the same data-mining process that was developed by the Pentagon's Total Information Awareness (TIA) project that was banned by Congress in 2003 because of vast privacy violations.

A Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation of the project called ADVISE -- Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement -- was requested by Rep. David R. Obey, Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

The investigation focuses on whether the program violates privacy laws, and the findings will be released after completion of the Iraq war supplemental spending bill, possibly as early as this week, a panel aide said.

The ADVISE and TIA data-mining projects rely on personal data to track individual behavior and consumer transactions to develop computer algorithms that create a pattern that some behavioral scientists say can predict terrorist behavior.

Data can include credit-card purchases, telephone or Internet details, medical records, travel and banking information.

Privacy concerns prompted lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to introduce legislation in January to require that government agencies disclose data-mining practices in regular reports to Congress.

"A serious discussion on the implications of data-mining programs is long overdue," Sen. Russ Feingold, Wisconsin Democrat and a sponsor of the bill, said yesterday. Sen. John E. Sununu, New Hampshire Republican, is also a bill sponsor.

Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007.

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:12:24 GMT

Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 2007. Includes reporting requirements for the DHS. [GT: Security and Privacy]

C-SPAN Adopts Creative Commons-Style License.

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:59:33 GMT

C-SPAN Adopts Creative Commons-Style License. Trillian_1138 writes "C-SPAN, a network in the US dedicated to airing governmental proceedings, has adopted a Creative Commons-style license for all its content. This follows the network claiming Speaker of the House Pelosi's use of C-Span videos on her site violated their copyright. Specifically, 'C-SPAN is introducing a liberalized copyright policy for current, future, and past coverage of any official events sponsored by Congress and any federal agency -- about half of all programming offered on the C-SPAN television networks -- which will allow non-commercial copying, sharing, and posting of C-SPAN video on the Internet, with attribution.' Here is the press release. The question remains whether videos of governmental proceedings should be public domain by default or whether the attribution requirement is reasonable in the face of easy video copying and distribution." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

heise Security - All Microsoft updates phone home

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:54:34 GMT

Possibly as a reaction to heise Security's report that Windows Genuine Advantage Notification sends back data to Redmond even when users choose to terminate its installation, a Microsoft developer using the pseudonym alexkoc has now posted an entry in the WGA blog. There he reveals that every update that flows through Windows Update at the very least informs Microsoft about whether the installation was successful or not.

In the Privacy Statement of Windows Update Microsoft grants itself fairly far-reaching rights. Thus the information collected by the Redmond-based behemoth includes the computer make and model, version information for the operating system, browser, and any other Microsoft software for which updates might be available, Plug&Play ID numbers of hardware devices, region and language setting, Globally Unique Identifier (GUID), Product ID and Product Key, BIOS name, revision number, and revision date. By way of justifying Microsoft's approach, alexkoc writes that the EULA, likewise presented by the WGA installer, also covered the relaying of such information.

With some updates such as the WGA Notification, the installer transmits data that Microsoft says it merely requires for quality control purposes and to improve the installer itself. The WGA package thus, among other things, sends back an event code. To calm the fears of users, alexkoc presents a graphic explaining the various fields of such a data packet.

When the product IDs and product keys found belong to legal software, Microsoft will delete the data right away; only in cases of suspected software piracy will it store the data, the company has said. In the blog, the company once again explicitly states that it does not use the information gathered to identify or contact users.

C-SPAN Unchains Congressional Hearing Videos.

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:56:27 GMT

C-SPAN Unchains Congressional Hearing Videos.

C-SPAN has announced that, effective immediately, its videos of Congressional hearings, White House briefings, and other federal events will be freely available for noncommercial copying, sharing and posting, so long as attribution is included (sounds like the Creative Commons by-nc license, but no confirmation on whether that's what they are using). According to the C-SPAN press release, the move recognizes that we're in "an age of explosive growth of video file sharers, bloggers and online citizen journalists."

This is fantastic news! A considerable helping of the credit belongs to Carl Malamud, who responded to a copyright kerfuffle involving House Speaker Nanci Pelosi's use of C-SPAN hearing footage by writing an open letter to C-SPAN's CEO Brian Lamb challenging him to open up the archives to enable these kinds of public uses of C-SPAN content. Several meetings later, it appears C-SPAN decided to rise to the challenge.

Kudos to Carl, and kudos to C-SPAN. This is an amazing bit of public service all around. (Full disclosure: EFF represented Carl in connection with this issue, but we hardly lifted a finger -- all credit goes to Carl.)

[EFF: Deep Links]

Editor: Hmm maybe I'll have to consider making some snippets available in the future. A lot of hearings are dry, but every once in a while you get a real gem.

Open Government Bill Makes Beeline for House Floor.

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:51:20 GMT

Open Government Bill Makes Beeline for House Floor.

Government accountability supporters throughout the country are preparing to celebrate the public's right to know during Sunshine Week (March 11-17), and it looks like Congress may have the same idea. On Monday, Reps. William Lacy Clay, Todd Russell Platts, and Henry Waxman introduced a bipartisan bill to make several requester-friendly changes to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which hasn't been significantly updated since 1996. Today the amendments got a thumbs-up from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and could be on the House floor as early as next week.

Improvements that H.R. 1309 will make to the FOIA include:

Not allowing agencies to charge fees for requests that aren't processed within 20 working days.
Ensuring that a broader range of journalists is entitled to reduced processing fees.
Making it easier for requesters to recover attorney's fees when they prevail in FOIA lawsuits against the government.
Creating an ombudsman's office to help resolve disputes between requesters and agencies without litigation.
Establishing a system to help people track the progress of their FOIA requests.
Imposing greater reporting requirements to let Congress and the public know more about how agencies are handling requests.
Making sure that government records held by private contractors are subject to release under FOIA.

EFF thinks this bill will give agencies greater incentive to follow the law and make it easier for all FOIA requesters to access government documents.

Learn more about open government through EFF's Flag Project and our FOIA FAQ for bloggers.

[EFF: Deep Links]

Webcasters face doubling of royalties.

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:49:21 GMT

Webcasters face doubling of royalties.

Bad Moon Rising on the rise

The Library of Congress' copyright board, which sets the royalty rates for statutory licenses, proposes doubling the amount webcasters pay for their statutory license in the next the few years.

[The Register - Music and Media]

Yochai Benkler, Cory Doctorow, and Bruce Schneier Win EFF Pioneer Awards.

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:39:43 GMT

Yochai Benkler, Cory Doctorow, and Bruce Schneier Win EFF Pioneer Awards.

Mark Cuban to Keynote Award Ceremony in San Diego

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2007 Pioneer Awards: Professor Yochai Benkler of Yale Law School, writer and Boing Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow, and security technologist Bruce Schneier. Mark Cuban -- HDNet Chairman and NBA Dallas Mavericks owner -- will give the keynote address at the award ceremony. The 16th annual Pioneer Awards will be held at 7:30pm, March 27th, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego in conjunction with the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference.

Professor Yochai Benkler of Yale Law School researches the effects of laws on information, knowledge, and culture in the digital world. Benkler's important contributions include a theoretical explanation of how the Internet has allowed decentralized groups to produce things like technologies and bodies of knowledge more efficiently than any centrally organized corporation or trade-based marketplace could. After the publication of Benkler's most recent book, "The Wealth of Networks," Lawrence Lessig called him "the leading intellectual of the information age."

Cory Doctorow is an activist, writer, blogger, and public speaker about copyright, digital rights management, and electronic freedom. As a co-editor of the Boing Boing blog, he highlights critical technology issues for more than a million readers a day. Doctorow has lectured around the globe and has been nominated for Hugo and Nebula Awards for his science fiction novels. Doctorow is currently the Canadian Fulbright Chair at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. He was EFF's European Affairs Coordinator until December of 2005.

Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist acclaimed for his criticism and commentary on everything from network security to national security. His books -- including the highly influential "Secrets and Lies" and "Applied Cryptography" -- his monthly newsletter, and his security blog have reached hundreds of thousands of people with candid and lucid analysis of security issues. Schneier has often testified before Congress on security policy.

"This year's award winners have all provided important analysis and criticism of our digital world, educating the public on how electronic systems really work and what it means to us and our future," said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele. "I'm thrilled to honor Yochai, Cory, and Bruce. They are truly pioneers of the electronic frontier."

Since 1991, the EFF Pioneer Awards have recognized individuals and organizations that have made significant and influential contributions to the development of computer-mediated communications and to the empowerment of individuals in using computers and the Internet. Past winners include World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee, Linux creator Linus Torvalds, science fiction writer Bruce Sterling, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, among many others.

Benkler, Doctorow, and Schneier were nominated by the public and then chosen by a panel of judges. This year's panel includes Kim Alexander (President and founder, California Voter Foundation), Esther Dyson (Internet court jester and blogger, Release 0.9; founding chairman of ICANN; former chairman of EFF), Mitch Kapor (Chair, Open Source Applications Foundation; co-founder and former chairman EFF), Drazen Pantic (Co-director, Location One), Barbara Simons (IBM Research [Retired] and former president ACM), James Tyre, (Co-founder, The Censorware Project; EFF policy fellow) and Jimmy Wales, (Founder, Wikipedia; co-founder, Wikia; chair emeritus of the Wikimedia Foundation).

The Pioneer Awards are sponsored by Sling Media, the world's leading digital lifestyle company offering consumer services and products. Sling Media's product family includes the internationally acclaimed Slingbox that allows consumers to watch and control their living room television at any time, from any location, using PCs, Macs, PDAs and smartphones. For more information on Sling Media or the Slingbox, visit www.slingmedia.com.

Tickets to the Pioneer Awards ceremony and Mark Cuban's keynote address are $35. If you plan to attend, RSVP to events@eff.org. You can also pay for your tickets in advance at http://secure.eff.org/pioneerfundraiser. Members of the media interested in attending the event should email press@eff.org.

For more on attending the Pioneer Awards:
http://www.eff.org/awards/pioneer

Contact:

Katina Bishop
Associate Director of Development
Electronic Frontier Foundation
katina@eff.org

[EFF: Breaking News]

The Fix is In: Massive Web Radio Fee Hike and the XM/Sirius Merger.

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:37:56 GMT

The Fix is In: Massive Web Radio Fee Hike and the XM/Sirius Merger. Greetings. While no conspiracy beyond "business as usual" is required to explain this confluence of events, it is fascinating to note the continuing collapse of true competition in the music and radio industries (as in the Internet ISP industry). [Lauren Weinstein's Blog]

WGA Reports Back To MS Even If You Choose Not To Install - Aviran's Place

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:06:01 GMT

Heise online reports on a very interesting action Microsoft is taking during the installation of WGA.

When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send your info and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to their servers.

In addition to that it seems that the setup program send some information stored in your registry to http://genuine.microsoft.com/. While it does not specifically identify the user, it looks like it does send some identification of your computer and Windows version (see picture) to Microsoft servers.

Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:00:00 GMT

Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No. Aviran writes "When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send information stored in your registry and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to Microsoft's servers." [Slashdot]

U.S. Senators Pressure Canada on Canadian DMCA.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:49:09 GMT

U.S. Senators Pressure Canada on Canadian DMCA. An anonymous reader writes "The U.S. copyright lobby brought out some heavy artillery last week as it continued to pressure Canada to introduce a Canadian DMCA. U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins gave a public talk in which he described Canadian copyright law as the weakest in the G7, while Senators Dianne Feinstein and John Cornyn wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to urge him to bring in movie piracy legislation." [Slashdot]

'30s Hollywood Cartoon Censorship.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:45:23 GMT

'30s Hollywood Cartoon Censorship. Cartoon Brew highlights how the Hayes Code impacted cartoons in 1939 -- male characters couldn't be effeminate, kids had to behave and Flossie the cow's sexy udders had to be clothed. At Table of Malcontents. [Wired News: Top Stories]

Stations agree on anti-payola settlement | Houston Chronicle

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:17:54 GMT

Radio listeners weary of hearing the same songs over and over may have something to cheer about: Broadcasters have tentatively agreed to anti-payola settlements that could shake up music playlists at some of the nation's largest radio chains.

Four major broadcast companies would pay the government $12.5 million and provide 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for independent record labels and local artists, The Associated Press has learned.

The agreement is aimed at curbing payola -- generally defined as radio stations accepting cash or other consideration from record companies in exchange for airplay. The practice has been around as long as the radio industry and was made illegal after scandals in the late 1950s.

Two Federal Communications Commission officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because final language has not been approved by the full commission, said the monetary settlement is part of a consent decree between the FCC and Clear Channel Communications Inc., CBS Radio, Entercom Communications Corp. and Citadel Broadcasting Corp.

The settlement was reached at the same time as a separate deal designed to lead to more airtime for smaller record companies and their lesser-known artists as well as local musicians.

Major Broadcasters Hit With $12M Payola Fine.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:15:47 GMT

Major Broadcasters Hit With $12M Payola Fine. Gr8Apes writes with a just-breaking AP story reporting that the FCC is wrapping up a settlement in which four major broadcast companies would pay the government $12.5 million and provide 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for independent record labels and local artists. The finish line is near after a 3-year investigation. An indie promoter is quoted: "It's absolutely the most historic agreement that the independent community has had with radio. Without a doubt, nothing else comes close." [Slashdot]

Nightline NSA Spy Exclusive: Dud.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 17:07:37 GMT

Nightline NSA Spy Exclusive: Dud. AT&T whistleblower Mark Klein breaks silence to tell ABC News' Nightline about the NSA eavesdropping on the internet, but reveals little new information. In 27B Stroke 6. [Wired News: Top Stories]

Patient control of EHR data on network gets mixed reaction

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:56:32 GMT

The Health and Human Services Department has received mixed reviews for its decision to insist that the next iteration of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) allow patients to control who sees their electronic health records on the network.

Dr. Robert Kolodner, interim national coordinator of health information technology, said March 1 that trial networks funded by his office should give "people the capability to decide how they view, store and control access to their own information. A person could say how that information flows to specific entities or completely block the flow of information."

"If they do what they say, it's a tremendous thing for privacy," said Dr. Deborah Peel, founder of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation. "It's exactly what we've been talking about for a long time."

Peel said she talked with Kolodner and learned that he wants to give patients the ability to control what happens to their health information, "down to the data field level." "I think his intentions are fantastic," she said.

Asked whether such a network would be technically feasible, Peel said the existing technology would support that degree of granularity in controlling the flow of EHR data.

But Mark Rothstein, director of the Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, said he doubts the HHS move will make a difference. "I don't really have a lot of confidence that it would really have any effect whatsoever," said Rothstein, a member of the official National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics.

The reason Rothstein was less than enthusiastic about the HHS move: Privacy problems are primarily policy and legal issues in his view, not technology-based. Rothstein recently testified before a Senate subcommittee, criticizing HHS for failing to tackle privacy and other policy issues associated with development of the NHIN. Kolodner's announcement doesn't address many of the policy questions, he said.

Kolodner's office "has indicated no prior interest in this concept," Rothstein said, suggesting that there is no way to know how committed HHS is to its plans. Others have pointed out it is one of the first HHS health IT initiatives that deviates from plans outlined by Kolodner's predecessor, Dr. David Brailer.

Wal-Mart fires technician who recorded phone calls

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:52:20 GMT

March 05, 2007 (Reuters) -- CHICAGO - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said today it fired a systems technician for intercepting text messages of people who were not Wal-Mart employees and for recording telephone conversations with a New York Times reporter without authorization.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, said an internal investigation found the technician had monitored and recorded phone calls between Wal-Mart public relations employees and a New York Times Co. reporter between September and January.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer also said the technician, who worked in its information systems division, intercepted and stored text messages that contained certain key words, including those sent by people in the Bentonville area who were not Wal-Mart employees.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said on a call with reporters that the technician "did this on his own."

While interviews with the technician gave the retailer an idea as to why he recorded the calls, Williams said she could not disclose the reasons because the case has been turned over to federal investigators.

Spying at Wal*Mart: Human nature run amuck?

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:46:37 GMT

Spying at Wal*Mart: Human nature run amuck? Does the Wal-Mart eavesdropping debacle have the potential to be this year's HP scandal? A former IT security staffer for the retailer evaluates what might have happened. [Computerworld Privacy News]

Texas House exempts courthouse clerks from privacy laws.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:43:07 GMT

Texas House exempts courthouse clerks from privacy laws. The Texas House of Representatives has approved a bill that would allow local courthouse clerks to disclose "in the ordinary course of business" Social Security numbers contained in public records maintained by their offices. Computerworld Privacy News]

Turkey Censors YouTube.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:39:03 GMT

Turkey Censors YouTube. FM Reader writes "After a controversial mock-up video reportedly submitted by a Greek member about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, Turkish courts ordered the national ISPs to ban the online video service, YouTube. YouTube hostnames are currently redirected at the DNS level to a page that announces the court order." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

Macworld: News: France bans citizen journalists from reporting violence

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 03:10:30 GMT

The French Constitutional Council has approved a law that criminalizes the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists. The law could lead to the imprisonment of eyewitnesses who film acts of police violence, or operators of Web sites publishing the images, one French civil liberties group warned on Tuesday.

The council chose an unfortunate anniversary to publish its decision approving the law, which came exactly 16 years after Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney King were filmed by amateur videographer George Holliday on the night of March 3, 1991. The officers' acquittal at the end on April 29, 1992 sparked riots in Los Angeles.

If Holliday were to film a similar scene of violence in France today, he could end up in prison as a result of the new law, said Pascal Cohet, a spokesman for French online civil liberties group Odebi. And anyone publishing such images could face up to five years in prison and a fine of â[not equal]¬75,000 (US$98,537), potentially a harsher sentence than that for committing the violent act.

In France, Only Journalists Can Film Violence.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 03:07:13 GMT

In France, Only Journalists Can Film Violence. BostonBTS sends word that the French Constitutional Council has just made it illegal to film violence unless you are a professional journalist (or to distribute a video containing violence). The law was approved exactly 16 years after amateur videographer George Holliday filmed Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney King. The Council was tidying up a body of law about offenses against the public order, and wanted to ban "happy slapping." A charitable reading would be that the lawmakers stumbled into unintended consequences. Not according to Pascal Cohet, a spokesman for French online civil liberties group Odebi: --- "The broad drafting of the law so as to criminalize the activities of citizen journalists unrelated to the perpetrators of violent acts is no accident, but rather a deliberate decision by the authorities, said [Cohet]. He is concerned that the law, and others still being debated, will lead to the creation of a parallel judicial system controlling the publication of information on the Internet." a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/">Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

Cybercrime Treaty: What it Means to You

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 02:53:57 GMT

In that vein, in August the Senate ratified the Convention on Cybercrime, drafted by the Council of Europe with considerable input from the United States. So far, 43 nations have signed on. The Convention includes many sensible provisions aimed at unifying global computer-crime laws, and closes loopholes that make it possible for criminals to escape prosecution by locating their activities offshore.

But civil libertarians, along with leading telecommunications companies, strongly oppose the treaty. Civil libertarians are especially concerned about the sweeping authority given to participating countries to seize information from private parties as they investigate cybercrimes, even when the activity being investigated isn't a crime in the country where the data is located. If France is investigating a sale of Nazi memorabilia on eBay, the U.S. must cooperate, even though such transactions are not illegal in the U.S.

Telecommunications companies object to provisions that require member countries to establish and enforce potent data-retention policies for network traffic, and require any operator of a computer network to respond to requests for information from any participating country without compensation of any kind.

These are potentially serious problems, especially given that the Convention is open to any country that wants to join. But there are more practical reasons U.S. businesses should be concerned. The provisions for data retention and production apply to any operator of a computer network, not just telecoms. Worse, Article 12 attaches liability to businesses for "lack of supervision or control" of employees who commit criminal offenses covered by the Convention. Businesses must worry about employee activities that may be legal here, but illegal elsewhere, risking administrative, civil, or even criminal penalties.

These investigative and supervision costs will invariably be imposed on businesses without any real controls. Worldwide law-enforcement agencies, in other words, may now avail themselves of the opportunity to outsource their most expensive problems to you.

Cybercrime Treaty ó Hidden Costs For All.

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 02:48:08 GMT

Cybercrime Treaty [~] Hidden Costs For All. linuxtelephony writes in with an article at CIO Insight about a cybercrime treaty drafted in Europe with help from the US. It has implications for just about everyone with a network. From the article: "Civil libertarians are especially concerned about the sweeping authority given to participating countries to seize information from private parties as they investigate cybercrimes, even when the activity being investigated isn't a crime in the country where the data is located... Telecommunications companies object to provisions that require member countries to establish and enforce potent data-retention policies for network traffic, and require any operator of a computer network to respond to requests for information from any participating country without compensation of any kind... The provisions for data retention and production apply to any operator of a computer network, not just telecoms... Worldwide law-enforcement agencies, in other words, may now avail themselves of the opportunity to outsource their most expensive problems to you." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

Action Alert: Repeal the REAL ID Act!

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 02:24:48 GMT

Action Alert: Repeal the REAL ID Act!

The federal government has taken another step towards forcing you to carry a national ID in order to get on airplanes, open a bank account, enter federal buildings, and much more. But with state legislatures and Congressional representatives increasingly turning against the REAL ID Act, you can help stop this costly, privacy-invasive mandate -- voice your opposition now.

On March 1, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released draft regulations [PDF] for implementing REAL ID, which makes states standardize drivers licenses and create a vast national database linking all of the ID records together. Once in place, uses of the IDs and database will inevitably expand to facilitate a wide range of tracking and surveillance activities. Remember, the Social Security number started innocuously enough, but it has become a prerequisite for a host of government services and been co-opted by private companies to create massive databases of personal information.

REAL ID won't just cost you your privacy. The states and individual taxpayers bear the estimated 23 billion dollar burden of implementing the law, and that figure is probably low given that the necessary verification systems don't exist yet.

And what will you get in return? Not improved national security, because IDs do little to stop those who haven't already been identified as threats, and wrongdoers will still be able to create fake documents.

REAL ID is fundamentally flawed, and DHS' proposed regulations do nothing to change that. Thankfully, the tide is turning against REAL ID in a big way -- state legislatures around the country are passing or considering legislation rejecting its implementation, and Congress is considering repealing it.

The DHS regulations mean that states must have an implementation plan ready by October 2007. Make sure your Congressional representatives support the repeal of REAL ID before it's too late.

For more information, check out San Jose Mercury News' recent editorial opposing REAL ID as well as the ACLU's Realnightmare.org.

[EFF: Deep Links]

WH Privacy Board OKs Eavesdropping.

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:44:09 GMT

Privacy Board OKs Eavesdropping. A secretive White House privacy board says two Bush surveillance programs -- electronic eavesdropping and financial tracking -- do not violate citizens' civil liberties. By the Associated Press. [Wired News: Top Stories]

Blue Box #52: Skype spyware? Cisco SIP issue again, secure call recording, Phil Zimmermann on VON Magazine, US Congress and Caller ID, ringjacking, Skype security, VoIP security, listener comments and more.

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:25:11 GMT

Blue Box #52: Skype spyware? Cisco SIP issue again, secure call recording, Phil Zimmermann on VON Magazine, US Congress and Caller ID, ringjacking, Skype security, VoIP security, listener comments and more.

Synopsis: Skype spyware? Cisco SIP issue again, secure call recording, Phil Zimmermann on VON Magazine, US Congress and Caller ID, ringjacking, Skype security, VoIP security, listener comments and more

[Blue Box: The VoIP Security Podcast]

China Blocks LiveJournal.

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:20:10 GMT

China Blocks LiveJournal. Beijing cuts its people off from 1.8 million blogs with the push of a button. By Quinn Norton. [Wired News: Security Blanket]

Wal-Mart fires technician who recorded phone calls.

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:18:41 GMT

Wal-Mart fires technician who recorded phone calls. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it fired a systems technician for intercepting text messages of people who were not Wal-Mart employees and for recording telephone conversations with a New York Times reporter without authorization. [Computerworld Privacy News]

Anti-terror tests broke law, says watchdog - 03/01/07 - Tennessean.com

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 17:13:09 GMT

The Department of Homeland Security is testing a data-mining program that would attempt to spot terrorists by combing vast amounts of information about average Americans, such as flight and hotel reservations.

The new program, similar to a Pentagon program that Congress killed in 2003 over concerns about civil liberties, could take effect as soon as next year.

But system testers probably already have violated privacy laws by reviewing real information, instead of fake data, a source familiar with a congressional investigation into the $42.5 million program told The Washington Post.

The program, called Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE), is on the cutting edge of analytical technology that applies mathematical algorithms to uncover hidden relationships in data. The idea is to troll a vast sea of information and extract suspicious people, places and other elements based on their links and behavioral patterns.

The privacy violation is described in a Government Accountability Office report due out soon. "Undoubtedly there are likely to be more," GAO Comptroller David Walker said recently.

Tonight(Tuesday) on Nightline - The NSA at AT&T

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 16:55:07 GMT

Tonight(Tuesday) on Nightline is an episode on the NSA having a monitoring station in the AT&T wire room. They have the guy who originally broke the story being interviewed tonight.

Top Secret: We're Wiretapping You.

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 21:41:41 GMT

Top Secret: We're Wiretapping You. The feds accidentally give a D.C. attorney a classified document showing that the NSA intercepted his phone calls without a warrant. When they ask for it back, they get a $2 million lawsuit along with it. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News: Security Blanket]

Released Audio Tapes Shed Light on Court Hearings.

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 06:19:33 GMT

Released Audio Tapes Shed Light on Court Hearings. The Supreme Court has released the audio tapes of some of its highest profile hearings, granting the public unprecedented access to courtroom proceedings. NewsHour correspondent Kwame Holman reports on the sounds of the Supreme Court. By NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. [NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Podcast | PBS]

The Pentagon Wants a 'TiVo' to Watch You.

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 03:31:33 GMT

The Pentagon Wants a 'TiVo' to Watch You. An anonymous reader writes "Danger Room, a Wired blog, today cites a study of future electronic snooping technologies from Reuters, written by the Pentagon's Defense Science Board. More than anything, it seems these outside advisers want a surveillance system that would put Big Brother to shame, and they're looking at the commercial sector to provide it. 'The ability to record terabyte and larger databases will provide an omnipresent knowledge of the present and the past that can be used to rewind battle space observations in TiVo-like fashion and to run recorded time backwards to help identify and locate even low-level enemy forces. For example, after a car bomb detonates, one would have the ability to play high-resolution data backward in time to follows the vehicle back to the source, and then use that knowledge to focus collection and gain additional information by organizing and searching through archived data.'" [Slashdot]

Breach of Personal Information at Calif. Dept. of Health Service Handled Quickly.

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 04:40:00 GMT

Breach of Personal Information at Calif. Dept. of Health Service Handled Quickly. "We are taking steps to notify you of this, consistent with our policy, and with the sensitivity around all HIV related issues." [GT: Security and Privacy]

Canadian Gov't Grants Olympics Ownership of Winter.

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 04:17:34 GMT

Canadian Gov't Grants Olympics Ownership of Winter. An anonymous reader writes "Michael Geist reports that the Canadian government has introduced new legislation that grants Vancouver Olympic organizers broad powers to police the use of any commercial use of the words associated with the Olympics. These incredibly include 'winter, Vancouver, and games.' As Geist notes, the government 'has no time to deal with spam, spyware, privacy, or net neutrality, but commits to legislation on behalf of the organizers of a sporting event?'" [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

Justice Department takes aim at image-sharing sites | CNET News.com

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 04:12:46 GMT

The Bush administration has accelerated its Internet surveillance push by proposing that Web sites must keep records of who uploads photographs or videos in case police determine the content is illegal and choose to investigate, CNET News.com has learned.

That proposal surfaced Wednesday in a private meeting during which U.S. Department of Justice officials, including Assistant Attorney General Rachel Brand, tried to convince industry representatives such as AOL and Comcast that data retention would be valuable in investigating terrorism, child pornography and other crimes. The discussions were described to News.com by several people who attended the meeting.

A second purpose of the meeting in Washington, D.C., according to the sources, was to ask Internet service providers how much it would cost to record details on their subscribers for two years. At the very least, the companies would be required to keep logs for police of which customer is assigned a specific Internet address.

Only universities and libraries would be excluded, one participant said. "There's a PR concern with including the libraries, so we're not going to include them," the participant quoted the Justice Department as saying. "We know we're going to get a pushback, so we're not going to do that."

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been lobbying Congress for mandatory data retention, calling it a "national problem that requires federal legislation." Gonzales has convened earlier private meetings to pressure industry representatives. And last month, Republicans introduced a mandatory data retention bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would let the attorney general dictate what must be stored and for how long.

DoJ Mulls Tracking Picture Uploads.

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 03:57:23 GMT

DoJ Mulls Tracking Picture Uploads. Dominus Suus passed us a link to a C|Net article about a disturbing threat to privacy from the Justice Department. According to the article, a private meeting was held Wednesday between Justice officials and telecom industry representatives. With individuals from companies such as AOL and Comcast looking on, the officials continued overtures to increase data retention by ISPs on American citizens. This week, they were specifically looking to have records kept of photo uploads. In this way, and 'in case police determine the content is illegal and choose to investigate,' an easy trail from A to Z will be available. The article provides a good deal of background on the Bush Administration's history with data retention, with ties to events even older than the Bush presidency. --- "The Justice Department's request for information about compliance costs echoes a decade-ago debate over wiretapping digital telephones, which led to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. To reduce opposition by telephone companies, Congress set aside $500 million for reimbursement and the legislation easily cleared both chambers by voice votes. Once Internet providers come up with specific figures, privacy advocates worry, Congress will offer to write a generous check to cover all compliance costs and the process will repeat itself." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

Homeland Security offers details on Real ID | CNET News.com

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 03:52:36 GMT

Hundreds of millions of Americans will have until 2013 to be outfitted with new digital ID cards, the Bush administration said on Thursday in a long-awaited announcement that reveals details of how the new identification plan will work.

The announcement by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security offers a five-year extension to the deadline for states to issue the ID cards, and proposes creating the equivalent of a national database that would include details on all 240 million licensed drivers.

According to the draft regulations (PDF), which were required by Congress in the 2005 Real ID Act and are unlikely to assuage privacy and cost concerns raised by state legislatures:

âo¢ The Real ID cards must include all drivers' home addresses and other personal information printed on the front and in a two-dimensional barcode on the back. The barcode will not be encrypted because of "operational complexity," which means that businesses like bars and banks that require ID would be capable of scanning and recording customers' home addresses.

âo¢ A radio frequency identification (RFID) tag is under consideration. Homeland Security is asking for input on how the licenses could incorporate "RFID-enabled vicinity chip technology, in addition to" the two-dimensional barcode requirement.

Homeland Security Offers Details on Real ID.

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 03:48:45 GMT

Homeland Security Offers Details on Real ID. pr0nqu33n writes "C|Net is running an article on the DHS's requirements for the Real ID system. Thursday members of the Bush administration finally unveiled details of the anticipated national identification program. Millions of Americans will have until 2013 to register for the system, which will (some would argue) constitute a national ID. RFID trackers for the cards are under consideration, as is a cohesive nation-wide design for the card. States must submit a proposal for how they'll adopt the system by early October of this year. If they don't, come May of next year their residents will see their licenses unable to gain them access to federal buildings and airplanes. The full regulations for the system are available online in PDF format. Likewise, the DHS has a Questions and Answers style FAQ available to explain the program to the curious." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

RIAA's 'Expert' Witness Testimony Now Online.

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 03:43:58 GMT

RIAA's 'Expert' Witness Testimony Now Online. NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The online community now has an opportunity to see the fruits of its labor. Back in December, the Slashdot ('What Questions Would You Ask an RIAA Expert?') and Groklaw ('Another Lawyer Would Like to Pick Your Brain, Please') communities were asked for their input on possible questions to pose to the RIAA's 'expert'. Dr. Doug Jacobson of Iowa State University, was scheduled to be deposed in February in UMG v. Lindor, for the first time in any RIAA case. Ms. Lindor's lawyers were flooded with about 1400 responses. The deposition of Dr. Jacobson went forward on February 23, 2007, and the transcript is now available online (pdf) (ascii). Ray Beckerman, one of Ms. Lindor's attorneys, had this comment: 'We are deeply grateful to the community for reviewing our request, for giving us thoughts and ideas, and for reviewing other readers' responses. Now I ask the tech community to review this all-important transcript, and bear witness to the shoddy investigation and junk science upon which the RIAA has based its litigation war against the people. The computer scientists among you will be astounded that the RIAA has been permitted to burden our court system with cases based upon such arrant and careless nonsense.'" [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

T-Mobile Bans Others' Apps On Their Phones.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:53:54 GMT

T-Mobile Bans Others' Apps On Their Phones. cshamis writes "T-Mobile has recently changed their policies and now tell their customers with appropriate data plans and with Java-Micro-App-capable T-Mobile phones: no third-party network applications. You can, of course, still use their incredibly clunky and crippled built-in WAP browsers, but GoogleMaps and OperaMini are left high and dry. Would anyone care to speculate if this move is likely to retain or repel customers?" [Slashdot]

Lawmakers Tout DMCA Killer.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:33:54 GMT

Lawmakers Tout DMCA Killer. The Fair Use Act would free honest consumers to pick the electronic locks on their digital media, under certain circumstances. A congressman says it's a good first step. Luke O'Brien reports from Washington. [Wired News: Top Stories]

TIA becomes ADVISE | Free Government Information (FGI)

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:13:23 GMT

Congress killed the Total Information Awareness (TIA) program in 2003 and several new programs have been reported to take its place. (See Total Information Awareness just changed its name FGI, 2006-02-26.) A forthcoming GAO report looks at the use of the Analysis, Dissemination, Visualization, Insight and Semantic Enhancement (ADVISE) system.

NGA Praises Congressional Movement to Correct Real ID.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:07:42 GMT

NGA Praises Congressional Movement to Correct Real ID. "The substantial costs and looming implementation deadline make Real ID unworkable and unreasonable." [GT: Security and Privacy]

DHS Proposal for State Driver License Enhancements Posted for Public Comment.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 02:04:53 GMT

DHS Proposal for State Driver License Enhancements Posted for Public Comment. DHS will grant states an extension of the compliance deadline until December 31, 2009. [GT: Security and Privacy]

Legislation eyes nightclubs - Greenwich Time

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:50:56 GMT

Pending the mayor's signature, which is expected, all clubs where dancing is permitted will be required to install surveillance cameras at entrances and exits. While some Council members raised privacy concerns, the overwhelming majority agreed the surveillance tapes would be an invaluable deterrent and aid police if a crime is committed.

All surveillance tapes must be securely stored, and clubs could be fined up to $50,000 if the footage makes its way onto TV or gossip Web sites.

Industry representatives welcomed the surveillance camera vote, but pointed out that 90 percent of clubs with dancing already have such cameras installed.

National ID Card Rules Unveiled.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:48:35 GMT

National ID Card Rules Unveiled. The DHS chief reveals how he'll turn state driver's licenses into internal passports. By Ryan Singel. [Wired News: Security Blanket]

DOD, Microsoft sign deal to data mine health records

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:46:58 GMT

The Defense Department has signed an agreement with Microsoft under which the software vendor will help develop tools and methods for analyzing the department's 9.1 million electronic patient records to find better ways to manage the health of DOD beneficiaries.

Under the cooperative research and development agreement, Microsoft will work with the Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center to extract, store and analyze data stored in DOD's Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA) electronic health record system.

The AHLTA clinical data repository (CDR) is "an untapped goldmine of health information, and the ability to draw upon and efficiently use this data will allow us to unleash the true power of AHLTA," said Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs. "This project has the potential to vastly improve our ability to provide both force health protection and population health improvement activities for every soldier, sailor, airman and Marine."

Microsoft and the Army center aim to develop a clinical data warehouse (CDW) that provides predefined queries of interest to clinicians and analysts. The warehouse also will support data mining, which uses clustering and pattern recognition techniques to discover previously unknown correlations in the data. Intel and HP are providing support on security, sizing, and scalability testing of the CDW architecture, Microsoft said.

Dr. Deborah Peel, chairwoman of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation, views the patient information not as a goldmine ripe for exploitation but as a collection of personal and sensitive health information that needs to be zealously guarded and only accessed with express consent by the patient.

MPAA Fires Back at AACS Decryption Utility.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:43:21 GMT

MPAA Fires Back at AACS Decryption Utility. RulerOf writes "The AACS Decryption utility released this past December known as BackupHDDVD originally authored by Muslix64 of the Doom9 forums has received its first official DMCA Takedown Notice. It has been widely speculated that the utility itself was not an infringing piece of software due to the fact that it is merely "a textbook implementation of AACS," written with the help of documents publicly available at the AACS LA's website, and that the AACS Volume Unique Keys that the end user isn't supposed to have access to are in fact the infringing content, but it appears that such is not the case." --- From the thread "...you must input keys and then it will decrypt the encrypted content. If this is the case, than according to the language of the DMCA it does sound like it is infringing. Section 1201(a) says that it is an infringement to "circumvent a technological measure." The phrase, "circumvent a technological measure" is defined as "descramb(ling) a scrambled work or decrypt(ing) an encrypted work, ... without the authority of the copyright owner." If BackupHDDVD does in fact decrypt encrypted content than per the DMCA it needs a license to do that." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

Berners-Lee Speaks Out Against DRM, Advocates Net Neutrality.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:31:36 GMT

Berners-Lee Speaks Out Against DRM, Advocates Net Neutrality. narramissic writes "Speaking before the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee advocated for net neutrality, saying that the Web deserves 'special treatment' as a communications medium to protect its nondiscriminatory approach to content. Berners-Lee's more controversial statements came on the topic of DRM, in which he suggested that instead of DRM, copyright holders should provide information on how to legally use online material, allowing users the opportunity 'to do the right thing.' This led to an odd exchange with Representative Mary Bono who compared Berner-Lee's suggestion to 'having a speed limit but not enforcing the speed limit.'" [Slashdot: Your Rights Online]

'Electric Slide' Creator Steps on Fair Use.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:23:19 GMT

'Electric Slide' Creator Steps on Fair Use.

EFF Lawsuit Battles Bogus Copyright Claims

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed suit today against the man who claims to have created the popular line dance "The Electric Slide," asking the court to protect the free speech rights of a videographer who captured a few steps of the dance in a documentary video he posted to the Internet.

EFF's client, Kyle Machulis, shot the video at a concert last month. In one ten-second segment, a group of fans in the audience attempts to dance part of the Electric Slide. Machulis later uploaded the video to YouTube. Within just a few days, Richard Silver, owner of www.the-electricslidedance.com, filed a takedown demand under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Silver claimed he owned the copyright to the Electric Slide and that Machulis' video infringed his rights. The removal appears to be part of a broad campaign by Silver to misuse copyright allegations to prevent dancers from performing the dance "incorrectly."

"Silver's claim of copyright infringement is absurd and is a classic example of the kind of DMCA abuse that can chill Internet speech," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "Even if Silver had a valid copyright in the dance--which is not at all clear--this is a fair use and not infringing."

EFF's complaint asks that the judge immediately rule that the video does not infringe any copyright owned by Silver, and that Silver cease his meritless claims towards Machulis.

"We spend a lot of time fighting the misuse of copyright law on the Internet, but this situation is particularly outrageous," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "With thousands of videos being uploaded to sites like YouTube every day, free speech is on the line and needs to be protected."

For the full complaint:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/electricslide/complaint.pdf

Contacts:

Corynne McSherry
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org

Jason Schultz
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
jason@eff.org

[EFF: Breaking News]

U.S. Bill Proposes E-Health Records Incentives.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:19:07 GMT

U.S. Bill Proposes E-Health Records Incentives. Doctors would get $3 for every patient signed up to use an electronic health record under terms of a new House bill introduced today. [PC World: Latest Technology News]

DHS Issues REAL ID Regulations; CDT Urges Repeal of Law.

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:17:49 GMT

DHS Issues REAL ID Regulations; CDT Urges Repeal of Law. The Department of Homeland Security has issued proposed regulations implementing the REAL ID Act, which would require states to adopt tighter standards and create a networked system for driver's license issuance. Given the Act's fundamental flaws, CDT has joined other civil liberties groups in supporting legislation introduced in recent days in the House and Senate to repeal the hastily-enacted 2005 law and return to the driver's license reform process begun by the previous Congress. CDT is especially concerned that the Act would result in the creation of a linked network of government databases of personal information, without standards or limits on access and use. [Center for Democracy and Technology]