Science Addiction

A dormant blog by Devanshu Mehta

Tag: EFF

April 2, 2009

iPods, Obama and the Queen

An excellent article from Fred von Lohmann at EFF:

President Obama reportedly gave an iPod, loaded with 40 show tunes, to England’s Queen Elizabeth II as a gift. Did he violate the law when he did so?

You know your copyright laws are broken when there is no easy answer to this question.

[from iPods, First Sale, President Obama, and the Queen of England | Electronic Frontier Foundation]

The issue stems from how the law deals with bits (MP3s, software and Kindle eBooks) differently from atoms (CDs, paperbacks). If the President had bought a CD for the Queen (of the band Queen, no less) it would have been perfectly legal. But digital music, on the other hand, is much murkier territory— you own a “license” not the music. The article at EFF does much better justice to the topic, so read the details there.

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November 24, 2008

“Grey Hat” Guide: To Disclose or Not to Disclose

Jennifer Granick, Civil Liberties Directory at the Electronic Frontier Foundation is putting together a “Grey Hat” guide for security researchers. The problem, says Granick, is that the law has been a real obstacle to solving vulnerabilities.

The muddy nature of the laws that regulate computers and code, coupled with a series of abusive lawsuits, gives researchers real reason to worry that they might be sued if they publish their research or go straight to the affected vendor. By reporting the security flaw, the researcher reveals that she may have committed unlawful activity, which might invite a lawsuit or criminal investigation. On the other hand, withholding information means a potentially serious security flaw may go unremedied.

The guide seems to be a work-in-progress and Granick has solicited constructive feedback.

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November 18, 2008

Tech Policy “People to Watch”

Ars Technica and Tech Policy Central are putting together a “Who’s Who: People to Watch” list of people who will make a difference in tech policy.

Finalists will not be chosen simply on the basis of popularity or notoriety but will be judged by the ambition of their goals, the strength of their ideas, and the likelihood that they will, in fact, make a difference.

Anyone who reads this blog knows who I would nominate: Lawrence Lessig. But also, Susan Crawford for her recent addition to the Obama FCC review team, Kevin Martin of the FCC, Tim Wu, Rep. Ed Markey of MA, many of the Harvard Berkman crew like Zittrain, some of the EFF folk, the FreePress folks, Public Knowledge an, of course, Barack Obama Yeah, it’s a long list.

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November 13, 2008

Change Watch: Privacy, Innovation and a side of Transparency

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Tim Jones at the EFF has just finished his three–part series outlining how the new leadership in Congress and the Executive branch can restore what has been lost over the past eight years.

There are two aspects to how privacy has deteriorated over the past eight years. On the one hand, claiming war time needs, the government has increased warrant-less surveillance of Americans by alarming proportions. Jones highlights the flawed FISA Amendments act which granted immunity from litigation to telcos, the States Secrets Privilege, which allows the executive branch to shield itself from judicial review. The abuse of National Security Letters to acquire data from Internet service providers has also been increased. On the other hand, corporations have much more control of user data than ever before and the balance is decidedly against the consumer. In Jones’ words, “the privacy of personal data should not depend on how long an ISP has stored that data or whether the data is stored locally or remotely. “

Innovation is an area that most directly affects consumers and technologists. Jones suggests– and I agree- that balance should be restored to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and that serious patent reform is required. Both issues, as they currently stand, favor the incumbents over consumers and inhibit innovation.

On transparency, the government should resemble the Sunlight Foundation— if you haven’t already and take a look at how they are working on making data about the government available in formats that are easy to parse, process, analyze and visualize. Obama has promised much in this direction- and Change.gov is certainly a refreshing web site- but the post-January reality will be determined by his administrations response to Freedom of Information Act requests and opening up the data of all branches of government.

Until inauguration day on the 20th of January, I will be covering some of the aspects of the transition to the Obama administration that affect technology and open government in a series called Change Watch .

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October 20, 2008

EFF Challenges Constitutionality of Telecom Immunity in Federal Court

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No Such Agency...

EFF, fighting the good fight–

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Thursday challenged the constitutionality of a law aimed at granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the president’s illegal domestic wiretapping program.

In a brief filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, EFF argues that the flawed FISA Amendments Act (FAA) violates the federal government’s separation of powers as established in the Constitution and robs innocent telecom customers of their rights without due process of law. Signed into law earlier this year, the FAA allows for the dismissal of the lawsuits over the telecoms’ participation in the warrantless surveillance program if the government secretly certifies to the court that either the surveillance did not occur, was legal, or was authorized by the president. Attorney General Michael Mukasey filed that classified certification with the court last month.

The constitutional challenge is set to be heard on December 2. EFF has more information on the NSA spying issue.

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October 18, 2008

The Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill

This is not a love song

Mickey Mouse politics

While (still) President Bush signed the sorry Intellectual Property Enforcement Bill in to law last week, EFF reminds us of a few victories we won over the past few months that stripped it of things like:

  • Higher damages for filesharing.
  • A vast government IP enforcement bureaucracy.
  • The Attorney General’s office will no longer become “pro bono lawyers for private copyright holders regardless of their resources.”

We should always celebrate the small victories (and, in this case, thank Public Knowledge for fighting the good fight). There will still be a “Copyright Czar”, but that position will be appointed by the President. And all indications are that we might get a President who takes a bit more nuanced position on these issues. Wired’s Threat Level blog is taking votes on who should be appointed to that position. My vote is with Lessig.

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October 17, 2008

Seasons Givings: 2008

A few years ago, this blog made the front page of Slashdot with a list of “geek” charities and projects that I thought were worth my donations.

For this year, I have a shortened list- a couple of old favorites and a couple of new favorites. Let me start with the new:

DonorsChoose.org
In their own words:

DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.

Proposals range from “Magical Math Centers” ($200) to “Big Book Bonanza” ($320), to “Cooking Across the Curriculum” ($1,100). Any individual can search such proposals by areas of interest, learn about classroom needs, and choose to fund the project(s) they find most compelling. In completing a project, donors receive a feedback package of student photos and thank-you notes, and a teacher impact letter.

This is fantastic- and you can select a school close to your home if you want. They funded over $6.4 million worth of school projects in 2008.

Kiva

Kiva lets you make loans to the working poor- you will be repaid, but without interest. You can fund real people, with real small business projects. They partner with expert microfinance institutions in the regions where you lend money. I’ve been lending small amounts of money to projects all over the world for a couple of years now- it works, the money has always been repaid.

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And then there are a few old favorites- no surprise if you read this blog regularly.

Electronic Frontier Foundation

If you believe in any of the things I write about here- defending your rights in the digital world- then EFF is fighting for you. Just today, they announced that they are challenging the constitutionality of the law granting telecom immunity to the companies that helped the government in its domestic illegal wiretapping.

Creative Commons

For an idea about why I support Creative Commons, check out my article about why this blog is CC licensed. I joined the Creative Commons network a couple of days ago- if nothing else, it gives you a free, privacy-protected openID profile.

And a few honorable mentions:

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