begin quoting Paul G. Allen as of Thu, Jun 12, 2008 at 04:50:36PM -0700: > -------- Original Message -------- [snip] > EFFector Vol. 21, No. 19 June 11, 2008 [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation > ISSN 1062-9424 > > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > In our 472nd issue: > > * URGENT ACTION ALERT: TELL CONGRESS "NO DEAL ON TELECOM > IMMUNITY"! Recent intelligence indicates that high-ranking > Republicans and Democrats are hoping that a "compromise" > foreign intelligence surveillance bill can be rushed > through both the House and the Senate before the July 4th > holiday -- maybe even next week. > > The drafting process has been secretive, but one thing is > clear: the "compromise" is almost certain to contain > blanket immunity for phone companies that assisted in the > NSA's warrantless wiretapping program and prevent any court > from ruling on whether they broke the law. > > We've stopped telecom immunity in its tracks before, but > the empty "compromise" rhetoric surrounding this bill makes > it extremely dangerous. Please contact your Senators and > Congressperson to remind them that we're watching, and that > we won't accept any false compromises on immunity for > lawbreaking telecoms! > http://www.eff.org/action/no-false-compromises
We will accept what our representatives do; this is such a low-interest issue for most people... I think it's the wrong rhetoric. Do The Right Thing. Of course, perhaps we can get the supreme court to overturn the law when it's passed, on the basis that only executives can grant pardons, not legislators. (Of course, IANAL, so I'm perhaps wrong here -- I'm sure I'll be corrected if so.) > * IN ANOTHER BATTLE AGAINST ABUSIVE DMCA TAKEDOWNS, EFF has > asked a federal court to protect the free speech rights of > an animal welfare group after its video critiques of animal > treatment at rodeos were removed from YouTube due to sham > copyright claims. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys > Association (PRCA) filed takedown demands for 13 videos > from the group Showing Animals Respect and Kindness > (SHARK), claiming that the videos infringed their > copyrights -- even though the PRCA has no copyright claim > in live rodeo events. The lawsuit is part of EFF's No > Downtime for Free Speech Campaign, a response to increasing > misuse of the DMCA to demand that material be removed from > the Internet without providing any proof of infringement. > http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/06/09-0 The sad thing about this is that it involves youtube (which I generally find distasteful) and excessively sensitive activists (whom I generally find distatesful), and is targeting the rodeo crowd (whom are generally found distatesful)... and involves bogus DMCA abuse, which is wrong. The whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. [snip] > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > EFF Updates > > * Supreme Court Victory for Patent First Sale Doctrine > Supreme Court backs the patent world's version of the "you > bought it, you own it" principle. I approve of this; current copyright/patent use seems to run afoul of the first sale doctrine -- seeing the doctrine reaffirmed makes me happy. > * Laser Printers Found Guilty of "Making Available" Crimes > Researchers at the University of Washington discover severe > flaws in the mass collection of IP addresses for the > entertainment industry's DMCA takedown campaign. The problem I get from this is that if I build a printer into my computer, I could presumably get away with just about anything... misperceptions abound. On the network, who cares about the hardware that originated the infringing bits? They're all the same color! > * McCain Revises Stance on Warrantless Wiretapping, Again > Between voicing skepticism and completely embracing the > administration's flawed legal justifications for > warrantless wiretapping, McCain settles on describing the > President's actions as "ambiguous." Revising one's opinion is a good thing, surely. Don't really see why this one is news at all. > * McCain Campaign Staffed By Telecom Immunity Lobbyists > Strong connections between telecom immunity lobbyists and > the McCain campaign raise serious questions about McCain's > about-face on warrantless wiretapping. Money talks. Always has, always will. > * Fair Use Defense Ruled "Likely to Prevail" in "Imagine" > Copyright Infringement Suit > Filmmakers making use of John Lennon's "Imagine" win the > first round in a copyright infringement suit brought by > Yoko Ono. Hasn't ono always been a little nuts? > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > > miniLinks > > ~ What the FISA Debate Is Not About > Marty Lederman asks why reverting to the old FISA rules is > supposedly such a problem for the intelligence community. Nobody really likes going back to the old way that involved more paperwork. Why is anyone suprised? > ~ ISP Plan to Block Child Porn -- Will There Be Chilling > Effects? > The New York Attorney General says 3 major ISPs have agreed > to block child porn -- but the plan could set a precedent > that challenges the Communications Decency Act's > protections for online content hosts. "Think of the children!" gets old after awhile. It's like a car alarm. > ~ Movies on Cable Before DVD? > A plan would bring movies to cable faster -- but you won't > be able to watch on a high-def TV, and don't even think > about TiVo. Won't this be interesting... given that we're all going to hi-def regardless. > ~ Wiki for Listing Legitimate Uses of P2P > A wiki has been set up to collect all the various > legitimate uses for P2P software. Usenet. 'nuff said. > : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : > [chop] -- And that's my initial reaction. Stewart Stremler -- KPLUG-List@kernel-panic.org http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
