EFFector Vol. 19, No. 38 October 10, 2006 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 In the 399th Issue of EFFector: * EFF Sues for Information on Electronic Surveillance Systems * Another Court Says "National Security" Isn't Blank Check for Illegal Spying * Sixth Circuit Halts Injunction Against Warrantless Surveillance Pending Appeal * You're Invited! Online Lecture About AT&T Case in There.com * miniLinks (6): DVD Region Coding -- Now in HD! * Staff Calendar * Administrivia For more information on EFF activities & alerts: http://www.eff.org/ Make a donation and become an EFF member today! http://eff.org/support/ Tell a friend about EFF: http://action.eff.org/site/Ecard?ecard_id=1061 effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a desired change. : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * EFF Sues for Information on Electronic Surveillance Systems FBI Withholds Records on Tools to Intercept Personal Communications Washington, D.C. - The FLAG Project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed its first lawsuit against the Department of Justice last week after the FBI failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records concerning DCS-3000 and Red Hook -- tools the FBI has spent millions of dollars developing for electronic surveillance. DCS-3000 is an interception system that apparently evolved out of "Carnivore," a controversial surveillance system the FBI used several years ago to monitor online traffic through Internet service providers. One Department of Justice report said DCS-3000 was developed to "intercept personal communication services delivered via emerging digital technologies" and that it was used "as carriers continue to introduce new features and services." According to the same report, Red Hook is a system to "collect voice and data calls and then process and display the intercepted information." The FLAG Project first filed its FOIA request for information about the surveillance systems on August 11, 2006. The FBI acknowledged receipt of the request, but the agency has not responded within the time limit required by law. "Recent allegations of domestic spying by the U.S. government already have both lawmakers and the general public up in arms. Americans have a right to know whether the FBI is using new technology to further violate their privacy," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "The Department of Justice needs to abide by the law and publicly release information about these surveillance tools." EFF's FLAG Project, launched last month, uses FOIA requests and litigation to expose the government's expanding use of technologies that invade privacy. "Transparency is critical to the functioning of our democracy, especially when the government seeks to hide activities that affect the rights of citizens," explained EFF Senior Counsel David Sobel, who directs the FLAG Project. "We have recently seen numerous instances where federal agencies have sought to conceal surveillance activities that raise serious legal issues." For the full FOIA suit filed against the Department of Justice: http://www.eff.org/flag/dcs/dcs_complaint.pdf For more on the FLAG Project: http://www.eff.org/flag/ For this release: http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_10.php#004935 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Another Court Says "National Security" Isn't Blank Check for Illegal Spying Last week, a federal court shot down yet another attempt by the government to use "national security" as a blank check for illegal surveillance. The government claimed that it could not even confirm or deny whether it had listened in on calls between attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights and their clients. In rejecting this argument, the court ordered the government to provide that information to the court in secret first, then set up a process to provide that information to the attorneys involved. The court confirmed: "It is a cardinal rule of litigation that one side may not eavesdrop on the other's privileged attorney- client communications." That should have been obvious to the government from the beginning. But the fact that the government refused to confirm that it wasn't violating this "cardinal rule" protecting attorney-client communications should raise concerns for all of us. Kudos to yet another court for holding the government to the basic rule of law. The government's overreaching attempts to prevent courts from considering cases where it asserts "national security" are now starting to fail, including, of course, in EFF's case against AT&T for helping the government's massive and illegal NSA spying program. For this post and related links: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004938.php : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Sixth Circuit Halts Injunction Against Warrantless Surveillance Pending Appeal In August, a federal district court in Detroit ordered a stop to the government's warrantless wiretapping program. Unfortunately, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit last week halted the enforcement of this order pending the government's appeal. The short opinion, which offered little legal analysis, is disappointing, but it's not the last word on the government's illegal spying -- this case will still be heard on appeal by the Sixth Circuit. The ACLU brought this lawsuit after the spying program was first disclosed. After defeating the government's and AT&T's motions to dismiss in the district, our lawsuit against AT&T for its collaboration with the spying program is also moving forward in the district court in San Francisco, while the government has petitioned for permission to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. For this post and related links: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004941.php : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * You're Invited! Online Lecture About AT&T Case in There.com This Thursday, EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston will be teaching a class in the virtual world There.com about the NSA's illegal spying program and EFF's case against AT&T. The class is part of the State of Play Academy, a free lecture series available to users of There.com. More details here: http://stateofplayacademy.com/calendar/view.php?view=day&cal_d=12&cal_m=10&cal_y=2006 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * miniLinks The week's noteworthy news, compressed. ~ DVD Region Coding -- Now in HD! In case you hoped your next-generation video media would be less crippled than DVDs. http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/10/06/hd_dvd_to_get_region_coding/ ~ Swedish Appeals Court Acquits Accused Filesharer IP address insufficient identification. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/03/file_sharer_acquitted/ ~ Please Present Passport, 34 Pieces of Personal Information U.S. and EU reach deal to share passenger data. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5412092.stm ~ Norwegian ISP De-Neutralizes Network And re-neutralizes it in response to customer outcry. http://www.eirikso.com/2006/10/03/goodbye-network-neutrality-in-norway/ ~ DVD Jon Selling Apple FairPlay Compatibility Reverse-Engineering for fun and profit. http://featured.gigaom.com/2006/10/02/dvd-jon-fairplays-apple/ ~ Homeland Security Monitoring Opinions in News Parsing the press' prose for threats. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/us/04monitor.html?ex=1317614400&en=f56ed0a299bbe0f2&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Staff Calendar For a complete listing of EFF speaking engagements (with locations and times), please visit the full calendar: http://www.eff.org/calendar/ October 28 Kevin Bankston speaking at University of San Francisco's Law Review Fall Symposium, "Companies Caught in the Middle: Legal Responses for Government Requests for Customer Information," in San Francisco, CA. http://www.usfca.edu/lawreview/symposium.html : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : * Administrivia EFFector is published by: The Electronic Frontier Foundation 454 Shotwell Street San Francisco CA 94110-1914 USA +1 415 436 9333 (voice) +1 415 436 9993 (fax) http://www.eff.org/ Editor: Derek Slater, Activist derek@eff.org Membership & donation queries: membership@eff.org General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries: information@eff.org Reproduction of this publication in electronic media is encouraged. Signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of EFF. To reproduce signed articles individually, please contact the authors for their express permission. Press releases and EFF announcements & articles may be reproduced individually at will. Current and back issues of EFFector are available via the Web at: http://www.eff.org/effector/ This newsletter is printed on 100% recycled electrons.
