EFFector Vol. 21, No. 43 January 13, 2008 editor@eff.org A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : In our 495th issue: * THE PATENT OFFICE HAS GRANTED EFF'S REQUEST FOR REEXAMINATION of an illegitimate music patent, patent No. 5,886,274. Seer Systems was awarded this patent for a system and method for joining different musical data types together in a file, distributing them over the Internet, and then playing that file. In the reexamination request, EFF, along with the law firm Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, show that descriptions of this technology were published a number of times before Seer Systems made its claim - including in a book written by Seer's own founder and the named inventor of the patent, Stanley Jungleib. This reexamination request is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, which combats the chilling effects bad patents have on public and consumer interests. Four more patents are under review and one patent has been revoked by the PTO due to the Patent Busting Project's efforts. For the full press release: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/07 For more on EFF's Patent Busting Project: http://w2.eff.org/patent/ : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : EFF Updates *Calling All iPhone Developers: Support EFF's DMCA Exemption iPhone application developers have until February 2, 2009, to submit comments to the Copyright Office. Please support EFF's proposal for a DMCA exemption for iPhone owners who want to "jailbreak" their iPhones to gain the freedom to install applications of their choice. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/iphone-developers-support-effs-dmca-exemption-jail * Apple Shows Us DRM's True Colors At last week's Macworld Expo, Apple announced that by April, music from the iTunes Store will no longer be shackled by digital rights management (DRM). An inventory of Apple's remaining DRM armory makes it vividly clear that DRM (backed by the DMCA) is almost always about eliminating legitimate competition, hobbling interoperability, and creating de facto technology monopolies. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/apple-shows-us-drms-true-colors * Fox News Censors Political Expression Citizen Media Law Project reports that YouTube cancelled Progress Illinois' YouTube channel after Fox News sent three notices of copyright infringement. Fox demanded the takedown of Progress Illinois' videos, which apparently used short clips of Fox News coverage of local and national political events to set up political commentary about those events. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/fox-news-censors-political-expression * Al-Haramain Warrantless Spying Case Can Proceed The 9th Circuit held that the case of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation can proceed, and the court set up a process to allow the Al-Haramain plaintiffs to prosecute the case while protecting classified information. Al-Haramain had sued the Bush Administration for the illegal surveillance of the organization and its attorneys as part of the NSA warrantless wiretapping program. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/government-motion-dismiss-al-haramain-spying-case- * UMG v. Veoh: Another Victory for Web 2.0 Video hosting site Veoh won another victory under the DMCA safe harbors, this time against Universal Music Group (UMG). This is good news not just for Veoh, but also for YouTube and every other site that hosts material uploaded by users. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/umg-v-veoh-another-victory-web-2-0 * Year-end 2008, Darknet Assumptions = True The infamous Darknet assumptions - three big reasons that DRM copy protection will never work, as set forth in 2002 by a team of Microsoft engineers - continue to be proven true by events. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/year-end-2008-darknet-assumptions-true * Keith Henson Appeal: Time to Undo an Injustice Keith Henson, a well-known Scientology protestor, has filed an appeal of his criminal conviction in 2001 of misdemeanor "interfering with a religion" for picketing in front of a Scientology "base" in Hemet, CA. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/12/keith-henson-appeal-time-undo-injustice * Larry Lessig on The Colbert Report Last week, Larry Lessig appeared on The Colbert Report. Watch the video on the Deeplinks blog. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/larry-lessig-colbert-report : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : miniLinks ~ Mobile Phone Searches - Warrant Required? Courts are weighing the question of whether searches of handheld devices during arrests require a warrant. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10140373-38.html ~ Inside a DHS Travel File Sean O'Neill made a FOIA request for the travel dossier kept on his travels by the Department of Homeland Security. http://current.newsweek.com/budgettravel/2008/12/whats_in_your_government_trave.html ~ An Analysis of Obama's DOJ Pick President-elect Obama has selected David Kris to head the National Security division at the Department of Justice. http://arstechnica.com/journals/law.ars/2009/01/07/the-kris-crossover-will-make-you-jump-jump For more miniLinks: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/01/minilinks-2009-1-12 : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Announcements * @EFF Is on Twitter! We've just started an EFF account on Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service. Expect to see everything from breaking news to random trivialities to conversations between EFF members and supporters. If you have an account, follow us, ask a question, or let us know what's on your mind. http://twitter.com/eff : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : . : Administrivia EFFector is published by: The Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org/about Editor: Sara Bassett, Membership Services Assistant sara@eff.org Membership & donation queries: membership@eff.org General EFF, legal, policy, or online resources queries: information@eff.org Back issues of EFFector are available at: http://www.eff.org/effector
