In our 564th issue:
The Dervaes Institute is claiming broad ownership rights
over the term "urban homesteading" -- a phrase commonly used
to describe a social movement dedicated to achieving more
self-sufficient, sustainable living in cities. The
Institute managed to register the term as a trademark and
it is now sending takedown requests and warning letters
targeting individuals and organizations that have been
using the term for years. EFF protested the takedown
requests on behalf of our clients in a recent letter,
asserting the Dervaes' legal claims are baseless.
There is an arms race between practical privacy tools and
ubiquitous online tracking, and we fear that the trackers
have powerful techniques that without a substantial change
will almost always allow them to win. Do Not Track creates
a policy mechanism to augment the privacy enhancing
technologies that we currently have. It's a technically
simple proposal: add a header to the messages that browsers
and other HTTP clients send when they fetch web pages. The
header simply requests that webservers not track the user's
behavior. However, there are a number of questions
regarding how tracking is defined, the role of regulation,
and what websites should respect the header. There's a
spectrum of good ways to address each of these issues -
ways to create Do Not Track that can provide users with
meaningful ways to express their preferences.
EFF Updates
EFF Evaluates the FCC's Net Neutrality Rules in its
"Report and Order" The FCC's recent order on net neutrality addresses some of
the minor concerns raised by EFF in its 2009 comments, but
it fails to address the far more important issues like
loopholes for non-neutral behavior and barriers to entry.
Over 40,000 Does Dismissed In Copyright Troll Cases
Thousands of unnamed "John Does" in P2P file sharing
lawsuits filed in California, Washington DC, Texas, and
West Virginia have been severed, effectively dismissing
over 40,000 defendants.
New Honorees in the Takedown Hall of Shame
EFF inducts two new additions to our Hall of Shame for
their bogus copyright and trademark complaints that
threatened creative expression on the Internet.
miniLinks
Check out 8-bit Muscian _node's Newest EP
_node is contributing proceed's from his newest EP to EFF -
so listen, download and remix today!
Deconstructing the CALEA Hearing
Chris Soghoian deconstructs the CALEA Internet wiretapping
hearing - what does the FBI really want?
How to Install Tor on Your Android Smartphone
Follow these 6 steps to improve privacy and security with
Tor on your Android.
Administrivia
ISSN 1062-9424
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Announcements
Southern California Linux Expo
Stop by EFF's Booth at the Southern California Linux Expo.
You can attend talks by developers, see what is new for
beginners, and say hello to EFF Membership Director, Aaron
Jue.
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Date: February 25-27, 2011
47 U.S.C. Section 230: a 15-Year Retrospective
Co-sponsored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, this
symposium will unite some of the key figures in the history
of 47 U.S.C. Section 230, widely regarded as the most
important Internet-specific U.S. law.
Location: Santa Clara, CA
Date: March 4, 2011
From Mad Men to Mad Bots: Advertising in the Digital Age
EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien joins a panel discussion
on online advertising privacy at Yale Law School's
Information Society Project's Spring Symposium.
Location: New Haven, CT
Date: March 25-26, 2011
SOURCE Boston and SOURCE Seattle
EFF is a proud partner of two SOURCE Security Conferences!
In addition to advanced technical talks, SOURCE offers
workshops on entrepreneurship, management strategies, job
interviewing, presentation skills, and proficiencies and
strategies designed for the security industry.
Location: Boston, MA
Date: April 20, 2011
and
Location: Seattle, WA
Date: June 15-16, 2011
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