Collaborate Disseminate
The blog “McMansion Hell” is back up and running days after Zillow threatened the site’s creator, Kate Wagner, into taking it down. Zillow’s decision to withdraw their complaint came soon after the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced it would defe… Continue reading Zillow Drops Complaint Against Blogger After Backlash Over Copyright Claim
Last week, the Department of Justice released 18 new FISC opinions related to Section 702 as part of an EFF FOIA lawsuit. (Of course, they don’t mention EFF or the lawsuit. They make it sound as if it was their idea.) There’s probably a lot in these opinions. In one Kafkaesque ruling, a defendant was denied access to the previous… Continue reading The Dangers of Secret Law
Reader Peter Eckersley writes: There’s a lot of real progress happening in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and also a lot of hype. These technologies already have serious policy implications, and may have more in the future. … Continue reading EFF Launches New AI Progress Measurement Project
The Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the United States Department of Justice demanding to know whether the agency is complying with rules that mandate a periodic review of National Security Letter gag orders. Continue reading EFF Sues DOJ Over National Security Letter Disclosure Rules
A few months ago we reported on a case coming before the United States Supreme Court that concerned recycled printer cartridges. Battling it out were Impression Products, a printer cartridge recycling company, and Lexmark, the printer manufacturer. At issue was a shrinkwrap licence on inkjet cartridges — a legal agreement deemed to have been activated by the customer opening the cartridge packaging — that tied a discounted price to a restriction on the cartridge’s reuse.
It was of concern to us because of the consequences it could have had for the rest of the hardware world, setting a potential precedent …read more
Continue reading Impression Products V. Lexmark International: A Victory For Common Sense
The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Justice Wednesday after a months-long quest to obtain records regarding the FBI’s alleged use of Best Buy Geek Squad employees to search customer computers without warrants. The lawsuit comes after a February FOIA request by EFF was denied by the FBI under grounds that the FBI will neither confirm nor deny the existence of records pertaining to an ongoing investigations. EFF also received no comment on a following administrative appeal. EFF Civil Liberties Director David Greene told Cyberscoop that the FBI had not yet commented on the lawsuit, which seeks to examine whether Geek Squad employees have acted on behalf of federal agents when searching customer computers, in which case a warrant is necessary, according to constitutional law. “The public has a right to know how the FBI uses computer repair technicians to carry out […]
The post EFF sues DOJ for information about alleged FBI-Geek Squad program appeared first on Cyberscoop.
Continue reading EFF sues DOJ for information about alleged FBI-Geek Squad program
The password-manager 1Password has just implemented a travel mode that tries to protect users while crossing borders. It doesn’t make much sense. To enable it, you have to create a list of passwords you feel safe traveling with, and then you can turn on the mode that only gives you access to those passwords. But since you can turn it… Continue reading Passwords at the Border
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the FBI for records “about the extent to which it directs and trains Best Buy employees to conduct warrantless searches of people’s devices.” The lawsuit stems around an incident in 2011 where a gynecology do… Continue reading EFF Sues FBI For Records About Paid Best Buy Geek Squad Informants
The PATCH Act proposes the formation of a review board that would formalize and make transparent the processes by which the government determines whether it will use or disclose a zero-day vulnerability. Continue reading PATCH Act Calls for VEP Review Board
The EFF is issuing a warning about the “tiny homunculus computer” in most of Intel’s chipsets — the largely-undocumented “Management Engine” which houses more than just the AMT module. An anonymous reader quotes their report:
While AMT can be disabled… Continue reading EFF Warns Most Of Intel’s Chipsets Contain ‘A Security Hazard’