Everyone should be able to read the law, discuss it, and share it with others, without having to pay a toll or sign a contract. Seems obvious, right? Unfortunately, a federal district court has said otherwise, ruling that private organizations… Read More ›
Tag Archive for ‘Legal Analysis’
Fear Materialized: Border Agents Demand Social Media Data from Americans
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) recently filed complaints against U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for, in part, demanding social media information from Muslim American citizens returning home from traveling abroad. According to CAIR, CBP accessed public posts by… Read More ›
EFF Asks Massachusetts High Court to Require Clear Limits Before Allowing Searches of Digital Devices and Information
Along with several other advocacy groups, EFF signed on to an amicus brief this week in the case of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. James Keown, in support of requiring courts to set pre-search limits on the method of digital searches… Read More ›
Law Enforcement Uses Border Search Exception as Fourth Amendment Loophole
In recent months, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have sought access to private data on the cell phones of two journalists. Such incidents are offensive because they threaten the independence of the press and pose specific risks to confidential… Read More ›
In Sirius XM Lawsuits, Settlement Might Cement Digital Music Monopolies
Sirius XM Satellite Radio’s recent settlement with ex-members of the 60s rock group The Turtles over royalty payments for old recordings has the potential to solidify the dominant position of big music services like Sirius XM, at the expense of… Read More ›
AT&T requires police to hide Hemisphere phone spying
AT&T built a powerful phone surveillance tool for police, called Hemisphere. Every day, AT&T adds four billion call records to Hemisphere, making it one of the largest known reservoirs of communications metadata that the government uses to spy on us…. Read More ›
Record Labels Make New Grab For Website-Blocking Power in YouTube-MP3 Suit
Once again, major record labels are asking a court to give them power over the Internet’s basic infrastructure. This is the very power that Congress has refused to give them, and the very power they have proven unable and unwilling… Read More ›
Word Games: What the NSA Means by “Targeted” Surveillance Under Section 702
We all know that the NSA uses word games to hide and downplay its activities. Words like “collect,” “conversations,” “communications,” and even “surveillance” have suffered tortured definitions that create confusion rather than clarity. There’s another one to watch: “targeted” v…. Read More ›
CloudFlare Protects Internet Users By Insisting On Lawful Orders Before Blocking Customers
This month, the online service provider CloudFlare stood up for its website-owner customers, and for all users of those websites, by telling a court that CloudFlare shouldn’t be forced to block sites without proper legal procedure. Copyright law limits the… Read More ›
Big Win for User-Generated Content Hosts in Vimeo Case
The Second Circuit has released its long-awaited opinion in Capitol Records v. Vimeo, fully vindicating Vimeo’s positions. EFF along with a coalition of advocacy groups, submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, supporting Vimeo. The Second Circuit considered three important… Read More ›