[olug] [effector-admin at eff.org: EFFector 15.15: New EFF Action Center, Hollywood Wants to Plug the Analog Hole]

Sat May 25 02:56:13 UTC 2002

Some interesting tidbits about electronic news.

----- Forwarded message from effector-admin at eff.org -----

EFFector Vol. 15, No. 15, May 24th, 2002 editors at eff.org

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424

In the 215th Issue of EFFector:

* Check Out the New EFF Action Center
* ALERT: Turner CEO Says Bathroom Breaks are Theft
* ICANN Director Seeks Court Order to Review Records
* Elcomsoft Hits the Courtroom in Late August
* Librarian of Congress Rejects Proposed Webcasting Royalty Rates
* California Supreme Court Hears DVD Trade Secret Case
* Hollywood Wants to Plug the "Analog Hole"

For more information on EFF activities & alerts: http://www.eff.org/

To join EFF or make an additional donation: http://www.eff.org/support/
EFF is a member-supported nonprofit. Please sign up as a member today!
________________________________________________________________________

EFF Action Center Test Launch Announcement

We are excited to announce a test of the EFF Action Center, where you'll
find alerts on technology and civil liberties issues and pending
legislation where your action can make a difference. You will also find
the tools and information you need to protect your rights in the digital
world.

With the EFF Action Center, you can send customizable emails, letters
and faxes. We've also included a legislative directory and easy access
to background information on our alerts. Subscribing to the EFF Action
Center will also allow you to subscribe to EFFector if you haven't
already.

If you are already an EFFector subscriber or an EFF Member, go to:
http://action.eff.org/action/login.asp

Skip to the bottom of the page where you can enter your email address to
receive your EFF Action Center password. Then, return to the login page
listed above and enter your email address with the new password. From
here you can choose to update your personal information via the "Edit
Your Profile" link in the right hand toolbar. If you update your
personal information you will have access to more options, like editing
the letters you send. If you choose not to enter more information, you
can still use the Action Center to send pre-written letters.

Your help during this testing period is greatly appreciated. If you
encounter a problem with the EFF Action Center, let us know at:

alerts.eff.org

If you have any questions about the EFF Action Center, feel free to
contact us!

Contact:

Ren Bucholz
Activist
Electronic Frontier Foundation
ren at eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x121 (office)

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________________________________________________________________________

TURNER CEO SAYS BATHROOM BREAKS ARE THEFT

Electronic Frontier Foundation ACTION ALERT

(Issued: May 23, 2002 / Deadline: May 30, 2002)

Jamie Kellner, CEO of Turner Broadcasting, says that skipping
commercials, even if you're in the bathroom, is stealing.

In the April 29, 2002, issue of "Cableworld" magazine, Kellner describes
personal video recorders (PVRs) like TiVo and ReplayTV as devices
designed to "steal" programming because they allow consumers to skip
programming in 30 second intervals. Kellner states:

"JK: Because of the ad skips.... It's theft. Your contract with the
network when you get the show is you're going to watch the spots.
Otherwise you couldn't get the show on an ad-supported basis. Any time
you skip a commercial or watch the button you're actually stealing the
programming.

CW: What if you have to go to the bathroom or get up to get a Coke?

JK: I guess there's a certain amount of tolerance for going to the
bathroom. But if you formalize it and you create a device that skips
certain second increments, you've got that only for one reason, unless
you go to the bathroom for 30 seconds. They've done that just to make it
easy for someone to skip a commercial."

Despite what Mr. Kellner thinks, television viewers have no "contract"
with broadcasters. While it may seem laughable that a powerful industry
executive such as Mr. Kellner holds this belief, it's no laughing matter
-- Mr. Kellner's colleagues in the television industry are suing
electronics manufacturers to keep PVRs off the market. Let Mr. Kellner
know what you think about his "contract" with this customizable letter
in our new EFF Action Center: http://action.eff.org

For more information on personal video recorders:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/23/technology/23VIDE.html?8hpib (requires
free registration)

Contact:

Ren Bucholz
Activist
Electronic Frontier Foundation
ren at eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x121 (office)

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________________________________________________________________________

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

ICANN Director Seeks Court Order to Review Records

Internet Regulatory Agency Obstructs Board Access

For Immediate Release - Tuesday, May 21, 2002

Los Angeles - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today filed a
motion with the Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of ICANN Director
Karl Auerbach requesting the court grant him immediate access to
corporate records that ICANN management has denied him for
one-and-a-half years.

Auerbach, the North American Elected Director of the Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began asking for
corporate records in November 2000, shortly after he was elected to the
Board. After nine months delay, ICANN management granted Auerbach
conditional access to corporate records if he signed a "policy" had not 
been ratified by the Board of Directors to access and copy the records 
at the discretion of ICANN management.

"I spent more than a year trying to work this out informally," noted
Auerbach. "It's my right to gain access to the records I need to
discharge my duties on the ICANN Board effectively."

"If ICANN management is concerned that certain information not be
publicized, it must specifically identify those documents and
demonstrate good reason for its concerns," explained Auerbach's lead
attorney James Tyre. "ICANN cannot simply make broad, nonspecific claims
of 'privacy, privilege and confidentiality' to prevent Board member
access or copying of basic corporate documents."

"As even Mr. Lynn admits, ICANN requires dramatic reform," noted EFF
Legal Director Cindy Cohn. "The Internet community relies on ICANN's
Board members, especially its elected ones, to help find out what has
gone wrong and evaluate the proposed solutions. Without access to the
basic information about how ICANN has been run so far, Mr. Auerbach
cannot help formulate the next incarnation of ICANN to fix the problems
of the past."

For documents related to the Auerbach v ICANN case:
http://www.eff.org/Cases/Auerbach_v_ICANN/

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/Cases/Auerbach_v_ICANN/20020521_eff_icann_pr.html

ICANN Articles of Incorporation:
http://www.icann.org/general/articles.htm

ICANN Bylaws: http://www.icann.org/general/bylaws.htm

Contacts:

Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
cindy at eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 823-2148 (cell)

James S. Tyre
Attorney
Law Offices of James Tyre
jstyre at jstyre.com
+1 310 839-4114

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in
1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to
support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most-linked-to websites in the
world at: http://www.eff.org/

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________________________________________________________________________

Elcomsoft Hits the Courtroom in Late August

The countdown has begun for the first criminal case to be tried under
the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). On Monday, California
Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Whyte set the start of the U.S. v.
Elcomsoft trial for August 26th.

Ever since Elcomsoft's motion to dismiss was refused by Judge Whyte on
May 7, the company awaited the establishment of a hearing date in the
controversial case. The U.S. government's original target was ElcomSoft
programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, who was arrested last July after speaking at
a hacker convention in Las Vegas. Sklyarov spent several weeks in jail
and was prevented from leaving the country for several months.

Now prosecutors are shifting the focus to Elcomsoft, who could be fined
$500,000 if convicted. The crux of the federal government's attack is
Elcomsoft's AEBPR program, which allows users to disable copyright
protections on Adobe e-Book software. The case is one of the first to
challenge the anti-circumvention measures of the DMCA as an
unconstitutional restraint on freedom of speech.

For information on the U.S. v. Elcomsoft case see the Elcomsoft case
archive: http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/US_v_Elcomsoft

Contact:

Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
cindy at eff.org +1 415 436-9333 x108 (office), +1 415 823-2148 (cell)

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________________________________________________________________________

Librarian of Congress Rejects Proposed Webcasting Royalty Rates But
Future of Webcasting Still in Doubt

In 1998, as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA),
Congress required Internet webcasters who stream music pay royalties to
record labels.

The Librarian of Congress on May 20 rejected the royalty rates proposed
by the Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel (CARP). The proposed CARP
rates have been widely criticized by both webcasters, who believe they
are too high, and record labels, who complain they are too low.
Unfortunately, the Librarian did not explain the basis for rejection of
the rates, promising instead to offer alternate rates by June 20. As a
result, the future of webcasting remains in limbo.

For more on the webcasting royalty controversy, see:
http://www.saveinternetradio.org/

For information regarding the related controversy over record-keeping
requirements for webcasters, including EFF's comments filed before the
Copyright Office, see: http://www.copyright.gov/carp/114/comments.html

Contact:

Fred von Lohmann
EFF Senior Intellectual Property Atty.
fred at eff.org +1 415-436-9333 x123

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________________________________________________________________________

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT HEARS DVD TRADE SECRET CASE

CIVIL LIBERTIES GROUPS SEEK INTERNET PUBLICATION PROTECTION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2002

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the First
Amendment Project today asked the California Supreme Court to affirm an
appeals court decision permitting publication of software pending a
lower court's ruling on a trade secret case. In a tremendous victory for
freedom of speech on the Internet, the appeals court had overturned a
lower court injunction against publication of the software based on the
publisher's First Amendment rights.

DVD-CCA, the organization that licenses DVD technology for Hollywood
movie studios, originally filed the lawsuit in December 1999 and
obtained a lower court injunction in January 2000 against defendant
Andrew Bunner for publishing DeCSS software that decrypts DVDs. When an
appeals panel overruled the lower court injunction last November,
DVD-CCA then appealed to the California Supreme Court to challenge the
appeals panel ruling.

The appeals panel had ruled that the trial judge failed to consider the
First Amendment rights of Bunner to republish information readily
obtainable in the public domain when it issued the gag order.

DVD-CCA contends that republication of DeCSS software constitutes
illegal misappropriation of a trade secret. Bunner had republished DeCSS
on his website after reading about it on Slashdot and deciding it was
newsworthy.

"Well established trade secret law clearly holds that only those
individuals who have undertaken an affirmative duty to treat information
as a trade secret are required by law to keep it secret," said EFF
Intellectual Property Attorney Robin Gross. "People who obtain
information from the public domain have a First Amendment right to
republish that information."

"We're confident the Supreme Court will recognize, as the Court of
Appeal did, that this is a classic First Amendment case," said David
Greene, Executive Director for the First Amendment Project and main
author of the groups' legal brief.

DVD-CCA's reply brief is due on June 11, 2002, and oral argument will be
scheduled before the California Supreme Court for sometime in the next
eighteen months.

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20020522_eff_pr.html

Latest EFF/FAP brief in the DVD-CCA v. Bunner case:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20020522_bunner_casupct_merits.
html

The 6th Appellate Court's decision overturning the injunction:
http://www.eff.org/sc/20011101_bunner_appellate_decision.html

The DVD Copy Control Association Petition for Review after Decision by
the Court of Appeal,Sixth Appellate District:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case/20011204_petition_for_review.
html

More information on DVD-CCA v. Bunner including legal filings and media
releases: http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/DVDCCA_case

Contacts:

Robin Gross
Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
robin at eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x112 (office), +1 415 637-5310 (cell)

David Greene
Executive Director and Staff Counsel
First Amendment Project
fap at thefirstamendment.org
+1 510 208-7744

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in
1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to
support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most-linked-to websites in the
world at: http://www.eff.org/

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________________________________________________________________________

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Advisory

For Immediate Release: Friday, May 24, 2002

Hollywood Wants to Plug the "Analog Hole"

Electronic Frontier Foundation Analyzes Industry Report

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today posted
its analysis of the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) of America's
"Content Protection Status Report."

The MPAA filed the report with the Senate Judiciary Committee last
month, laying out its plan to remake the technology world to suit its
own ends. The report calls for regulation of analog-to-digital
converters (ADCs), generic computing components found in scientific,
medical and entertainment devices.

The MPAA proposes that every ADC be controlled by a "cop-chip" that will
shut down the device if it is asked to assist in converting copyrighted
material thus "plugging the analog hole." For example, your cellphone
could refuse to transmit your voice if you wandered too close to the
copyrighted music coming from your stereo.

The EFF report demonstrates that this proposed ADC regulation is part of
a larger agenda of the entertainment industry. The first piece of that
agenda, a mandate that would give Hollywood a veto over digital
television technology, is weeks away from coming to fruition. Hollywood
also proposes a radical redesign of the Internet to assist in
controlling the distribution of copyrighted works.

This three-part agenda -- controlling digital media devices, controlling
analog converters, controlling the Internet -- is a frightening peek at
Hollywood's vision of the future.

For the EFF report: http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/archives/000113.html

For this advisory:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/HDTV/20020524_eff_bpdg_pr.html

Contact:

Cory Doctorow
Outreach Coordinator
Electronic Frontier Foundation
cory at eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x106 (office), +1 415 726-5209 (cell)

About EFF:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in
1990, EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to
support free expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most-linked-to websites in the
world at: http://www.eff.org/

- end -
________________________________________________________________________

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: Ren Bucholz, Activist

To Join EFF online, or make an additional donation, go to:
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