New documentary film "Patent Absurdity" is set to expose how the judicial activism that led to the patenting of software has broken the US patent system's promise of promoting the progress of science and useful arts

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today announced that CiviCRM has earned its recommendation as a fully featured donor and contact management system for nonprofits.

"sinking money and time into proprietary software is inconsistent with the core values of freedom and progress."

At the Women in Free Software Summit and the Boston celebration of Software Freedom Day 2009, the FSF kicked off a new video testimonial campaign. See how it went, and help support the campaign by submitting a video response to these questions!

The Free Software Foundation thanks PayPal for responding to its concerns and making its terms more free software friendly.

Why I'm rejecting your email attachment: for freedom and the good of the web!

With new tablet device, Apple's Steve Jobs pushes unprecedented extension of DRM to a new class of general purpose computers

The first 5,000 names have been printed on a four-foot tall "tablet" and shipped to Cupertino. Defective by Design will send a new tablet for every 5,000 signatures.

The annual free software conference LibrePlanet is the place for the free software community -- from old school hackers to brand new users -- to come together and further the collective goals of the free software movement. At LibrePlanet 2010 you can help your neighbor get a head-start in free software or explore the very latest philosophical ideas that will shape computing and user freedom for the next generation.

Free Software Award Winners: John Gilmore and the Internet Archive

"When companies organize to design products to restrict us, we have to organize to defeat them" -- FSF president Richard Stallman

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a broad coalition, including civil rights groups, professional associations and technologists, called on Congress today to hold oversight hearings on the Department of Homeland Security's search and seizure of electronic devices at American borders.

The press has widely reported disturbing stories about U.S. citizens subject to intrusive searches of their laptops and cell phones. But a recent court decision found that customs officials can search travelers' computers at the border without suspicion or cause. In a letter sent to the House and Senate Homeland Security and Judiciary committees today, the coalition urges lawmakers to consider passing legislation to prevent abusive search practices by border agents and to protect all Americans from suspicionless digital border inspections.

"Our computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices hold a vast amount of personal information like financial data, health histories, and personal emails and letters," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "In a free country, the government cannot have unlimited power to read, seize, and store this information without any oversight."

So far, the Department of Homeland Security has refused to release its policies and procedures for conducting these intrusive searches. EFF and the Asian Law Caucus have filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security to obtain the information through the Freedom of Information Act.

"Your privacy could be at risk even if you don't travel yourself. Your financial institution, your insurer, and other enterprises hold extensive personal data about you and your family," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Lee Tien. "If agents of those groups travel internationally, your information could be exposed to officials at the border or potentially copied and stored in government databases. Americans should know how and why electronic data is seized and kept by the government, and who is able to access it at the border and in the years afterwards."

In addition to EFF, the coalition signing today's letter includes more than 40 organizations and individuals, including the Association for Corporate Travel Executives, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Rutherford Institute, and prominent technologists such as Bruce Schneier and Whitfield Diffie.

For the full letter to Congress:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/05/01/border-search-open-letter

For more on EFF's suit on border searches:
http://www.eff.org/cases/foia-litigation-border-searches

Contacts:

Marcia Hofmann
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
marcia@eff.org

Lee Tien
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
tien@eff.org

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging Microsoft Corporation to fix the problems it will cause when it shuts down the MSN Music validation servers, making it impossible for customers to transfer their music files to new computers or even upgrade their operating system.

In an open letter sent to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer today, EFF outlines five steps Microsoft must take to make things right for MSN Music customers -- including a issuing a public apology, providing refunds or replacement music files, and launching a substantial publicity campaign to make sure all customers know their options.

"MSN Music customers trusted Microsoft when it said that this was a safe way to buy music, and that trust has been betrayed," said EFF Staff Attorney Corynne McSherry. "If Microsoft is prepared to treat MSN Music customers like this, is there any reason to suppose that future customers won't get the same treatment?"

MSN Music sold song downloads encumbered with digital rights management (DRM), allowing the music to be played only on approved devices. If you upgraded your computer or operating system, you needed to "reauthorize" your music files with MSN Music's DRM server. But last week, Microsoft announced that it would deactivate those servers because of the complexity of maintaining the technology -- meaning that customers face losing the ability to play their purchased music if they get a new computer or if the hard drive crashes on the old one. Microsoft's only suggestion for customers so far is to export all purchases onto a CD and then recopy it back onto new computers.

"Microsoft is asking its customers to spend more time, labor, and money to make degraded copies of music that was purchased in good faith," said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele. "This outcome was easily foreseeable from the moment Microsoft chose to wrap MSN Music files in DRM. Microsoft customers should not have to pay for Microsoft's bad business decisions."

EFF's letter also calls on Microsoft to eliminate DRM from its Zune music service now -- or at least to publicly commit to compensating future customers for the inevitable future DRM debacles.

"With MSN Music, Microsoft has admitted just how expensive, clumsy, and unfair DRM is. It's time for Microsoft to reject this sloppy technology, and for customers to demand something better," McSherry said.

For the full open letter:
http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/04/28/microsoft-open-letter

Contact:

Corynne McSherry
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
corynne@eff.org

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which claims that National Security Letters (NSLs) take too long and that it needs the authority to conduct surveillance without judicial oversight, delayed its own investigation of a student suspected of links to terrorism by employing an improper NSL to seek information on the suspect, at the direction of FBI Headquarters. The FBI failed to report the misuse for almost two years.

EFF's report comes as the House Judiciary Committee prepares for a Tuesday hearing on the misuse of NSLs. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold another hearing on Wednesday.

"This report raises important questions about the FBI's use of these very powerful investigative tools," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "Congress should determine why FBI headquarters insisted on an improper NSL instead of using the appropriate tools, and why the FBI failed to report the misuse for almost two years."

In the report, EFF used documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request coupled with public information to detail the bizarre turns in the FBI's investigation of a former North Carolina State University student. Over the span of three days in July of 2005, FBI documents show that the bureau first obtained the educational records of the suspect with a grand jury subpoena. However, at the direction of FBI headquarters, agents returned the records and then requested them again through an improper NSL.

As expanded by the PATRIOT Act, the FBI can use NSLs to get private records about anyone's domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions without any court approval -- as long as it claims the information could be relevant to a terrorism or espionage investigation. However, NSL authority does not allow the government to seek educational records, and the university refused the request. The FBI finally obtained the documents again through a second grand jury subpoena. Later in July of 2005, FBI Director Robert Mueller used the delay in gathering the records as an example of why the FBI needed administrative subpoena power instead of NSLs so investigations could move faster.

"The FBI consistently asks for more power and less outside supervision," said Opsahl. "Yet here the NSL power was misused at the direction of FBI headquarters, and only after review by FBI lawyers. Oversight and legislative reforms are necessary to ensure that these powerful tools are not abused."

Report on the Improper Use of an NSL to NC State University:
http://www.eff.org/issues/foia/report-nsl-ncstate

Key FBI documents:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/07656JDB/charlotte.pdf

For more on National Security Letters:
http://www.eff.org/issues/foia/07656JDB

Contact:

Kurt Opsahl
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
kurt@eff.org

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a federal judge Monday to allow an important government surveillance lawsuit to have its day in court, despite the government's attempt to bury the case using the state secrets privilege.

The case is Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Bush, which alleges that federal agents illegally wiretapped calls between the charity and its lawyers. The government has asked U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker to dismiss the case, contending that the litigation jeopardizes state secrets. But in an amicus brief filed Monday, EFF argues that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was written to allow cases like this one to proceed with appropriate security precautions.

"Federal surveillance law already provides clear procedures that allow cases like Al-Haramain v. Bush to proceed fairly and securely, and those procedures trump the Administration's claims of blanket secrecy," said EFF Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl. "By trying to use the state secrets privilege as a shield against any litigation over the legality of its warrantless wiretapping, the administration is essentially telling the other branches 'just trust us.' But when Congress passed FISA, it entrusted judges with the responsibility of deciding the legality of the executive branch's surveillance operations."

This is the government's second attempt to dismiss the Al-Haramain case. The first motion to dismiss reached the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which returned the case to Judge Walker's court to consider the FISA issue.

Judge Walker is also the presiding judge in Hepting v. AT&T -- EFF's class-action lawsuit accusing the telecommunications company of violating customers' rights by illegally assisting the National Security Agency in widespread domestic surveillance.

For the full amicus brief:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/att/alharamainamicus1806.pdf

For more on Al-Haramain v. Bush:
http://www.eff.org/cases/al-haramain

Contact:

Kurt Opsahl
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
kurt@eff.org

Los Angeles - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and San Francisco law firm Keker & Van Nest filed briefs in federal court Monday on behalf of eBay seller Troy Augusto, defending his right to resell promotional CDs ("promo" CDs) that he buys from secondhand stores in the Los Angeles area.

Augusto, who does business as "Roast Beast Music" on eBay, was sued in May 2007 by Universal Music Group (UMG), the largest record company in the world, for 26 eBay auction listings involving UMG promo CDs. At issue is whether the "promotional use only, not for resale" labels on these CDs can trump a consumer's right to resell copyrighted materials that they own, guaranteed by copyright law's "first sale" doctrine.

For decades, major labels have distributed promo CDs for free to tastemakers and music industry insiders in an effort to create buzz for upcoming releases. These promo CDs often make their way into secondhand stores, where Augusto purchases them for resale on eBay. UMG stamps its promo CDs with labels declaring that the CDs may not be resold and remain the property of UMG. The "first sale" doctrine in copyright law, however, makes it clear that once the copyright owner sells or gives away a CD, DVD, or book, the recipient is entitled to resell it without needing further permission. The summary judgment brief filed Monday argues that UMG gives up ownership of these promo CDs when it mails them unsolicited to thousands of people without any intention of their return. Accordingly, the first sale doctrine permits purchasers to resell these CDs.

"If UMG is able to stop resale of CDs just by putting 'not for resale' labels on them, then there is nothing to stop other restrictive labels from appearing on CDs, books, and DVDs," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "Record companies are not entitled to strip consumers of their first sale rights simply by putting labels on their products."

A hearing on the motion for summary judgment is expected in early May 2008.

For the full brief filed Monday:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/umg_v_augusto/AugustoMSJBrief.pdf

For more on UMG v. Augusto:
http://www.eff.org/cases/umg-v-augusto

Contacts:

Fred von Lohmann
Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
fred@eff.org

Joseph C. Gratz
Attorney
Keker & Van Nest, LLP
jgratz@kvn.com

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) won another battle against the government Friday over the release of information about a campaign to change federal surveillance law.

A federal judge ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to provide to EFF by April 21, 2008, records about telecom industry lobbying of their offices.

Congress is currently considering granting immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in unlawful electronic surveillance on millions of ordinary Americans as part of changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Officials at the DOJ and ODNI have been vocal supporters of the immunity proposal. Using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), EFF asked the DOJ and ODNI for any documents reflecting telecom carriers' efforts to avoid legal responsibility for their role in the government's surveillance operations, but the agencies failed to comply with EFF's requests.

"We went to court over the release of these documents because they could play a critical role in the national debate over telecom immunity. Denying Americans access to this information is not only unconscionable, but also illegal," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "We're pleased the judge recognized that time is of the essence here and ordered these agencies to follow the law."

In November, another federal judge ordered ODNI to comply with a similar EFF request. Documents released as a result of that case detailed high-level battles over changes to FISA, featuring key members of Congress and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell.

EFF also represents the plaintiffs in Hepting v. AT&T, a class-action lawsuit brought by AT&T customers accusing the telecommunications company of violating their rights by illegally assisting the National Security Agency in widespread domestic surveillance. There are nearly 40 legal cases that have arisen from the warrantless surveillance currently pending in the Northern District of California courts.

For the judge's full order:
http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/foia_C0705278/040408_order.pdf

For more on EFF v. ODNI and DOJ:
http://www.eff.org/issues/foia/cases/C-07-05278

For more on Hepting v. AT&T:
http://www.eff.org/nsa

Contact:

Marcia Hofmann
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
marcia@eff.org