Interesting article by the EFF on the eroding privacy policy of Facebook over the years @ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-timeline
Showing posts with label EFF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EFF. Show all posts
2 May 2010
Timeline of Facebook`s privacy policy
Interesting article by the EFF on the eroding privacy policy of Facebook over the years @ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/facebook-timeline
8 October 2008
Patent protection for online music file systems?
Seer Systems, a US company, has been awarded patent protection for a system and method of merging various types of data, distributing the data over the internet and playing the media file. The EFF has filed a reexaminiation request with the US Patent & Trademark Office on the grounds that the system in question does not fulfill the requisite elements needed before patent protection is granted. This is an interesting case and CyberPanda agrees with the EFF that patent protection is not appropriate in this case due a lack of novelty. Another important consideration is the impact of such IP protection on technological innovations and the interests of consumers.
9 September 2008
Thou shalt not upload content related to the Church of Scientology.
The EFF has reported that 4000 DMCA takedown notices have been sent to YouTube on the basis of copyright infringement related to videos containing footage and content related to the Church of Scientology. YouTube responded by suspended a substantial number of user accounts.
YouTube users have responded with their own DMCA counter-notices which means that some of the suspended content is now available again on YouTube.
It will be interesting to see what the next step of the American Rights of Counsel (the mysterious entity acting in this case) would be. CyberPanda is concerned about the liberal use of the DMCA takedown notices by the Church of Scientology and its impact on free speech.
YouTube users have responded with their own DMCA counter-notices which means that some of the suspended content is now available again on YouTube.
It will be interesting to see what the next step of the American Rights of Counsel (the mysterious entity acting in this case) would be. CyberPanda is concerned about the liberal use of the DMCA takedown notices by the Church of Scientology and its impact on free speech.
5 August 2008
Stretching the Computer, Fraud and Abuse Act to its limits.
A recent development has taken place in the case of United States of America v Lori Drew.
The factual matrix of the case has been widely publicised by the media around the world. In 2006, the Defendant allegedly created an account on the social networking site ,MySpace, under a male alias. She communicated with a 13 year old girl through that account on a regular basis. At some point during those communications, the Defendant, said hurtful things to the young girl. Shortly, after those communications, the young girl killed herself.
The Defendant in this case has been charged with infringement of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ('CFAA').The Prosection alleges that the use of a fictitious name, registration information and hurtful speech by the Defendant was in breach of the terms of service of MySpace. In particular, the Defendant has failed to provide truthful and accurate registration information, has used the information obtained from MySpace to 'harass, abuse, or harm other people', has solicited 'personal information' under 18s users, has promoted information that she knew was false or misleading, and has posted photographs of other people without their consent.
The case built by the Prosection has been heavily criticised by the EFF, in the United States, who has filed an amicus brief on Friday, arguing that the criminal charge for violation of the terms of service is a 'dramatic misapplication' of the CFAA with 'far-ranging consequences for American computer users.'
The aim of the CFAA is to sanction what are commonly known as computer hackers and it is, indeed, a stretch of legal interpretation as well as logic, to apply this act to the present case which concerns terms of use. It is, of course, undeniable that, if the Courts find that the Defendant`s actions have directly or indirectly led to the death of the young girl, then these actions need to receive an adequate penal sanction. However, stretching the current law so as to impose a criminal sanction under the CFAA for breach of the terms of use is not the right answer.
The factual matrix of the case has been widely publicised by the media around the world. In 2006, the Defendant allegedly created an account on the social networking site ,MySpace, under a male alias. She communicated with a 13 year old girl through that account on a regular basis. At some point during those communications, the Defendant, said hurtful things to the young girl. Shortly, after those communications, the young girl killed herself.
The Defendant in this case has been charged with infringement of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act ('CFAA').The Prosection alleges that the use of a fictitious name, registration information and hurtful speech by the Defendant was in breach of the terms of service of MySpace. In particular, the Defendant has failed to provide truthful and accurate registration information, has used the information obtained from MySpace to 'harass, abuse, or harm other people', has solicited 'personal information' under 18s users, has promoted information that she knew was false or misleading, and has posted photographs of other people without their consent.
The case built by the Prosection has been heavily criticised by the EFF, in the United States, who has filed an amicus brief on Friday, arguing that the criminal charge for violation of the terms of service is a 'dramatic misapplication' of the CFAA with 'far-ranging consequences for American computer users.'
The aim of the CFAA is to sanction what are commonly known as computer hackers and it is, indeed, a stretch of legal interpretation as well as logic, to apply this act to the present case which concerns terms of use. It is, of course, undeniable that, if the Courts find that the Defendant`s actions have directly or indirectly led to the death of the young girl, then these actions need to receive an adequate penal sanction. However, stretching the current law so as to impose a criminal sanction under the CFAA for breach of the terms of use is not the right answer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)