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Posts Tagged “
EFF
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hackers
MIT students free to talk about bugs in Boston bus system
Three MIT students who'd been blocked by a judge from presenting their findings on "vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system" at this month's Defcon security conference are free to speak starting Friday. A U.S. District Court judge refused to extend the 10-day gag order issued against Zack Anderson (pictured), RJ Ryan, and Alessandro Chiesa just before the conference. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had asked for a five-month restraining order to allow time to fix the vulnerabilities. San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation represented the students. (Photo by Zack Anderson)
hackers
MIT brats' free-bus scheme blocked by judge
You can fill this blank in yourself: Three students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were scheduled to present an analysis of "vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system" at the Defcon security conferences in Vegas. They were stopped at the last minute after the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority sued them for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has chosen to represent the students. That's great news, if only because it involves the EFF standing up for something besides BitTorrent.
copyfight
Redlasso hires former CBS CEO to avoid lawsuit
Michael Jordan, former CEO of CBS, has been tapped by Redlasso as an advisor, presumably to glad-hand the TV companies which sent the company a cease and desist letter last week. The startup has cobbled together a fair-use defense; the Electronic Frontier Foundation told Valleywag they're watching the case but declined to weigh in. But if Redlasso were going to fight the networks in court, it would have hired lawyers, not a dealmaker like Jordan. The company has been in talks with the networks for years. So what went wrong? Hulu. More »
your privacy is an illusion
Internet Archive refuses to secretly hand over user info to FBI
With the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle successfully challenged an FBI request to secretly hand over information about the site's users. The FBI had sent Kahle a "national security letter" which requested personal information about a particular user and put Kahle under a gag order. Approximately 200,000 of the secret requests, which need no judicial approval, were issued between 2003 and 2006 after the NSL program was expanded by the Patriot Act. Kahle's case is one of only three the ACLU is aware of where NSL requests were successfully overturned in court. (Photo by David Silver)
party report
Was there a single stereotype of this fogbound city missed in last night's party for the Electronic Frontier Foundation? Full-arm sleeve tattoos, white people with dreadlocks, Web poseurs, old guys in tie-dye shirts. Hands off the Internet — and off me, you dirty zippies! Capping off the party's self-congratulations, the world's most pretentious new chocolatier, Louis Rossetto, founder of Wired, catered the event. These aren't just chocolates, people — they're a Bengali typhoon of flavor.
EFF party celebrates San Francisco cliches
Was there a single stereotype of this fogbound city missed in last night's party for the Electronic Frontier Foundation? Full-arm sleeve tattoos, white people with dreadlocks, Web poseurs, old guys in tie-dye shirts. Hands off the Internet — and off me, you dirty zippies! Capping off the party's self-congratulations, the world's most pretentious new chocolatier, Louis Rossetto, founder of Wired, catered the event. These aren't just chocolates, people — they're a Bengali typhoon of flavor. 
lawsuits
Comcast may get sued for BitTorrent disruption
It was only last week that Comcast was getting called the Antichrist for disrupting BitTorrent users on its network and preventing the Associated Press from downloading the Bible. Since then, Comcast has offered nothing but excuses. Now, Comcast might get sued. More »
eff
Loose Wires: This emo kid is getting sued
- Reflecting on an interview with TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington, a Reddit co-founder says the site "isn't serious" — and no one inside the tech bubble understands that. [Raw Thought]
- Why Windows shows you annoying, unnecessary popups: "Not many people have gotten a raise and a promotion for stopping features from shipping." [MSDN blogs]
- Elevator-pitch presentations? Yawn. Elevator-pitch contests? Now there's a chance to make someone cry. And we all love to see a startupper cry. [PR Leap]
- Kazaa, the disappointing successor to Napster, agreed to pay $10 million to music companies in a settlement over accusations of copyright infringement. [NY Times]
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation is representing blog 10 Zen Monkeys in a lawsuit against Michael Crook, who tried to coerce the blog into taking down the photo (Crook on right) you see here. The whole thing started because Crook griefed some sexually adventurous Craigslist users and published their personal information, and 10 Zen Monkeys railed against his actions. What a whiny emo kid. [10 Zen Monkeys]
aol
Let's catch up with the wide world of AOL privacy invasion news, the regular update on the private user records that AOL revealed to the public!
More »
AOL creepy user watch: Volume 12
Let's catch up with the wide world of AOL privacy invasion news, the regular update on the private user records that AOL revealed to the public!
More »
china
Loose wires: China wants to clog YouTube
- The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs decides to actually be funny, writing a scathing review of last weekend's debaucherous Yelp party. Aw, Steve, let 'em have their fun. Weren't you ever young and loaded with millions in funding? [Fake Steve]
- Guy Kawasaki, father of modern corporate evangelism, writes a fantastically thorough, helpful, and meticulously detailed guide to finding a job in Silicon Valley. For instance: "Think: Plug and play, plug and play, plug and play. Sorry, but Silicon Valley companies do not develop employees. ('Management trainee' is an oxymoron in Silicon Valley.)" [Guy Kawasaki's blog]
- Did AOL release your search records? The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to help you fight back. [EFF]
- Hey look, free Amazon schwag! Actually worn! Actually dorky! [Shmula.com]
- AOL's Weblogs, Inc. team gets caught spamming Digg. Digg users bite back with schoolyard insults. Much drama. Digg vs. AOL: It's like LiveJournal fights, but with boys. [Digg]
- Is China's government about to ban YouTube? Can't YouTube make a peace offering, like turning over those lip-synching boys as political prisoners? [Billsdue]
eff
EFF lawyer says we're safe from Facebook
Hoo, that's a relief! I asked Electronic Frontier Foundation staff attorney Jason Schultz to comment on Facebook's cease-and-desist against Gawker Media. (The EFF defends digital freedoms.) (And Jason's just speaking as an expert, not as our lawyer.) He says precedent's on Gawker's side: More »
to-do
To-Do this week: Get drunk, argue about e-mail fees
Do something smart this week — or drink someone's free beer. More »
sxsw
