EFFector 19.21: Appeals Court Corrects Dangerous Web Privacy Ruling

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Mon, 5 Jun 2006 23:17:12 -0700 (PDT)

EFFector 19.21: Appeals Court Corrects Dangerous Web Privacy

Ruling

 

 

EFFector Vol. 19, No. 21 June 6, 2006 editor

 

 

EFFector 19.21: Appeals Court Corrects Dangerous Web Privacy Ruling

In the 381st Issue of EFFector:

* Appeals Court Corrects Dangerous Web Privacy Ruling

* Announcing Line Noise: The EFF Podcast

* FSF DRM Protest, Saturday, June 10

* miniLinks (7): Forty-Eight Million Americans Have Created Net Content

 

* Administrivia

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effector: n, Computer Sci. A device for producing a desired

change.

 

* Appeals Court Corrects Dangerous Web Privacy Ruling Judges Agree

with EFF Brief in DirecTV Case

San Francisco - The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has corrected

a dangerous lower court ruling that threatened Internet privacy.

In doing so, it preserved the privacy of password-protected websites

as well as the right to read public sites. The decision followed

the arguments made in an amicus brief filed by the

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

 

" A real privacy disaster was averted today, " said EFF Staff Attorney

Kevin Bankston, who authored the brief.

" The court affirmed important legal protections for truly private

websites, and also protected your right to read public content on the

Internet without getting sued. "

 

The case began when Michael Snow, the publisher of an anti-DirecTV

website, sued the company for unauthorized access under

the Stored Communications Act (SCA). Snow's site had a banner

and purported Terms of Service forbidding DirecTV representatives

from entering the site or using its message board,

but it was configured such that anyone in the public could do so.

 

A lower court had rightly dismissed the case, but for the wrong reasons

-- holding that the SCA did not protect websites at all, even if

they were configured to be private.

However, the 11th Circuit clarified that websites are protected by the

SCA, except when they are designed to be readily accessible to the

general public.

 

" Through the World Wide Web, individuals can easily and readily access

websites hosted throughout the world. Given the Web's ubiquitous

and public nature, it becomes increasingly important in cases concerning

electronic communications available through the Web for a plaintiff

to demonstrate that those communications are not readily accessible, "

the opinion reads. " If by simply clicking a hypertext link,

after ignoring an express warning, on an otherwise publicly

accessible webpage, one is liable under the SCA, then the floodgates

of litigation would open and the merely curious would be prosecuted.

 

We find no intent by Congress to so permit. "

For the full opinion:

<http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/Snow_v_DirecTV/200513687.pdf>

For EFF's brief:

<http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/Snow_v_DirecTV/EFF_amicus.pdf>

For this release:

<http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_06.php#004720>

 

* Announcing Line Noise: the EFF Podcast

We've had many requests recently for an audio summary of EFF

news. While we thought that dictating all the motions and

filings, press releases, newsletters and blog postings that

we file every month might make for an exciting six hour

commute, audience research indicated that might be a little

.... overstimulating. So instead we present Line Noise, a

super-compressed, five minute audio summary of the current

hot topics at EFF.

 

For this first podcast, we have a few words with Kurt

Opsahl, the EFF attorney who successfully argued for online

journalist's rights in the Apple v. Does case at the

California Court of Appeal, information on the Sony BMG

settlement, and what you can do to help in the AT & T case.

We're still experimenting, so do let us know what and who

you'd like to hear in future episodes.

 

You can find a Line Noise RSS feed for MP3 players here, as

well as another version with Ogg Vorbis enclosures. And if

you're a EFF-supporting podcaster yourself, don't forget we

have a selection of public service announcements you can use

in your own productions.

For Episode 00.01

<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/podcasts/2006-05-26.mp3>

For our mp3 feed:

<http://www.eff.org/rss/linenoisemp3.xml>

For our ogg feed:

<http://www.eff.org/rss/linenoiseogg.xml

For EFF podcast PSAs:

<http://www.eff.org/press/PSA/>

For this post:

<http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004710.php>

 

* FSF DRM Protest, Saturday, June 10

The Free Software Foundations' DRM activism group,

DefectiveByDesign.org sent their thanks to those EFF members

in Seattle WA, who attended their launch event on May 23rd.

The group is organizing more events at Apple stores in New

York, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, Chicago and Plano this

Saturday -- if you'd like to join, RSVP to

appleflash, or sign up for future

actions at:

<http://defectivebydesign.org>

 

* miniLinks

miniLinks features noteworthy news items from around the

Internet.

 

~ Forty-Eight Million Americans Have Created Net Content

That's over a third of the US Internet-using population.

<http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3609461>

 

~ RIAA Honchos Interviewed

Feel good about prosecuting grandmothers, optimistic about

making radio receivers illegal.

<http://news.com.com/RIAAs+next+moves+in+Washington/2008-1027_3-6076669.html

 

~ Gonzales Says ISP Logging Needed in War Against Terrorism

" 'We want this for terrorism,' Gonzales said, according to

one person familiar with the discussion. "

<http://news.com.com/Terrorism+invoked+in+ISP+snooping+proposal/2100-1028_3-6078\

229.html>

 

~ Dutch Music Lovers Get Caught in DRM's Ratchet

David Berlind hears about the decreasing rights of the

customers of a European music download service.

<http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3108 & tag=nl.e539>

 

~ " The Generative Internet " by Jonathan Zittrain

Or, the future of the Internet and how to save it;

Zittrain's take on the open PC-Internet " grid, " and the

emerging (inevitable?) backlash.

<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=847124>

 

~ Send Your Mail to the Australian Government With Just One

Click

A commendable trust in people's ability to not game (or

accidentally submit incriminating data) to a government-run

spam blacklist.

<http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/spam-help-just-one-click-away/2006/05/\

30/1148956345871.html>

 

~ IBM Exploits Data Retention Laws

Sold to corporations in the U.S. for HIPAA and Sarbanes-

Oxley compliance, but capable of far more -- IBM sees a

bright future for the 56Tb " TotalStorage Data Retention

450. "

<http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/02/19/HNibmdataretain_1.html>

 

* 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:

Derek Slater, Activist

derek

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