ArticlesReader.com Menu
Newest Articles
Most Viewed Articles
ArticlesReader.com RSS
Submit Article
Login
Signup
Search the articles

Articles Main Categories
Advice
Animals
Automobiles
Business
Career
Communications
Computer Programming
Computers
Entertainment
Environment
Family
Fashion
Finance
Food
Health & Medical
Home & Garden
Humor
Internet Business
Internet Marketing
Legal
Leisure & Recreation
Marketing
Other
Politics
Reference & Education
Religion
Self Improvement
Sports
Technology & Science
Travel
Writing
Subscribe
Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Enter your name

Enter your email

Syndicate

















Related Products
Home::Legal

Electronic Frontier Foundation and Stanford Law Clinic Sue E

Author : ARA

Student Publishers and ISP Aim to Stop Diebold's Abusive Copyright Claims
Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release
San Francisco - A nonprofit Internet Service Provider (ISP) and two Swarthmore College students are seeking a court order on Election Day tomorrow to stop electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold Systems, Inc., from issuing specious legal threats. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Center for Internet and Society Cyberlaw Clinic at Stanford Law School are providing legal representation in this important case to prevent abusive copyright claims from silencing public debate about voting, the very foundation of our democratic process.

Diebold has delivered dozens of cease-and-desist notices to website publishers and ISPs demanding that they take down corporate documents revealing flaws in the company's electronic voting systems as well as difficulties with certifying the systems for actual elections.

Swarthmore students Nelson Pavlosky and Luke Smith have published an email archive of the Diebold documents, which contain descriptions of these flaws written by the company's own employees.

"Diebold's blanket cease-and-desist notices are a blatant abuse of copyright law," said EFF Staff Attorney Wendy Seltzer. "Publication of the Diebold documents is clear fair use because of their importance to the public debate over the accuracy of electronic voting machines."

Diebold threatened not only the ISPs of direct publishers of the corporate documents, but also the ISPs of those who merely publish links to the documents. In one such instance, the ISP Online Policy Group (OPG) refused to comply with Diebold's demand that it prohibit Independent Media Network (IndyMedia) from linking to Diebold documents. Neither IndyMedia nor any other publisher hosted by OPG has yet published the Diebold documents directly.

"As an ISP committed to free speech, we are defending our users' right to link to information that's critical to the debate on the reliability of electronic voting machines," said OPG's Colocation Director David Weekly. "This case is an important step in defending free speech by helping protect small publishers and ISPs from frivolous legal threats by large corporations."

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed by Congress in 1998, provides a "safe harbor" provision as an incentive for ISPs to take down user-posted content when they receive cease-and-desist letters such as the ones sent by Diebold. By removing the content, or forcing the user to do so, for a minimum of 10 days, an ISP can take itself out of the middle of any copyright claim. As a result, few ISPs have tested whether they would face liability for such user activity in a court of law. EFF has been exposing some of the ways that the safe harbor provision can be used to silence legitimate online speech through the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse.

"Instead of paying lawyers to threaten its critics, Diebold should invest in creating electronic voting machines that include voter-verified paper ballots and other security protections," said EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn.

Links:
Online Policy Group v. Diebold case archive
Cease-and-desist letter Diebold sent to OPG
IndyMedia Web page subject to Diebold cease-and-desist letter
Security researchers discover huge flaws in e-voting system
Link to Chilling Effects on DMCA safe harbor provisions
Media coverage of Diebold threats
Contact:
Wendy Seltzer
Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
wendy@eff.org

Cindy Cohn
Legal Director
Electronic Frontier Foundation
cindy@eff.org

David Weekly
Colocation Director
Online Policy Group
david@onlinepolicy.org





About the author:



Press Release







Spam emails More free articles

Related articles


  1. Litigation Funding Is Here To Stay
  2. Why Probate?
  3. Deeds of Variation - Are They Justified?
  4. School Bus Mishaps
  5. Cases Involving Defective Products
  6. You and the Tort Law: A Guide
  7. What To Do If Your Disability Case is Denied
  8. Quadriplegia: Victims Seeking Legal Help
  9. Injuries Sustained from Accidents on Boats
  10. Set Aside Foreclosure and Decree and Motion for New Trial
  11. Contesting a Will or a Trust. Can it Be Done?
  12. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics
  13. The Revokable Trust: Is it Really Revocable?
  14. Innovators: How To Turn Your Dreams Into Reality
  15. How to Patent Your Invention
  16. Virginia Workers Compensation for the Injured Worker
  17. The Secret To Protecting Your Business Assets
  18. Resolve Disputes With Your Partners Before They Happen
  19. The Business of Identity Theft
  20. How to Respond After Identity Theft Occurs
  21. Five Steps To Full Compensation For Your Personal Injury Claim
  22. Why Even A Simple Contract Can Save Your Bacon
  23. Information Linking Vioxx to Workers Compensation
  24. Workers Compensation - Know Your Rights
  25. Why Your Business Needs a Dispute Resolution Procedure
More related feeds
Electronic Frontier Foundation and Stanford Law Clinic Sue E
Security researchers discover huge flaws in e-voting system Link to Chilling Effects on DMCA safe harbor provisions Media coverage of Diebold threats Contact: Wendy Seltzer Staff Attorney Electronic Frontier Foundation wendy@eff.org ...

Fair Use and the Future of the Commons | HASTAC
Best Practices, of course, do not have the force of law, but the more they are used and endorsed (the Electronic Frontier Foundation, for example, has offered to back up the Documentary Filmmakers' guide in court if necessary), ...

Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA | Electronic ...
The software allowed owners of Adobe electronic books ("e-books") to convert them from Adobe's e-Book format into PDF files, thereby removing restrictions embedded into the files by e-book publishers. ...

The Political Voices of Women » Women Leading in Technology and ...
Shari Steele - Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), former EFF Legal Director. Zephyr Teachout - Visiting Assistant Professor for Duke University School of Law, former National Director of the Sunlight ...

Legal Theory Blog: Conference Announcement: Legal Futures at Stanford
and Lecturer in Law, Stanford Law School -Jamie Gorelick / Partner, WilmerHale; former U.S. Deputy Attorney General -Jennifer Granick / Civil Liberties Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation -Joi Ito / Chair, Creative Commons; ...

CPSR - Perú - Privacy (inglés)
Electronic Frontier Foundation, “ Biometrics, Surveillance, National Ids Threats to Privacy,” June 13, 2002. Provides links to updated information on various threats to privacy, with a strong civil libertarian bent. ...

electronic frontier foundation and stanford law clinic sue e
the electronic frontier foundation (eff) and the center for internet and society cyberlaw clinic at stanford law school are providing legal representation in this important case to prevent abusive copyright claims from silencing public ...

Stem Cell: Nature Materials contents: December 2008 Volume 7 ...
colour-changing polymer that could be used in electronic books, celebrate the extraordinary life and work of 'Mr Stereochemistry', survey the organo-catalysis landscape, and find out what's been reinvigorating the field of metabolomics. ...

DMusic.com | for indie musicians and fans | Free MP3 music ...
San Jose - On Friday, July 18, at 9 a.m., the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will urge a federal judge in San Jose to protect the free speech and fair use rights of mother who posted a home movie of her son dancing to Prince on ...

scraps-2008.03.30-04.05
Raises $5 Million and Launches Private Beta (Invites); 20080401082849: PublicMarkup.org | Sunlight Foundation; 20080401082844: CJR: Barack's Big Lebowski Strategy; 20080401082833: Robert Weissman: Philip Morris Intl Commences New Plans ...

 


 

2007 articlesreader.com - All Rights Reserved