Consumerist
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tos
TOSBack Keeps Track Of Changes To Terms Of Service Policies Around The Web
It's difficult enough to parse a lengthy TOS for one web-based service, let alone for dozens, or to keep track of when and how they update them. It would be nice if some public-service website out there would keep track of this stuff for all of us, wouldn't it? Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) did just that with the launch of TOSBAck.org, "the terms-of-service tracker." It tracks TOS agreements for 44 different services, including Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Twitter, and eBay. More » -
privacy
How To Opt Out Of Google's New Targeted Ads
Last week, Google introduced its new "interest based" ads, which is based on tracking your browsing activity and targeting ads based on that behavior. Fortunately, there are several ways to opt out.
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apple
Why Apple's New iPod Shuffle Isn't Consumer Friendly
Update: It turns out the special chips used in the headphone controls of the third generation Shuffle don't contain any DRM after all, so any attempts at reverse-engineering won't bring on the wrath of the DMCA.
Despite that, they're still not very consumer friendly. DRM or no, moving the controls off of the actual unit and placing them on an accessory increases the potential* cost. (*Obviously if you use the included ear buds, there's no additional cost.) More »
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consumer rights
Apple Wants To Make Jailbreaking Worthy Of Jail Time, $2500 Fine
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has petitioned the Library of Congress to officially protect phone owners who bypass software restrictions on their phones—aka "jailbreaking." Apple has just filed an objection, arguing that doing so would infringe on their copyright. If Apple gets its way,
[it] would have the right to claim statutory damages of up to $2,500 "per act of circumvention." People who jailbreak phones, might even be subject to criminal penalties of as long as five years, if they circumvented copyright for a financial gain.
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domestic spying
Whistleblower Confirms He Worked On Warrantless Wiretapping Program For "A Large Wireless Company"
Another person has stepped forward to allege that a "major wireless carrier" may have aided the FBI's warrantless wiretapping program. He claims he was brought in to work with the company on something called the Quantico Circuit, "a high-speed line from the wireless carrier to an unnamed third party. Quantico, Va., is the site of a U.S. intelligence and military base.""The circuit was tied to the organization's core network," Pasdar stated in the affidavit. "It had access to the billing system, text messaging, fraud detection, Web site, and pretty much all the systems in the data center without restrictions."
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videos
Universal: Background Music In Home Videos Constitutes Copyright Infringement
Look at this kid dance and smile as he revels in his mother's blatant copyright infringement. The song fueling his happiness, Prince's "Let's Go Crazy," is owned by Universal Music Group, whose lawyers are not dancing, smiling, or happy. They sent a curmudgeonly DMCA takedown notice to YouTube, riling the Electronic Frontier Foundation to sue Universal in retaliation. More » -
news from the swamp
Crappy Spyware Bill To Give More Power To Spyware Companies?
The EFF is encouraging consumers to write their Senators about a new "spyware" bill that has been, in their words, "massaged by by lobbyists for the software and adware industries." Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing says the bill"makes it impossible for consumer rights groups to sue DRM companies for putting spyware in their DRM (like Sony did last year, with its rootkit DRM). The irony is that spyware is already illegal, so all that this act does is immunize big media companies that sneak spyware onto your computer."
Spyware is spyware, we think, even if it comes with a Sony/BMG logo. More » -
aol
EFF's Talking Points For Contacting AOL on Data Leak
The EFF was none too happy about the AOL Search Records Data Leak. This is exactly the sort of thing that gets them to pull their lower lip over their heads in paranoid frustration. More » -
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the news
The News; Now in 3-D!
• Disease downgraded to "Miffed." [LAT] "U.S. to Trim Mad Cow Tests" More » -
at&t
DoJ Files To Dismiss AT&T Lawsuit... It's Top Secret!
Bad news for those of us who don't want the long-distance sex calls we made to our Canadian girlfriends shouted mockingly at us when we're tied to a chair with a burlap sack over our face in between a knee-thwacking with a length of hose. The Department of Justice has filed a motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit by the EFF against AT&T for illegally complying with NSA wire-tapping of citizens' lines. More » -
at&t
AT&T Tries To Seal Docs About Secret Spy Rooms
As you all know, AT&T is currently fighting a class action lawsuit leveled against it by the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, claiming that AT&T has been working with the Bush Administration to secretly spy on millions of Americans without warrants. More » -
evil
EFF Sues AT&T For NSA Spying
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has sued AT&T for its complicity in the secret monitoring of millions of American's phone and internet records by request of the NSA. EFF's website has the scoop on their pursual of these scumbags: More »
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