Copyright Reform? You're silly.

Amazingly, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) had [released a report
suggesting copyright reform][0]. Of course, that's a silly thing to do when
you're in bed with organizations like the MPAA and RIAA; [the report was quickly
retracted][1].

It would have been a surprising step forward; maybe there's hope yet, assuming
the GOP can get a handle on itself.

(Disclaimer: I have no party affiliation.)

[0] http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121116/16481921080/house-republicans-copyright-law-destroys-markets-its-time-real-reform.shtml
[1] http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121117/16492521084/hollywood-lobbyists-have-busy-saturday-convince-gop-to-retract-copyright-reform-brief.shtml
Privacy In Light of the Petraeus Scandal

I'm not usually one for scandals (in fact, I couldn't care less who government
employees are sleeping with). However, it did bring up deep privacy
concerns---how exactly did the government get a hold of the e-mails?

The [EFF had released an article answering some questions][0] about the scandal,
which is worth a read. In particular, you should take a look at the [EFF's
Surveillance Self-Defense website][1] for an in-depth summary of the laws
surrounding government surveillance and tips on how to protect against it.

I'd like to touch upon a couple things. In particular, the article mentions:[0]

  Broadwell apparently accessed the emails from hotels and other locations, not
  her home.  So the FBI cross-referenced the IP addresses of these Wi-Fi
  hotspots ¿against guest lists from other cities and hotels, looking for common
  names.¿

To stay anonymous in this situation, one should [consider using Tor][2] to mask
his/her IP address. Additionally, remove all cookies (or use your browser's
privacy mode if it will disable storing and sending of cookies for you) and
consider that your User Agent may be used to identify you, especially if
maleware has inserted its own unique identifiers.

Also according to the EFF article:[0]

  According to reports, Patraeus and Broadwell adopted a technique of drafting
  emails, and reading them in the draft folder rather than sending them.

That didn't work out so well. Consider [encrypting important communications][3]
using GPG/PGP so that (a) the e-mail cannot be deciphered in transit and (b) the
e-mail can only be read by the intended recipient. Of course, you are then at
risk of being asked to divulge your password, so to avoid the situation
entirely, it would be best to delete the e-mails after reading them.
Additionally, if you host your own services, it may be wise to host your own
e-mail (guides for doing this vary between operating system, but consider
looking at software like [Postfix][4] for mail delivery and maybe [Dovecot][5]
for retrieval).

Privacy isn't only for those individuals who are trying to be sneaky or cheat on
their spouses. Feel free joining the EFF in trying to reform the ECPA to respect
our privacy in this modern era; storing a document digitally shouldn't change
its fundamental properties under the law.

I'd also encourage you to read [Schneier's post on this topic][6], which
summarizes points from many articles that I did not cover here.

[0] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/when-will-our-email-betray-us-email-privacy-primer-light-petraeus-saga
[1] https://ssd.eff.org
[2] https://ssd.eff.org/tech/tor
[3] https://ssd.eff.org/tech/encryption
[4] http://www.postfix.org
[5] http://www.dovecot.org/
[6] http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2012/11/e-mail_security.html
Tor exit node operator raided in Austria

[These things][0] mustn't be allowed to happen; they are an affront to privacy.
Tor exit node operators should not have to fear conviction for activities they
themselves did not perform.

[0] http://www.lowendtalk.com/discussion/6283/raided-for-running-a-tor-exit-accepting-donations-for-legal-expenses
Warrants For E-mails in the United States

The [Senate Judiciary Committee passed an amendment][0] that requires that they
receive a warrant before spying on our e-mails.

This is excellent; let us hope that it becomes law.

[0] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/12/deep-dive-updating-electronic-communications-privacy-act
Copyright Assignment Of Free Software Projects

An [e-mail today from Paolo Bonzini][0], a maintainer of GNU sed, has prompted
additional discussion regarding copyright assignment to corporate entities; in
particular, the discussion focuses on copyright assignment to the FSF under the
GNU project.

An [article by Michael Kerrisk on LWN.net][1], posted a couple days earlier,
touches on the [same issue brought up by GnuTLS earlier in the month][2]. The
disagreements from the two aforementioned individuals of the GNU-maintained
projects prompt a thoughtful analysis of whether copyright assignment is
appropriate for your own free software project[1]. In contrast, consider the
[developer certificate of origin][3] policy adopted by the Linux project, under
which contributors maintain copyright for their contributions.

There are benefits and downsides to both models---if a project requires
copyright assignment (such as the GNU projects), then enforcement and license
modifications are simplified. As an example, if the Linux project wanted to move
to the GPLv3, they would have to contact each contributor (a similar move was
done recently [by the VLC project][4], except that they moved from the GPL to
the LGPL). However, the Linux project has a much smaller barrier to entry---they
need not [assign copyright of their contributions to the project (such as is the
case with GNU)][5], meaning that individuals may be more likely to contribute.

One of the major benefits touted by the FSF for copyright assignments from
contributors is [copyright enforcement][6]---another complication that would
arise from enforcing the GPL in a project such as Linux. That said, as the LWN
article mentions[2], what if [the FSF cannot find the time to enforce the
copyright on a project violation][7]? Then again, what of the flipside---do you
have the time or money to enforce violations on your own projects were they not
assigned to a corporation like the FSF?

These are interesting discussions and certainly things that should be considered
when determining how to handle both contributions and the copyright for your
entire project. Ultimately, that decision falls on you, the author/maintainer,
and your needs.

(Disclaimer: I am an associate member of the Free Software Foundation. This
article does not reflect any of my personal opinions; whether or not I would
assign copyright to the FSF for any of my projects would be determined based on
the goals and plan of that particular project.)

[0] http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.lang.smalltalk.gnu.general/7873
[1] http://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/529522/854aed3fb6398b79/
[2] http://lwn.net/Articles/529558/
[3] http://elinux.org/Developer_Certificate_Of_Origin
[4] http://mikegerwitz.com/thoughts/2012/11/VLC-s-Move-to-LGPL.html
[5] http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/gnulib.git/tree/doc/Copyright/assign.changes.manual#n64
[6] http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-assign.html
[7] http://lwn.net/Articles/529777/
Congress Approves FISA For Another 5 Years

At a [vote of 73-23][0], Congress has voted to [extend FISA warentless spying
bill by five more years[1], even shooting down [proposed amendments][2] to the
bill.[3]

Thank you to those senators that opposed the bill:[0]

  Akaka (D-HI)
  Baucus (D-MT)
  Begich (D-AK)
  Bingaman (D-NM)
  Brown (D-OH)
  Cantwell (D-WA)
  Coons (D-DE)
  Durbin (D-IL)
  Franken (D-MN)
  Harkin (D-IA)
  Leahy (D-VT)
  Lee (R-UT)
  Menendez (D-NJ)
  Merkley (D-OR)
  Murkowski (R-AK)
  Murray (D-WA)
  Paul (R-KY)
  Sanders (I-VT)
  Schatz (D-HI)
  Tester (D-MT)
  Udall (D-CO)
  Udall (D-NM)
  Wyden (D-OR)

Unfortunately, the two senators from my own state cannot join that list.

The [EFF has sumarized the surveillance issues of 2012][4] recently on their
website.

[0] https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00236
[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/12/congress-disgracefully-approves-fisa-warrantless-eavesdropping-bill-five-more
[2] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/12/why-we-should-all-care-about-senates-vote-fisa-amendments-act-warrantless-domestic
[3] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/as-senate-votes-on-warrantless-wiretapping-opponents-offer-fixes/
[4] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/12/2012-review-effs-fight-against-secret-surveillance-law