Ninth Circuit Hands Users A Big Win: Californians Can Sue Out-of-State Corporations That Violate State Privacy Laws

Simple common sense tells us that a corporation’s decision to operate in every state shouldn’t mean it can’t be sued in most of them. Sadly, U.S. law doesn’t always follow common sense. That’s why we were so pleased with a recent holding from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Setting a crucial precedent, the court […]

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Why the FTC v. Meta Trial Matters: Competition Gaps and Civil Liberties Opportunities

We’re in the midst of a long-overdue resurgence in antitrust litigation. In the past 12 months alone, there have been three landmark rulings against Google/Alphabet (in search, advertising, and payments). Then there’s the long-running FTC v. Meta case, which went to trial last week. Plenty of people are cheering these cases on, seeing them as […]

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EFF Urges Third Circuit to Join the Legal Chorus: No One Owns the Law

Two appeals courts have recently rejected efforts by private parties to use copyright to restrict access to the laws that most directly affect ordinary citizens: regulations that ensure our homes, workplaces, devices, and many other products, are safe and fit for purpose. Apparently hoping the third time will be the charm, a standards organization is […]

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Congress Must Reject Transparent Efforts to Undermine the Courts

Earlier this week, the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 1526, a bill by Rep. Darrell Issa to prevent courts from issuing nationwide injunctions. This bill could receive a vote on the House floor as early as next week. Senator Josh Hawley recently introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both bills would prohibit district courts […]

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State AGs Must Act: EFF Expands Call to Investigate Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Back in January, EFF called on attorneys general in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri to investigate potential privacy violations and hold accountable crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs) that engage in deceptive practices. Since then, some of these centers have begun to change their websites, quietly removing misleading language and privacy claims; the Hawaii legislature is considering […]

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Executive Order to the State Department Sideswipes Freedom Tools, Threatens Censorship Resistance, Privacy, and Anonymity of Millions

In the first weeks of the Trump Administration, we have witnessed a spate of sweeping, confusing, and likely unconstitutional executive orders, including some that have already had devastating human consequences. EFF is tracking many of them, as well as other developments that impact digital rights.  Right now, we want to draw attention to one of […]

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EFF to State AGs: Time to Investigate Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Discovering that you’re pregnant can trigger a mix of emotions—excitement, uncertainty, or even distress—depending on your circumstances. Whatever your feelings are, your next steps will likely involve disclosing that news, along with other deeply personal information, to a medical provider or counselor as you explore your options. Many people will choose to disclose that information […]

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What Proponents of Digital Replica Laws Can Learn from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

We’re taking part in Copyright Week, a series of actions and discussions supporting key principles that should guide copyright policy. Every day this week, various groups are taking on different elements of copyright law and policy, and addressing what’s at stake, and what we need to do to make sure that copyright promotes creativity and […]

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Ninth Circuit Gets It: Interoperability Isn’t an Automatic First Step to Liability

A federal appeals court just gave software developers, and users, an early holiday present, holding that software updates aren’t necessarily “derivative,” for purposes of copyright law, just because they are designed to interoperate the software they update. This sounds kind of obscure, so let’s cut through the legalese. Lots of developers build software designed to interoperate […]

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Courts Agree That No One Should Have a Monopoly Over the Law. Congress Shouldn’t Change That

Some people just don’t know how to take a hint. For more than a decade, giant standards development organizations (SDOs) have been fighting in courts around the country, trying use copyright law to control access to other laws. They claim that that they own the copyright in the text of some of the most important […]

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