Jennifer Granick's blog

Will Bioterror Fears Spawn Science Censorship? Read more about Will Bioterror Fears Spawn Science Censorship?

The ABA is having a conference on Computing and the Law June 25th and 26th. Here's the schedule (pdf). I'll be speaking on the 26th about the future of law and the internet. Looks like it should be an interesting event. Read more about ABA National Institute on Computing and the Law

Last week, in United States v. Heckenkamp, the Ninth Circuit (correctly) ruled that students have a constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy in their dorm room computers, but that University officials can search those computers without a warrant for school security purposes under the “special needs” exception. Read more about US v. Heckenkamp

CIS recently took a field trip to the Computer History Museum. My commentary and photos from the trip are here. Read more about Computer History Museum

News: In a great article (which I'm asking for permission to post in full) by Louis Trager for Communications Daily, Tracfone is claiming that I received personal favoritism from the Copyright Office. I. Received FAVORITISM. From the COPYRIGHT OFFICE! Stop laughing and keep reading. Read more about TracFone Gets Personal

I weigh in on NSLs and the FBI with today’s Circuit Court column: FBI Slips Demand Patriot Act Cuts.

I think the most interesting part of the column is the end where I try to grapple with the FBI’s assertion that the lower standard of proof for national security letters is really helpful to their investigations. While its a small part of this column, its an issue I plan to discuss more in future columns, and as Congress begins to reconsider the USAPATRIOT grant of powers in light of the FBI abuses. Read more about National Security Letters and the FBI Abuses

Alaska police are considering pursuing criminal charges against a 21 year old who was playing online games in the parking lot of the local public library. The alleged crime would be unauthorized use of an open wireless network. I'm quoted in this story about the pending investigation. Read more about Is Using Open Wireless Networks Illegal?

Last week, RFID access device company HID Global got IOActive researcher Chris Paget to pull his talk from Black Hat DC because they claimed that demonstrating how to clone RFID cards violated their patents in card readers. Are they nuts? Unfortunately, IOActive, which probably holds several patents of its own and wants to look like an upstanding respecter of intellectual property rights, backed down and the talk went unmade. While I am not a patent lawyer, the claim seems both colorable and totally weak. Read more about Patently Bad Move Gags Critics

The Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford Law School is hiring a Summer Intern to work public interest issues involving technology and the Internet.

The Center for Internet and Society is a leading center for the study of the relationship between the public interest, law and technology. CIS was founded by Professor of Law Lawrence Lessig and is headed by Executive Director attorney Jennifer S. Granick, who also teaches the Cyberlaw Clinic. It also includes the Fair Use Project (FUP), which is headed by Executive Director Anthony T. Falzone. Read more about CIS is hiring: Summer Intern

Today, a three judge panel from the Ninth Circuit withdrew its opinion in United States v. Zeigler and issued a new opinion. Read more about Employees and the Fourth Amendment

In April of 2006, Wired News editor Kevin Poulsen sued the United States Customs and Border Patrol under the Freedom of Information Act. Poulsen won the case, and yesterday the trial court granted Poulsen $66,000 in attorney's fees. Read more about Victory in Poulsen FOIA case

One of the most challenging problems for national security is predicting and stopping terrorist attacks before they happen. The government proposes that data mining is a useful tool for finding terrorists. By using database technology, statistical analysis and modeling, the government says it can search our email, phone calls, shopping habits, educational records, and find the needle (terrorists) in the haystack (the general population). One has to know a bit about the science and statistics behind data mining to evaluate this claim. Read more about Data Mining for Killers

Click here to visit "The Shout", Jennifer Granick's personal blog.

Click here for the Electronic Frontier Foundation's web site. Read more about This is Jennifer Granick's CIS Blog

Today, the Copyright Office issued new rules allowing people to circumvent technological protection measures on their cell phones in order to be able to switch carriers and use the phone on a different network.

Background: Read more about Victory in Anti-Circumvention Proceedings

The Bay Area Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society invites you to a luncheon panel on:
“Domestic Spying: Illegal or Inevitable?”

featuring:

Goodwin Liu, Professor of Law, Boalt Hall UC Berkeley and Board of Directors, American Constitution Society

Jennifer Stisa Granick, Lecturer in Law and Executive Director of the Center for Internet and Society (CIS), Stanford Law School

12:00 pm
Monday, February 13, 2006
Morrison & Foerster LLP
425 Market Street
San Francisco, CA Read more about Granick to Speak as ACS Luncheon Panel on Domestic Spying