read To: imc-nyc-editorial at indymedia.org, imc-nyc-print at indymedia.org
holy crap. has anyone at all been following this?
i dont have time to go through the whole story now, but bascally, san fran imc, italy imc, and a bunch of other imcs were linking to a leaked internal diebold memo of some kind. diebold sent a cease and desist letter telling them to take the memo down. the imc's seem to have complied, but the electronic frontier foundation is defending the indymedia web host against the company. it also has somehting to do with controversial interpretation of the dmca.
if this story can get wider circulation, it could be huge-- even if the lawsuit succeeds, there could be some bad press for db and electronic voting.
we should definately do a center column on this is we can legally do so. and we should get this story into the paper asap. does anyone know the legal issues? and does anyone know about the diebold issue more than I who could put up a center column write this story if we can legally do so?
here's a smh story on the topic
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/20/1066502111957.html
and here's the eff page on the issue https://www.eff.org/Legal/ISP_liability/20031016_eff_pr.php
ideas? chris
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[The SMH story]
Sydney Morning Herald - October 20, 2003
E-voting machine maker's copyright claims rejected By Online Staff October 20, 2003
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has said it would defend an ISP and the publisher of a news website against claims of indirect copyright infringement made by Diebold, a manufacturer of electronic voting machines.
In a media release, the EFF said on October 10, Diebold sent a cease-and-desist letter to the non-profit ISP Online Policy Group (OPG), demanding that OPG remove a page of links published on an Independent Media Center (IndyMedia) website located on a computer server hosted by OPG.
The links provide controversial information about flaws in these electronic voting systems.
The release said Diebold sent out dozens of similar notices to ISPs hosting IndyMedia and other websites linking to or publishing copies of Diebold internal memos. OPG is the only ISP so far to resist the takedown demand from Diebold.
US researchers have pointed out that the voting machines cannot prevent fraud and that even common voters could cast unlimited votes without any insider help.
"What topic could be more important to our democracy than discussions about the mechanics and legitimacy of electronic voting systems now being introduced nationwide?" asked EFF staff attorney Wendy Seltzer. "EFF won't stand by as corporations like Diebold chill important online debate by churning out legal notices to ISPs that usually just take down legitimate content rather than face the legal risk."
The EFF is a donor-supported membership organisation working to protect fundamental rights of Americans regardless of technology.