EFF: Electronic Frontier Foundation

An exceptionally well respected organisation on the internet, EFF does more than anybody to combat injustice between governments and users of the internet:

From https://www.eff.org/about

"About EFF:

From the Internet to the iPod, technologies are transforming our society and empowering us as speakers, citizens, creators, and consumers. When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990—well before the Internet was on most people's radar—and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.

Blending the expertise of lawyers, policy analysts, activists, and technologists, EFF achieves significant victories on behalf of consumers and the general public. EFF fights for freedom primarily in the courts, bringing and defending lawsuits even when that means taking on the US government or large corporations. By mobilizing more than 140,000 concerned citizens through our Action Center, EFF beats back bad legislation. In addition to advising policymakers, EFF educates the press and public.

EFF is a donor-funded nonprofit and depends on your support to continue successfully defending your digital rights. Litigation is particularly expensive; because two-thirds of our budget comes from
individual donors, every contribution is critical to helping EFF fight—and win—more cases."


For my project I am particularly interested in their work in one particular area:


"Intellectual Property


You'd like to move the tracks you bought from Rhapsody to a personal stereo like Apple's iPod but the copy protection prevents you. Creating or using the software necessary to make the switch could put you behind bars.

You want to distribute your band's music but the P2P system that's revolutionized your ability to reach listeners is being sued out of existence a company claiming to own a patent to all streaming media technology is demanding licensing fees and record labels are breathing down your neck over the samples you've looped.

You want to criticize Vivendi Universal on your website or blog but the plug's been pulled on your "vivendisucks" domain name because of its unflattering reference to the company's trademark.

EFF fights to preserve balance and ensure that the Internet and digital technologies continue to empower you as a consumer creator innovator scholar and citizen."