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Diebold Rejected in Copyright Takedown Attempt
JimMarch(equalccw) writes "Our favorite crooked voting company Diebold has lost a MAJOR copyright
case (click
for ruling here or description
here). Short form: Diebold's internal documents (key
excerpts here and
here and here) and code were
floated all over the 'net last year, showing all kinds of horror.
Diebold filed cease'n'desist notices under the DMCA (such as mine linked here);
a court has now ruled that Diebold wrongfully abused the DMCA by issuing these takedown notices about materials that they knew were not covered by their copyright."
Bet they're well enough connected that none of them will be prosecuted for it, though.
CEE5210S The signal SIGHUP was received.
One more chink in the DMCA's armor!
A few more f*ckups like this, and we might be able to succesfuly repeal this legislation based on how vague it is, and the potential for abuse that it offers.
Not that I'm against copyrights... Just the over-extension of those rights.
"a court has now ruled that Diebold wrongfully abused the DMCA by issuing these takedown notices about materials that they knew were not covered by their copyright."
Ah, more evidence that the judicial system just doesn't work here in America.... Next thing you know we'll all be rounded up under the homeland securi-- Oh wait...
You need a FREE iPod Nano
This is a relatively clear instance of attempted legal intimidation, a common tactic used by companies with the financial and legal clout.
I really love the part where they describe "encouraging and assisting in the circumvention of copywrite protection systems". Seems like quite a stretch to me.
Support more choices in goverment-Vote 3rd party.
Is this so called "Electronic Voting". In my day, we drew straws, and we liked it like that.
...but Slashdot managed it with the reply count still in single figures. Who needs lawyers? :)
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
Most people would be intimidated with such a letter, and comply with out due to lack of resources or in pursuing/challenging it's validity. This, and the absence of any timely deterrent (fines, punishment) further encourages Diebold/RIAA/SCO and their ilk to use meaningless C&D and lawsuits as an intimidation and FUD technique without any approval from the legal system.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
Example of Diebold at it's best
Get your Unix fortune now!
We need to make an example out of Diebold to show other companies like them that we won't just lie down and accept their incompetence and deception. I've written both my senators on this and directed them to www.blackboxvoting.org. I would encourage all the other Americans on /. (and foreigners... what the hell, can't hurt) to do the same. If left unchecked, Diebold represents a serious threat to the democratic process.
This isn't about the legality of the DMCA. The case is about how Diebold improperly used the DMCA. The memos were never something the DMCA was intended to cover.
I violate the DMCA; jail, Jail, JAIL!
Then, FINE FINE FINE!
Diebold violates a persons civil rights, uses the DMCA to do it, gets caught... Bad Diebold, no no!
Something about that just doesn't quite sound right.... Okay, let's see...
I do something, like, ohhh -- say decrypt a satellite signal (which, mind you, is pouncing down on MY ROOF 24/7..) - I go to jail....then when I get out I have fines to pay that will take the majority of my paycheck for years to come.
Okay, now... Diebold threatens a person, causes great anguish in this persons life, forces said person to hire legal council.... basically, makes a significant impact on said persons life...
Diebold, bad, no no - don't do that again! Please? Please don't do that again?
Riiiiiiight... Okay, methinks this sucks!
I keep simply mention in the mainstream media that the US elections are going to be using touch screens, but nobody mentions any of these problems with Diebold. Has the mainstream caught on about these controversies with something being done about them, or are they going to remain unaware with Diebold's system being inevitably used?
I wanna see punishment... When personal sombody makes even a mistake they are punished from here to tokyo. I want to see the same with a arrogant company that rapes laws.
I find it strange how there seem to be tides with regard to law, particulalry in the States. It seemed that a few months ago, Slashdot was full of stories (so many, I can't be bothered to find and link them all) about this or that abude (PATRIOT, Patent Law, Copyright abuse, Trademark disputes, INDUCE, CAN-SPAM oh gods does it stop?), but now we seem to be seeing the downswing (or up if you prefer), where certain parts of laws or acts are finally being shown to be useless or unlawful or just plain dumb.
I wonder if there is an equilibrium point where things settle down (i.e. laws repealed, corrected etc.) before the next round of political changes bring in a whole hoopla of new ones for people to have a crack at. All historians will probably turn round (correctly) and say "yes, but it takes a serious revolution to rebalance the pendulum, but maybe there's another point of transcendence e.g. saturation of the legal profession.
Just wibbling away, please feel free to add wibble.
Stokey
Natsu gusa-ya, Tsuwamono domo-ga, Yume no ato
When hell freezes over and the Cubs face the Red Sox in the world series
No, Ashcroft bringing a case against Diebold is a sign of the Apocalypse.
So to you hell freezing over and the Cubs in the world series just means it's Tuesday?
Never confuse volume with power.
Is this even possible?
This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
NPR reported about Diebold a few times. It's getting some coverage, but I agree, not enough.
My sig left me for a younger user id.
All this is so retarded. Here's my proposed solution.
1) Voting machines are running webpages in kiosk mode.
2) Web/database server set up to receive votes. Second backup server up and running and ready to go if there's a problem.
3) All votes are recorded THRICE... once to the "main" database, once to the second backup server database within a transaction, and once... printing out each vote, at the point of voting, line-by-line to one of 2 dot-matrix printers!
Redundancies: If a client machine goes down, replacing it with another one is easy. If the server goes down, there is always the other one. If the printer goes down or runs out of ink or paper, you swap it with the other one (maybe have a 3rd as spare).
The only hack this would require is getting an old dot-matrix printer to talk to a modern server and only print out one line at a time.
The software part is E-Z. And the clients would of course have touchscreens.
Now go make a killing off my idea. Just credit "Lectrick", a mysterious man from the Net underground...
Florida releases a sample ballot for the November election.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
or has the last few weeks had quite a few "Your Rights Online" articles that were actually good for the people?
It's usually, "Microsoft Patents Breathing" or "RIAA shoots two 6-year old copyright violators", but these are actually starting to restore my faith in humanity. Not that much, but a little bit.
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
They might be looking at producing one machine to serve several markets: An ATM voting machine for fast food drive-through. Deposit your money, leave your order, and super-size your vote all in one stop!
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I've read a few of the comments from fellow
slashdoters, 'slap on the wrist when they violate dmca...' 'pain and anguish, after i got a letter from diebold'....
Look, just go to your local court and file a suit
against them.
Its fairly easy, you don't need to pay no stinking Esquire.
---badges
This is great news! Unfortunately, no good deed goes unpunished and I have no doubt they'll find another way to muzzle their critics and hide their dirty laundry. :(
You must be the change you wish to see in the world - Ghandi
I dont know if it will help, but maybe if enough of us flod the major news agencies with the Demonstration at http://www.equalccw.com/dieboldtestnotes.html#step bystep. com/sections/wnt/WorldNewsTo night/WNT_newemail_form.html
maybe they will give in and run this. So here are some contacts:
Nightly@NBC.com
http://www.abcnews.go
cbsnews.com click on contact us
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/tips/
I know they know about this, but maybe they dont know how much we already know.
New and improved Guilt. Now its alcohol soluble!
We need a BitTorrent version of Slashdot. That way, after one machine has RTFAed, we can all slashdot each other.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
a court has now ruled that Diebold wrongfully abused the DMCA
...So wait, is there a way to rightfully abuse the DMCA?
Or does simply using the DMCA count as abuse?
The article summary didn't even mention what I think is the best part of this ruling. The summary makes it sound like Diebold didn't own the copyright on the materials it ordered be taken down, but Diebold clearly does own the copyright. So what's the basis for ruling that the takedown notice was improper?
Fair Use. The judge says that the posting of the material did not constitute infringement because it "was posted or hyperlinked to for the purpose of informing the public about the problems associated with Diebold's electronic voting machines." Since the posting was in the interest of public discussion, it was Fair Use, and Diebold knew that, or should have known it, and not issued the takedown notices.
It's nice to see that even if no one in the legislature seems to understand the concept of Fair Use, the judges haven't forgotten it.
It would be even nicer if Diebold received a stiff fine for abusing the process, above and beyond the damages and legal fees they're going to be ordered to pay. The dangerous power of the DMCA "safe harbor" provisions would be significantly reduced if copyright owners had to worry about getting slapped down, hard, for using it inappropriately.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
This is an incredibly important precedent which has been set here, and the defendants have got off lightly because no damages were sought.
Essentially the defendants were trying to use law to suppress an internal email trail which was embarassing to them and, not knowing how the stuff got out, tried to bully ISPs to take the stuff down (yes, I know the section of the DMCA is supposed to be a "get out" clause for ISPs, but does anyone really think that was ever how it was intended to be used?).
Now that this has been judged an unlawful act, I would like to think that the bar has been raised for any potential future litigants.
The last scintilla of doubt just rode out of town
A party is liable if it "knowingly" and "materially" misrepresents that copyright infringement has occurred. "Knowingly" means that a party actually knew, should have known if it acted with reasonable care or diligence, or would have had no substantial doubt had it been acting in good faith, that it was making misrepresentations.
Under this standard, using bots to send automatic DMCA notices based on file names, would fail this legal test, and thus the sender of such a notice (RIAA) would violate the DMCA and the sender would be liable to the recepient.
This in fact might be considered a good way to do things. You may have the parties pick their best candidates, then by lottery have a president chosen from the candidates. Randomization tends to even things out in the long run. Things are never too bad, nor too good.
A question: Has anyone put together an Open Source voting protocol?
+1
Diebold "wrongfully abused" The DMCA act? Does that mean that they used it properly?
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
-- Pablo Picasso
Funny, you said: " we won't just lie down and accept their incompetence and deception."
That is exactly what I propose, in sorts. If you arrive at your polling place a face problems, sit down, don't move until you are arrested. If your voter touch screen malfunctions - don't leave the booth until your true vote is counted.
The only way to fight problems, as they arise on election day, is to get arrested and have your case heard in front of a judge. The polling people don't care, the cops don't care, no one will care the day after if you are just complaining... you must make it official.
I'm just talking non-violent protest.
Unless you have serious problems... then we get violent.
I was just discussing this with my 'not-to-into-politics' girl friend and I gave her the same basic advice. She is supposed to vote in a poor neighborhood where I can imagine a million problems happening, especially with all those Colored now registered to vote there. If they don't have her name down, I said don't leave until you vote.
Spread the word - if you have problems on election day, don't move until your problem is resolved.
Non violent protest worked for Martin Luther King and Ghandi right? It can work for the rest of us.
Get your Unix fortune now!
If corporations have the same rights as citizens, why don't they have the same responsibilities?
...isn't Diebold at all. It's those pesky "activist judges" who want to go allowing the undesirables to vote.
What'll those crazy unelected judges do next?! If we're not careful, soon they'll be "enforcing the Constitution" or some other such nonsense.
(For the humor impaired, this is not a troll.)
That green slime had it coming.
Did anyone catch the season premiere of the Dead Zone. Featuring an unscrupulous congressman and an electronic voting machine? With an interface that looks similar to Diebold's?
If you haven't seen it, do so. I don't want to include spoilers, but kudos to the writers for their work!
The court awarded ligitation and damage expenses to the plaintiff, which Diebold has to pay in the six figures.
Eternity: will that be smoking, or non-smoking? I Corinthians 6:9-10
This issue was covered in a Slashdot interview with a DoJ lawyer a while ago. DMCA does not require the statements about infringement in notices to be made under penalty of perjury. Only the statement that the issuer is a representative of the copyright holder is made under penalty of perjury.
the problem is they have far more power.
Ever notice how the rich get treated with kid gloves? It is because they can afford to be well represented. Money talks in our legal system, and most of us don't have much of it.
Blogging because I can...
the court did. (Sorry for the Yoda reference... but can't resist it when type the Subject).
Here's how.
1. Rule against Diebold, now all knows truth.
2. Rule the DMCA is being abused, that's one ruling AGAINST DMCA.
In US, you can easily buy enough major firearms to wipe out your neighbourhood but a few little fireworks are banned.
The takedown notices were sent under penalty of perjury, right?
Problem is that the DMCA only requires that the person sending the notice swear under penalty of perjury that they have a "good faith belief" of copyright violation. IAAL (as of this morning), and let me tell you, "good faith" is a pretty loose standanrd.
I like the simplicity of your system. But as ANY voting system, it is not perfect. What would you do when someone challenges the outcome, and the ballot count doesn't match the real-time count? You might want some proof-of-vote, that the voter receives. In case the ballots are challenged, any voter can have authorities check that his vote is indeed in the ballot box, unaltered. At the same time you would need a relyable count of votes, so that no extra balots can be in the bin. Note that this proof-of-vote must not reveal the vote that has been made, but must still allow to verify that the corresponding ballot has not been tampered with.
The site seems to be clobbered. Mirrors available here: MirrorDot.
~Jay
CNN:e lectio n_diebold/a sastry.votin gmachines/
http://money.cnn.com/2004/08/30/technology/
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/09/28/ram
MSNBC:
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5937115/
IMHO this issue has gotten decent (but not perfect) coverage in the mainstream media. Having said that, they do not go much into the technical details, but look at their audience. While I agree that it is crappy that thinks like the Kobe trial get more coverage, to say that the 'Mainstream media still doesn't know' is inaccurate.
The link to the code just disappeared, any mirrors?
And it was the submitter's own site! Don't you feel dumb, JimMarch? :)
"vote = GW_BUSH" isn't a test in C/C++, it's an assignment. So it reads, in English:
"Assign the value GW_BUSH to the variable vote. Then do the code in the curly braces no matter what the old value of vote was."
Heh.
|/usr/games/fortune
Looks like those documents are gone now!
Guess Diebold should have just posted to slashdot to get the documents removed from the internet.
Perhaps slashdot should consider a [cache] link for each link since this is such a regular occurence.
-- Greg
Slashdot, would a spell-checker for posting be too much to ask? It's not rocket science!
Particularly when Theresa LePore, despite her strong-arming the debacle in 2000 is still elections supervisor in Florida.
Those stupid machines, many of which remain installed all over the country, are just a small part of the total corruption.
If Bush doesn't win, it'll be because the script calls for him not to.
Kerry has stated numerous times that he fully intends to continue and enlarge the 'war against terrorism', so in the end, the outcome of this election hardly matters. --Though, if he gets put on the throne and he somehow manages to create economic 'stability' for another 4 years, then I'd be happier. I wouldn't mind an extra 4 years before somebody pulls the plug and puts me in jail for refusing to carry a machine gun across the desert.
I think that's probably wishful thinking, though.
One way or another, this election is going to be far more entertaining than the Olympics were! The outcome is going to affect everybody on the planet! Think, "Quake without the instant save-game feature."
-FL
Maybe EFF should use its logo in more creative manners to attract more members, like 'Diebold get EFFed up!' :)
also known as "Corporate National Socialism".
This is a world in which the individual (read
American citizen) has no real rights under the
law anymore. The corporations (that bought &
paid for the politicians, the lobbyists, AND
the think tanks that actually make policy) now
rule America. Welfare belongs only in the hands
of those that deserve it (and paid for it), like
Halliburton, Diebold, ChevronTexaco, et.al.
The American people will wake up AFTER THE 2004
ELECTION to find that they have all been Bush-
whacked. Only the neocons, christian right,
and the corporations will be happy about it.
Hell, boy, we've been doing that in Texas for YEARS!
IANAL, but I've seen actors play them on TV
And take a quick look at the little logo on the ATM you're withdrawing your hard earned cash on, next time. Odds are it's one of the thousands (upon thousands) of Diebolds in the USA.
__
As one of the Swarthmore students who was a plaintiff in the lawsuit, I'd like to invite you to browse/download the memos from our website. This in fact is the website that Diebold scared Swarthmore into shutting down, which was the basis for our lawsuit. We were able to re-post the memos after we filed our counternotification
:-)
Also, if you are a student, or you know students who are interested in copyfighting/freedom of speech, please head on over to FreeCulture.org, an international student movement for free culture
Free Speech, Free Software, Free Culture
It's copyright and copyright protected (or copyrighted). Not copywrite or copywritten. This is so important because it isn't about authorship, it's about distribution and publishing rights. Copyright is the right to copy.
Copyright law says that when I create a work, I'm granted an exclusive right to control how it is reproduced and distributed. Further, the law says that certain rights to reproduce and distrubute a work are "fair use", and those rights belong to everyone. As the original copyright holder, I can transfer, license, or assign my copy rights to another party (e.g. a publisher or distributor). If I tranfer my rights (by selling them, for example), I no longer have copy rights for that work. That doesn't make me any less the original producer.
The concept of copy rights is a trade: consumers get access to a work, authors get to choose the "first use" (i.e. publish or set in a drawer). In trade, consumers are guaranteed certain rights, like the right to quote from a work &c.
When we take the word "right" out of copyright it's far easier to forget what copyright law really protects -- not just the rights of a publisher or author to control copying of the author's works, but the rights of the consumer for fair use. When we forget that copyright is about controlling the rights to copy, we get lawyers attacking individuals who make obvious parodies and satires. We get the idea that work must be "protected" for years after the copyright-holder's death. We get corporate copyright grants for 75 years.
If we could all realize -- and remember -- that copyrights are rights to distribute, we might see more pressure on Congress to make sensible decisions about who can sue whom over copy rights.
We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower
All you have to do is plug it in, assuming you're using some variant or UNIX/BSD/Linux.
The real hack with your system would be making it not possible to figure out how someone voted by corellating the vote log and the elector log (who voted already).
The problem with touchscreen voting is that the voter has no way of knowing the vote they entered is the vote that was recorded.
If your state has trouble figuring out how to run a free and fair election, Elections Canada can help.
Depends on what you mean by "reasonable care or diligence." I'll bet the Powers That Be believe that the RIAA is reasonable.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.