ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION AND STANFORD LAW

ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION AND STANFORD LAW
CLINIC SUE ELECTRONIC VOTING COMPANY
by:
student publishers and isp aim to stop diebold's
ABUSIVE COPYRIGHT CLAIMS
electronic frontier foundation media release
san francisco - a nonprofit internet service
PROVIDER (ISP) AND TWO SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
students are seeking a court order on election
day tomorrow to stop electronic voting machine
MANUFACTURER DIEBOLD SYSTEMS, INC., FROM ISSUING
specious legal threats. the electronic frontier
foundation (eff) and the center for internet and
SOCIETY CYBERLAW CLINIC AT STANFORD LAW SCHOOL
are providing legal representation in this
important case to prevent abusive copyright
CLAIMS FROM SILENCING PUBLIC DEBATE ABOUT
voting, the very foundation of our democratic
process.

diebold has delivered dozens of cease-and-desist
notices to website publishers and isps demanding
THAT THEY TAKE DOWN CORPORATE DOCUMENTS
revealing flaws in the company's electronic
voting systems as well as difficulties with
CERTIFYING THE SYSTEMS FOR ACTUAL ELECTIONS.

swarthmore students nelson pavlosky and luke
SMITH HAVE PUBLISHED AN EMAIL ARCHIVE OF THE
diebold documents, which contain descriptions of
these flaws written by the company's own
EMPLOYEES.

"diebold's blanket cease-and-desist notices are
A BLATANT ABUSE OF COPYRIGHT LAW," SAID EFF
staff attorney wendy seltzer. "publication of
the diebold documents is clear fair use because
OF THEIR IMPORTANCE TO THE PUBLIC DEBATE OVER
the accuracy of electronic voting machines."

DIEBOLD THREATENED NOT ONLY THE ISPS OF DIRECT
publishers of the corporate documents, but also
the isps of those who merely publish links to
THE DOCUMENTS. IN ONE SUCH INSTANCE, THE ISP
online policy group (opg) refused to comply with
diebold's demand that it prohibit independent
MEDIA NETWORK (INDYMEDIA) FROM LINKING TO
diebold documents. neither indymedia nor any
other publisher hosted by opg has yet published
THE DIEBOLD DOCUMENTS DIRECTLY.

"as an isp committed to free speech, we are
DEFENDING OUR USERS' RIGHT TO LINK TO
information that's critical to the debate on the
reliability of electronic voting machines," said
OPG'S COLOCATION DIRECTOR DAVID WEEKLY. "THIS
case is an important step in defending free
speech by helping protect small publishers and
ISPS FROM FRIVOLOUS LEGAL THREATS BY LARGE
corporations."

THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT (DMCA),
passed by congress in 1998, provides a "safe
harbor" provision as an incentive for isps to
TAKE DOWN USER-POSTED CONTENT WHEN THEY RECEIVE
cease-and-desist letters such as the ones sent
by diebold. by removing the content, or forcing
THE USER TO DO SO, FOR A MINIMUM OF 10 DAYS, AN
isp can take itself out of the middle of any
copyright claim. as a result, few isps have
TESTED WHETHER THEY WOULD FACE LIABILITY FOR
such user activity in a court of law. eff has
been exposing some of the ways that the safe
HARBOR PROVISION CAN BE USED TO SILENCE
legitimate online speech through the chilling
effects clearinghouse.

"instead of paying lawyers to threaten its
critics, diebold should invest in creating
ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES THAT INCLUDE
voter-verified paper ballots and other security
protections," said eff legal director cindy
COHN.

links:
ONLINE POLICY GROUP V. DIEBOLD CASE ARCHIVE
cease-and-desist letter diebold sent to opg
indymedia web page subject to diebold
CEASE-AND-DESIST LETTER
security researchers discover huge flaws in
e-voting system
LINK TO CHILLING EFFECTS ON DMCA SAFE HARBOR
provisions
media coverage of diebold threats
CONTACT:
wendy seltzer
staff attorney
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION
wendy@eff.org

CINDY COHN
legal director
electronic frontier foundation
CINDY@EFF.ORG

david weekly
COLOCATION DIRECTOR
online policy group
david@onlinepolicy.org

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
press release

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