Intellectual Property Law

These Hobbyists Add to Calculators, Multiplying Their Fun | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted on November 16, 2009
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and I are mentioned in this Wall Street Journal article about TI calculator hackers and the law.

Convicted Murderer To Wikipedia: Shhh!

Posted on November 11, 2009
In Germany, you can’t publish the names of murderers after some years have passed since the crime. So a convicted murderer’s lawyers wrote to Wikipedia and asked them to take his name off of the webpage about his victim. Read my take on this First Amendment issue on the EFF blog.

November 3, 2009 Election Results

Posted on November 04, 2009
Department of Elections Official Results Hello, Friends, Romans, Republicans: Here are the election results for yesterday’s balloting, with 15% of the electorate weighing in. Dennis Herrera is City Attorney Jose Cisneros is Treasurer PROPOSITION A: Two Year Budget Cycle: Yes PROPOSITION B: Board of Supervisor Aides: Yes PROPOSITION C: Candlestick Park Naming Rights: Yes PROPOSITION D: Mid-Market Special [...

Does the Fourth Amendment Protect Your Email?

Posted on November 03, 2009
Read my legal analysis on EFF’s website — New York Court Scores Over Oregon In Recent Email Privacy Opinions.

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Made Up Pasta #1

Posted on November 02, 2009
Made Up Pasta #1 Originally uploaded by Ms. President Chanterelles are in the farmer’s market now, so I made up this pasta dish featuring them last night. Click on the photo for more pictures and the “recipe”.

Elmoween 2009

Posted on November 02, 2009
Granick/Stones, 10/31/09 Originally uploaded by Ms. President After Nigel and the Ice Doll had a great Halloween with Izzy Elmo and Callie Elmo, we’re back to work in the brand new month of November.

Granick Slate Card: November 3, 2009

Posted on November 02, 2009
GRANICK SLATE CARD CITYWIDE ELECTION, NOVEMBER 2009 Friends, Romans, Republicans: Welcome to the Granick Slate Card for the November 3, 2009 San Francisco Citywide Election. I know, I know, you had no idea there was an election tomorrow, and neither did I...

UPDATE: Texas Instruments failed

Posted on October 29, 2009
UPDATE: Texas Instruments failed to stand behind their misguided claim that calculator hobbyists violated copyright law by having public, online discussions about techniques to get more functionality from TI calculators. Yet the company continues to dig itself into new holes by issuing more improper take-down letters.

IEEE Spectrum: For Texas Instruments, Calculator Hackers Don’t Add Up

Posted on October 29, 2009
Great article on my Texas Instruments dispute in the IEEE Spectrum magazine, with a picture of one of my clients: For Texas Instruments, Calculator Hackers Don’t Add Up.

Prepaid Providers Seek to Put Locks On Your Phone and Their Hands In Your Pocket | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted on October 23, 2009
Prepaid Providers Seek to Put Locks On Your Phone and Their Hands In Your Pocket.

EFF Warns Texas Instruments to Stop Harassing Calculator Hobbyists

Posted on October 13, 2009
One of my new projects is defending researchers and bloggers discussing how to put custom operating systems on TI calculators. The press release and explanatory blog post are on the EFF site.

It’s My Browser, and I’ll Auto-Click if I Want To | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted on October 08, 2009
In It’s My Browser, and I’ll Auto-Click if I Want To, Fred blogs about how EFF is representing SkipScreen, a Firefox browser add-on that helps users avoid ads and unnecessary wait times when downloading files from hosting sites.  One of those hosting sites has asked Mozilla to drop SkipScreen from its library...

Social Networks: Friends or Foes?

Posted on October 07, 2009
Social Networks: Friends or Foes? I’m speaking at the conference hosted at UC Berkeley on October 23rd.  There are still spaces for people to register.  Also, its the day after EFF’s exciting Pioneer Awards  Tickets are on sale for that now, at a discount...

Massachusetts cops can’t

Posted on October 02, 2009
Massachusetts cops can’t convert your car into a location tracker without a warrant. Will Federal Courts follow suit? Read more here.

Hey, TI, Leave Those Kids Alone | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted on September 26, 2009
Hey, TI, Leave Those Kids Alone | Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Disloyal employees are not hackers, says court – Ars Technica

Posted on September 18, 2009
The awesome Ars Technica picks up my deeplink about an important new Ninth Circuit case interpreting the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Are employees who use their workplace computers contrary to the interests of their employers criminals under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act? Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said disloyal keyboarding is [...

Pay As You Drive ?Black Boxes? Threaten Driver Privacy | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted on July 16, 2009
Pay As You Drive ?Black Boxes? Threaten Driver Privacy | Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Facebook and the Phone Companies Try to Lock You In

Posted on July 16, 2009
Facebook and the Phone Companies Try to Lock You In

Amendments to Computer Crime Law Are a Dark Cloud with a Ray of Light

Posted on June 15, 2009
I’m blogging again, starting with this post on EFF Deeplinks about the September 2008 amendments to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Here’s the upshot: The amendments broaden the already extensive reach of the law, and fail to clarify the most vexing question about the statute, the definition of ?unauthorized access?...

Do We Need a Cyber Czar?

Posted on May 29, 2009
I say “probably” in this article Enter Stage Right: The “Cyber Czar”.

Granick Slate Card: May 19 Election Results

Posted on May 21, 2009
All the ballot propositions went down in flames with the exception of the one limiting legislator pay.  It will be interesting to see what we do now to balance the budget.  See you next time at the polls, Friends, Romans, Republicans… <a href=”http://vote...

Granick Slate Card: Special Election May 19th

Posted on May 14, 2009
Friends, Romans, Republicans: I was surprised to learn that the special election on ballot measures that are supposed to help alleviate California’s chronic budgeting problems is Tuesday.  Thanks, Courtney!  So, quickly, here are the summaries of the six propositions and the official Granick Slate Card positions...

EFF: Become a Member

Posted on December 05, 2008
Almost everyone I know asks me how EFF gets its money. Well, we are a membership organization, which means that EFF depends on supporters like you for our budget. (And my job.) We are not, in fact, a foundation, nor does even half our money come from corporations or any large donor(s)...

Granick Slate Card: Reminder, Update (Campos in D9) and More!

Posted on November 03, 2008
Friends, Romans, Republicans… lend me your ears. REMINDER: Guess what!  The election is tomorrow.  Remember to vote, and to get your Democratic family members in those important swing states to vote. UPDATE:  I’m officially endorsing David Campos in District 9...

Granick Slate Card is Here! (November 2008 Election)

Posted on October 27, 2008
GRANICK SLATE CARD PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, NOVEMBER 4, 2008 Friends, Romans, Republicans: Welcome to the Granick Slate Card for the November 4, 2008 Presidential Election. I know, I know, we?ve been waiting eight long excruciating years for this. So without further ado, here are my picks for the twelve state propositions, twenty two San Francisco propositions and [...

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story

Posted on October 17, 2008
For you political junkies out there, this movie is not to be missed — Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story I’m not just saying this because our friend Stefan Forbes made it. Read for yourself, and maybe we’ll see you at the theater: DO YOU WANT TO LEARN THE DARKEST SECRETS IN AMERICAN POLITICS…AND LAUGH OUT [...

Granick Slate Card Coming October 27th

Posted on October 17, 2008
Thanks to all who have called or emailed, wondering where the Granick Slate Card is.  I have planned to issue it a week before Election Day, October 27th, so apologies to all those who wanted to vote early.  Next election I will issue it two weeks before to accommodate you better.

Computer Crime Laws Chill Discovery of Customer Privacy Threats | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted on May 30, 2008
My recent post on the EFF blog talks about the difficulty that web security researchers have doing their work, in light of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and similar state statutes. While pen testers and other hired security guns can get written authorization to do security audits, members of the public have little [...

Granick Slate Card Is Here!

Posted on May 27, 2008
GRANICK SLATE CARD PRIMARY ELECTION, June 3, 2008 Friends, Romans, Republicans*: Welcome to the Granick Slate Card for the June 3, 2008 Primary Election. Lots of fun stuff on the ballot, though unfortunately we can’t vote for who is more wronged, Obama because Hillary insists that Florida and Michigan voters be counted even though Obama didn’t campaign [...

Brad and I Discuss Babies, Technology, Robotic Pets

Posted on May 27, 2008
The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte Megan Morrone kindly invited Brad and I to talk about parenting in the digital age on Jumping Monkeys, a show she does with Leo Laporte.  We had a great time doing it, though I’m not sure we were a paragon of parental unity...

In My Copious Spare Time …

Posted on May 27, 2008
I baked some wheat bread: I used a super simple recipe from Elle magazine about a year ago. The crumb was really dense, probably because my yeast was old. But the flavor was right and the crust was nice and crisp, interior relatively moist. So I made another one yesterday, and will move [...

EFF Answers Your Questions About Border Searches

Posted on May 07, 2008
You asked what to do about border searches, and I have some answers.

Protecting Yourself From Suspicionless Searches While Traveling | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Posted on May 01, 2008
Following the Ninth Circuit’s decision in U.S. v. Arnold that border guards have unconstrained authority to search your laptop at the border, I wrote a Deep Link on the EFF website called Protecting Yourself From Suspicionless Searches While Traveling.

No Cause Needed to Search Laptops at the Border

Posted on April 23, 2008
On April 21st, the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Arnold (pdf) that the Fourth Amendment does not require government agents to have reasonable suspicion before searching laptops or other digital devices at the border, including international airports...

Snail Mail Surveillance - USATODAY.com

Posted on March 10, 2008
Law enforcement requests for postal info granted - USATODAY.com U.S. postal authorities have approved more than 10,000 law enforcement requests to record names, addresses and other information from the outside of letters and packages of suspected criminals every year since 1998, according to U...

Why and How People Hate Hillary Clinton

Posted on February 11, 2008
All You Need is Hate - Stanley Fish Hate Springs Eternal - Krugman

Are Twins Passe?

Posted on February 11, 2008
Of course, there?s nothing freakish or remarkable about how so many twins came to crowd the preschools of New York City. Older mothers are more prone to throwing off two eggs at once, but they?re also more likely to have trouble conceiving, and opting for in vitro fertilization...

Granick Slate Card: February 5, 2008 — Hillary Clinton for President

Posted on January 31, 2008
GRANICK SLATE CARD PRIMARY ELECTION, FEBRUARY 2008 [To subscribe to the Granick Slate Card, visit here. The Granick Slate Card issues before every California election and may be copied and freely shared for any non-commercial purpose, with author attribution...

Slate Card ETA

Posted on January 30, 2008
The Granick Slatecard will be out by midnight tonight.

Isabella and Calista Get Political

Posted on January 28, 2008
Stop the spying, say Izzy and Callie

Stop the Spying!

Posted on January 28, 2008
A picture is worth a thousand words. Take a photo and tell Congress how you feel about letting the telcos off the hook for breaking the law and spying on your phone calls and emails. See what others have said.

Hello, World!

Posted on January 28, 2008
Isabella Granick Stone and Calista Granick Stone were born healthy and squealing on December 8th, 2007. Here’s how it went down: On December 7th, my doctor called to inform me that my test for preeclampsia came back positive. Preeclampsia is a pre-seizure condition marked by high blood pressure and protein in the urine...

Overdue Twins and Induction

Posted on December 02, 2007
Tomorrow is my due date. Its common for first time mothers to give birth anytime around the “due date”, plus or minus about two weeks. However, it is much less common for multiple gestation pregnancies, like my twins, to go all the way to term...

The Slatecard for November 2007

Posted on November 01, 2007
SlateCardNov07 (pdf) The Granick Slate Card is now available for this upcoming Tuesday’s election here in San Francisco. Download and remember to vote early and often. Huzzah, Jennifer GRANICK SLATE CARD SAN FRANCISCO ELECTION, NOVEMBER 2007 Friends, Romans, Republicans: Welcome to the Granick Slate Card for the November 6, 2007 San Francisco citywide election...

Granick Slate Card

Posted on October 31, 2007
The Granick Slate Card for Tuesday’s election is coming out later tonight, so if you want it without checking back here, make sure you are signed up.  Subscribe to the Slate Card here.

What’s at Stake in the Surveillance Debate in Congress

Posted on October 23, 2007
In this week’s Circuit Court column, I write about the legislative battle over changing our communications eavesdropping laws and a related issue of giving telcos immunity for illegally helping the government surveil us. This issue is so important, now that the nominee for Attorney General, Judge Michael Mukasey, says that the President does not [...

Proposed Reporters’ Shield Law Overdue but Underpowered

Posted on October 09, 2007
Proposed Reporters’ Shield Law Overdue but Underpowered This week’s Circuit Court column is about the proposed federal reporters’ shield law that just came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. While we need a shield law, this one has a loophole for situations where the leak is criminal or tortious activity, and the loophole may just [...

Voila, Baby! and the Paradox of Choice

Posted on October 03, 2007
If you’ve read “The Paradox of Choice”, then you are familiar with author Barry Schwartz’s argument that trying to maximize outcomes is a recipe for unhappiness, because in today’s option-rich world, there’s always going to be a different option that might be better than the choice you are about to make...