Corynne Mcsherry
EFF
San Francisco, CA, United States
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Past articles by Corynne:
The Campaign to Shut Down Crucial Documentary Tool youtube-dl Continues – And So Does the Fight to Save It
Copyright maximalists just don’t know when to stop. Having failed in their 2020 attempt to use U.S. law to force GitHub to permanently cut off access to youtube-dl, an open source tool that allows users to download and preserve videos, on the theory that the tool can also be used for infringing... → Read More
The Internet Needs Fair Rules of the Road – and Competitive Drivers
In the past few weeks, the Biden Administration has finally moved forward with nominations to the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. One of those nominees, Gigi Sohn (who, fair disclosure, has been an EFF board member), is testifying right now, and we expect a vote... → Read More
EFF Tells Court to Protect Anonymous Speakers, Apply Proper Test Before Unmasking Them In Trademark Commentary Case
Judges cannot minimize the First Amendment rights of anonymous speakers who use an organization’s logo, especially when that use may be intended to send a message to the trademark owner, EFF told a federal appeals court this week.EFF filed its brief in the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Second... → Read More
After Facebook Leaks, Here Is What Should Come Next
Every year or so, a new Facebook scandal emerges. These blowups follow a fairly standard pattern, at least in the U.S. First, new information is revealed that the company misled users about an element of the platform—data sharing and data privacy, extremist content, ad revenue, responses to abuse—... → Read More
DNS Provider Hit With Outrageous Blocking Order – Is Your Provider Next?
The seemingly endless battle against copyright infringement has caused plenty of collateral damage. But now that damages is reaching new levels, as copyright holders target providers of basic internet services. For example, Sony Music has persuaded a German court to order a Swiss domain name... → Read More
The Internet Loses a Champion with the Passing of Sherwin Siy
We at EFF are devastated to learn of the passing of Sherwin Siy. He was a brilliant advocate and strategist who was dedicated to protecting and preserving the internet as a space for creativity, innovation and sharing. He was also a friend and generous mentor who shaped the present and future of... → Read More
Facebook Oversight Board Affirms Trump Suspension
Today’s decision from the Facebook Oversight Board regarding the suspension of President Trump’s account -- to extend the suspension for six months and require Facebook to reevaluate in light of the platform’s stated policies -- may be frustrating to those who had hoped for a definitive ruling. But... → Read More
Content Moderation Is A Losing Battle. Infrastructure Companies Should Refuse to Join the Fight
It seems like every week there’s another Big Tech hearing accompanied by a flurry of mostly bad ideas for reform. Two events set last week’s hubbub apart, both involving Facebook. First, Mark Zuckerberg took a new step in his blatant effort to use 230 reform to entrench Facebook’s dominance. Second... → Read More
Beyond Platforms: Private Censorship, Parler, and the Stack
Last week, following riots that saw supporters of President Trump breach and sack parts of the Capitol building, Facebook and Twitter made the decision to give the president the boot. That was notable enough, given that both companies had previously treated the president, like other political... → Read More
EFF's Response to Social Media Companies' Decisions to Block President Trump’s Accounts
Like most people in the United States and around the world, EFF is shocked and disgusted by Wednesday’s violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. We support all those who are working to defend the Constitution and the rule of law, and we are grateful for the service of policymakers, staffers, and other... → Read More
When Academic Freedom Depends on the Internet, Tech Infrastructure Companies Must Find the Courage to Remain Neutral
And universities must stand up for the rights of their faculty and students.During the past eight months of the pandemic, we have collectively spent more time online than ever before. Many of us are working and/or learning from home, and staying in touch with friends and family through social media... → Read More
Defending Fair Use in the Omegaverse
Copyright law is supposed to promote creativity, not stamp out criticism. Too often, copyright owners forget that – especially when they have a convenient takedown tool like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).EFF is happy to remind them – as we did this month on behalf of Internet creator... → Read More
Content Moderation and the U.S. Election: What to Ask, What to Demand
With the upcoming U.S. elections, major U.S.-based platforms have stepped up their content moderation practices, likely hoping to avoid the blame heaped upon them after the 2016 election, where many held them responsible for siloing users into ideological bubbles—and, in Facebook’s case, the... → Read More
Open Access Should Include Open Courts
It is a fundamental precept, at least in the United States, that the public should have access to the courts–including court records–and any departure from that rule must be narrow and well-justified. In a nation bound by the rule of law, the public must have the ability to know the law and how it... → Read More
What Really Does and Doesn’t Work for Fair Use in the DMCA
On July 28, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held another in its year-long series of hearings on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The topic of this hearing was “How Does the DMCA Contemplate Limitations and Exceptions Like Fair Use?” We’re glad Congress is asking the question.... → Read More
Internet Users of All Kinds Should Be Concerned by a New Copyright Office Report
Outside of the beltway, people all over the United States are taking to the streets to demand fundamental change. In the halls of Congress and the White House, however, many people seem to think the biggest thing that needs to be restructured is the Internet. Last week, the president issued an... → Read More
Facebook's Oversight Board: Who (and What) Is Missing From the Picture So Far
We’ve been skeptical of Facebook’s Oversight Board from day one. We’ll follow closely and keep open minds, because we appreciate it is a first attempt at some semblance of much-needed governance and external review. But no amount of “oversight” can fix the underlying problem: Content moderation is... → Read More
Court Upholds Public Right of Access to Court Documents
A core part of EFF’s mission is transparency and access to information, because we know that in a nation bound by the rule of law, the public must have the ability to know the law and how it is being applied. That’s why the default rule is that the public must have full access to court records—even... → Read More
Supreme Court Affirms That No One Owns the Law
In a major victory for open government and fundamental due process, the Supreme Court ruled today that the annotations in a state’s official legal code—summaries of court decisions and other sources that explain the state’s laws—cannot be copyrighted. That is, that there cannot be a better-... → Read More
Copyright and Crisis: Filters Are Not the Answer
It’s been a joke for years now, from the days when Facebook was just a website where you said you were eating a sandwich and Instagram was just where you posted photos of said sandwich, but, right now, we really are living our everyday lives online. Teachers are trying to teach classes online,... → Read More