Joe Mullin
EFF
Oakland, CA, United States
Contact Joe
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Past articles by Joe:
Stupid Patent of the Month: Clocking In To Work—On an App
What if we told you the Stupid Patent of the Month has a sponsor, but we don’t know who it is? That would seem shady, wouldn’t it? This month’s stupid patent, U.S. Patent No. 9,986,435, was brought to you—to all of us, really—from the murky depths of the litigation finance industry. Originally... → Read More
Two Ways The U.S. Patent Office Could Do Better At Examination
The patent examination process is rife with problems. Too often, patent law supports applicants seeking unwarranted monopolies—not the public interest. That’s why we get things like Amazon’s patent on white-background photography. This is especially true when it comes to software and so-called “... → Read More
Stupid Patent of the Month: Digital Verification Systems Patents E-Signatures
Patent trolls make patents, and argue over them. They don’t have to ever make the thing described in their patents, if it’s even possible to determine what those things are. Instead, they generate legal threats and waste the time and money of companies that do do these things. This month’s Stupid... → Read More
EFF Tells Supreme Court: User Speech Must Be Protected
The Supreme Court is about to hear a case that could dramatically affect users’ speech rights online. EFF has filed a brief explaining what’s at stake, and urging the court to preserve the key law protecting user expression, 47 U.S.C § 230 (Section 230.)In Gonzalez v. Google, the petitioning... → Read More
Seeing Patent Trolls Clearly: 2022 in Review
The internet can be a powerful tool for communicating, collaborating, and finding community. But lawsuits and threats from patent trolls have been an obstacle to the dream of a free and open internet. That’s why EFF has been fighting back against them for more than 15 years. Patent trolls are... → Read More
Users Worldwide Said "Stop Scanning Us": 2022 in Review
The online conversations that bring us closer together can help build a world that’s more free, fair, and creative. But talking to each other only works when the people talking have their human rights respected, including their right to speak privately. The best tool to defend that right in the... → Read More
VICTORY! Apple Commits to Encrypting iCloud, Drops Phone-Scanning Plans
Today Apple announced it will provide fully encrypted iCloud backups, meeting a longstanding demand by EFF and other privacy-focused organizations. We applaud Apple for listening to experts, child advocates, and users who want to protect their most sensitive data. Encryption is one of the most... → Read More
This Judge’s Investigation Of Patent Trolls Must Be Allowed to Move Forward
If you get sued, you should be able to figure out who sued you. Remarkably, though, people and companies who are accused of patent infringement in federal court often have no idea who is truly behind the lawsuit. Patent trolls, companies whose main business is extorting others over patents, often... → Read More
Top Prosecutors in CA, NY and DC Are Speaking Up For End-to-End Encryption
We all should have the ability to have a private conversation, and it follows that we need ways to communicate privately online as well. In the digital world, end-to-end encryption is our best chance to maintain our privacy and security. In the fraught legal landscape following the U.S. Supreme... → Read More
EU Lawmakers Must Reject This Proposal To Scan Private Chats
Having a private conversation is a basic human right. Like the rest of our rights, we shouldn’t lose it when we go online. But a new proposal by the European Union could throw our privacy rights out the window. LEARN MORETell the European Parliament: Stop Scanning MeThe European Union’s executive... → Read More
It’s Time For A Federal Anti-SLAPP Law To Protect Online Speakers
Our country’s fair and independent courts exist to resolve serious disputes. Unfortunately, some parties abuse the civil litigation process to silence others’ speech, rather than resolve legitimate claims. These types of censorious lawsuits have been dubbed Strategic Lawsuits Against Public... → Read More
Google’s Scans of Private Photos Led to False Accusations of Child Abuse
Internet users’ private messages, files, and photos of everyday people are increasingly being examined by tech companies, which check the data against government databases. While this is not a new practice, the public is being told this massive scanning should extend to nearly every reach of their... → Read More
New Bill Would Bring Back Terrible Software and Genetic Patents
A recently introduced patent bill would authorize patents on abstract ideas just for including computer jargon, and would even legalize the patenting of human genes. EFF wants you to take action against this bill. → Read More
The UK Online Safety Bill Attacks Free Speech and Encryption
The UK government has had more than a year to revise its Online Safety Bill into a proposal that wouldn’t harm users’ basic rights. It has failed to do so, and the bill should be scrapped. The current bill is a threat to free expression, and it undermines the encryption that we all rely on for... → Read More
State by State, We’re Making Progress Against Anti-Speech Lawsuits
The First Amendment grants us all the right to say our piece. The government can’t shut down our rights to speak out, protest, and publish. At EFF, we’ve been making sure that we have strong First Amendment rights in the online world for more than 30 years. Government repression isn’t the only... → Read More
The EU's New Message-Scanning Regulation Must Be Stopped
The executive body of the European Union is pushing forward with a proposal that will endanger privacy and security for us all. When this proposal was made public by the EU Commission last month, we said it was a terrible idea. Today, we’re joining together with more than 70 organizations in Europe... → Read More
Patent Troll Uses Ridiculous "People Finder" Patent to Sue Small Dating Companies
Finding people near you with shared interests, and talking to them, has a very long history in human culture. We’re social animals. We need to find other people close to us to work together with, play games with, and build relationships and families with. Modern online social networks are built on... → Read More
The EU Commission’s New Proposal Would Undermine Encryption And Scan Our Messages
The executive body of the European Union published today a legislative proposal (text) that, if it became law, would be a disaster for online privacy in the EU and throughout the world. In the name of fighting crimes against children, the EU Commission has suggested new rules that would compel a... → Read More
EFF Tells E.U. Commission: Don't Break Encryption
An upcoming proposal from the European Union Commission could make government scanning of user messages and photos mandatory throughout the E.U. If that happens, it would be inconsistent with providing true end-to-end encryption in Europe. That would be a disaster, not just for the privacy and... → Read More
Podcast Episode: Watching the Watchers
Imagine being detained by armed agents whenever you returned from traveling outside the country. That’s what life became like for Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras, who was placed on a terrorist watch-list after she made a documentary critical of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq... → Read More