When I received email from Danny O’Brian of the EFF with the title EFF’s Web 2.0 Compliance Bootcamp, I was quite puzzled. What on earth could that be? It all became clear when I read Danny’s message about the event on October 10:
We frequently talk to user-generated/community sites when they hit problems
complying with the laws around Internet content (Artur knows of some of our
past work here). It’s hard for Web 2.0 companies to know how far they can
stick their necks our to protect their users from takedowns or privacy
violations. And when they act conservative on legal advice, they risk
alienating and frustarating their users, and sends them to competitors.We’ve noticed that the normal procedures have to be tweaked when a major part
of a company’s value lies in its users; otherwise you can find yourself on the
wrong side of the law, or the wrong side of your own community.To try and prevent these situations before they happen, we’ve herded together
some lawyers (some from the world o’ civil liberties, some from Silicon
Valley) and set up a low-cost training day for Web 2.0 customer service folks.It’s expressly not aimed at attorneys or CEOs, but instead at the actual
workers at these companies: feel free to pass it on to anyone you think might
find it useful.
What a great idea. Here are some more details from the EFF bootcamp site:
EFF is hosting a one-day session for Web 2.0 workers who handle
issues arising from users and user-generated content. From DMCA to
CDA to ECPA, the law surrounding internet content can be confusing,
especially for the folks who have to decide on the fly whether to let
something stay up or take it down, or whether to give their
customer’s name to the FBI agent on the phone. Let us help.…
Topic areas
Defamation, harassment, and other accusations of bad behavior.
Fair use, free culture, and the right to remix.
Copyright take-downs and put-backs: Understanding the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act.
How to respond to cops, crooks, and courts who want your
customers’ communications and other private information.
How to avoid becoming the next Napster and stay on the safe
side of the Copyright Wars.
The rights of anonymous speakers.
Porn, predators, and the pressure to police.
Lightning rounds on Creative Commons licenses, webcasting and
what to do when you’ve been hacked.Who should attend
People who do front-line or mid-level work for companies and projects
that rely on user-generated content and communications. This includes
compliance, customer service and community management workers.
The meeting is held at Fenwick and West in Palo Alto, and has a sliding-scale cost of $100-$200, part of which may be deductible for individuals.