Keyword: Diebold Email Ar
In late 2003, as questions about the security and verifiability of electronic voting machines were mounting, Diebold Inc. faced several leaks of code, data, and internal emails. These documents were quickly picked up and circulated by researchers and activists.
Diebold responded by threatening dozens of ISPs with lawsuits if they allowed users to post or link to the code or to a Diebold email archive documenting flaws in the company's e-voting technology. Most ISPs responded by forcing users to take down the material, but Jim March filed a successful counter-notification, and Online Policy Group, IndyMedia, and two Swarthmore students, Nelson Pavlosky and Luke Smith sued, represented by EFF and the Stanford Cyberlaw Clinic: lawsuit archive.
In a victory for free speech and transparency in electronic voting debates, Judge Fogel of the Northern District of California found that Diebold should pay damages and attorneys' fees for its knowing misuse of the DMCA's takedown provisions. Decision here.
Judge Fogel ruled that "there is no genuine issue of material fact that Diebold, through its use of the DMCA, sought to and did in fact suppress publication of content that is not subject to copyright protection." He further held that sending claims of copyright infringement to ISPs when their users are not infringing violates the DMCA's Section 512(f) prohibition on "knowingly materially misrepresent[ing]" infringement. Because Diebold "actually knew, should have known if it acted with reasonable care or diligence, or would have had no substantial doubt had it been acting in good faith, that it was making misrepresentations," it was liable to the OPG and Swarthmore student plaintiffs under 512(f).
| Subject | Sender | Recipient | Date | Topic Area | Linked? |
| Diebold Withdraws DMCA 512 Notice (UC Berkeley) | Diebold Election Systems, Inc. | University of California at Berkeley | December 02, 2003 | DMCA Safe Harbor and Responses |  |
| Diebold Email Archive Takedown Notice to Indiana University (Diebold #2) | Diebold, Incorporated | University IT Policy Officer | October 28, 2003 | DMCA Safe Harbor and Linking | |
| Diebold Email Archive Takedown Notice to MIT (Diebold #1) | Diebold, Inc. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | October 28, 2003 | DMCA Safe Harbor | |
| Diebold Email Archive Takedown Notice to University of California, Berkeley (Diebold | Diebold, Inc. | University of California, Berkeley | October 28, 2003 | DMCA Safe Harbor | |
| EFF Supports Online Policy Group's Resistance | Online Policy Group | Diebold, Incorporated | October 22, 2003 | Responses | |
| Diebold Chases Host-to-Host-to-Links to e-Voting Memos | Diebold, Incorporated | Online Policy Group | October 10, 2003 | DMCA Safe Harbor, Linking, and Copyright and Fair Use | |
| Jim March responds to Diebold's takedown demand | Jim March | Diebold and Internet Service Provider | September 18, 2003 | Responses | |
| Diebold threatens Jim March | Diebold Inc. | [Presently member of the BoD, Blackboxvoting.org - not at that time though] | September 04, 2003 | Anticircumvention (DMCA), DMCA Safe Harbor, and Copyright and Fair Use | |
