Podcast: Play in new window | Download

By Michael W. Dean
Co-Host, The Freedom Feens radio show, on Genesis Communications Network

Article originally printed in Talkers magazine.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF, is a non-profit that has taken to the courts to fight the good fight in the digital world since 1990. They’ve initiated legal challenges against the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping. They’ve filed a Petition for Inter Partes Review challenging a patent that a so-called “patent troll” has asserted against podcasters such as Adam Corolla. This patent troll has sent demands for cash to many podcasters and has sued NBC, CBS, Fox, and the HowStuffWorks podcast. The outcome of that case probably affects you, if you put up archives as a podcast, or ever plan to.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has fought to keep tracking software out of your phone. They’ve fought for open access to what the government is doing behind your back. They’ve fought for Fair Use of images on websites (something that absolutely helps broadcasters and news sites). They have fought literally thousands of other things that need fighting. They’ve been protecting the Internet since before most people had heard of the Internet. So they’re friends of anyone planning to make a business shift from terrestrial radio to media on mobile devices. That’s a shift that everyone in radio should be anticipating, or at least looking at.

EFF is the premiere advocate for digital rights. They have done so much good it’s impossible to list it all here. We encourage you to check out their website to see for yourself.
https://www.eff.org/

In other words, EFF are the good guys. And if you’re a good guy, you should consider helping them. It’s not hard, and doesn’t take any bread off your table.

We’ve worked with EFF to write and record a 30-second spot telling people about their ongoing good work. We’re encouraging you to insert this ad in remainder time for the month of November (or longer if you can). We have a commitment from two radio shows and one network (Free Talk Live, Freedom Feens and Genesis Communications Network) to play this ad for the month of November. Please also put it in your podcast archives. And if you have a podcast-only show, or a streaming show, please consider putting the ad there also.

You can download the ad here:
Stereo MP3 (one-half meg)
Stereo WAV (5 megs)
Mono MP3 (one-half meg)
Mono WAV (2.5 meg)

Also feel free to use the EFF logo at the top of this article (or the smaller one at the bottom) on your website, and link it to:

https://www.eff.org/

The music in the spot was composed for EFF by Neema Vedadi of the Freedom Feens. So there are no usage issues with the ad. Use it anywhere and everywhere you’d like, without the need for any releases. The license on the ads is Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 
CC BY-SA. So do what you want with it.

Programming this ad isn’t just a good deed. This isn’t about saving the puppies (not that we don’t love puppies. We do!) This is about saving YOU. EFF fights for a myriad of free speech, digital rights and privacy issues that will be of more and more importance to broadcasters in the transition to a more-digital world.

Please consider putting this ad in remainder rotation, and please consider passing this article on to other broadcasters.

Here’s the ad copy, if you’d prefer to voice it as a live read:

“The Electronic Frontier Foundation, or EFF, fights to protect your rights in the digital world. When a patent troll threatened podcasters, they fought back. EFF has also defended your right to encryption and has sued the NSA to end the government’s mass suspicionless surveillance. There are different ways you can help EFF, from donations, to signing petitions, to writing your representatives, to just spreading the word. Find out more at E-F-F dot org, that’s E-F-F dot org.”

Thank you.

Please share this article with at least two friends. Pass it on.