The Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Awards honor those that make ?significant and influential contributionsto the development of computer-mediated communications and to the empowermentof individuals in using computers and the Internet,? according to EFF officials.
This year?s winnersare:
Mark Klein, the retiredAT&T technician who exposed the federal government?s warrantlesssurveillance program.
When news reports of illegal government spying firstsurfaced in early 2005, Klein realized that he had unwittingly helped set upthe systems that were ?violating the rights of millions of Americans,?according to the EFF.
Klein turned over documents to the EFF showing howAT&T was diverting customers’ communications to the National SecurityAgency. The EFF now represents AT&T customers in a class-action suitstemming from the domestic spying.
Dr.Michael Geist, the
Geist complained that the new law ?wouldmirror the DMCA with strong anti-circumvention legislation, far beyond what isneeded to comply with the WIPO Internet treaties,? and contained no protectionfor "flexible fair dealing. No parody exception. No time shiftingexception. No device shifting exception. No expanded backup provision.Nothing.?
Widespread support for Geist?s protest, including a petition frommore than 30,000 Facebook users, led to the tabling of the copyrightlegislation by
MitchellBaker, Chairman of the Mozilla Foundation and the former Netscape attorneyresponsible for all legal issues related to the pioneering browser?s productdevelopment and intellectual property protection.
During that time, Mitchellwrote the Netscape and Mozilla Public Licenses. Now known in the Mozillaorganization as the ?chief lizard wrangler,? Mitchell works as generaltroubleshooter, spokesperson and policy arbitrator for mozilla.org.
"The Pioneer Awardwinners this year show us how one person can truly make a difference in ourdigital world," said EFF Executive Director Shari Steele in a statement."It’s hard work to protect freedom, and we are so grateful for theinvaluable contributions of Mitchell, Michael, and Mark."
EFF Pioneer Award winnerswere nominated by the public and chosen by a panel of judges that included: KimAlexander, president and founder of the California Voter Foundation; EstherDyson, noted blogger and founding chairman of ICANN; Mitch Kapor, president ofKapor Enterprises; Drazen Pantic, co-director of Location One; Barbara Simons,retired
The EFF will officially hand out the awards onMarch 4 at a ceremony held as part of the O?Reilly EmergingTechnology conference in
